By JOHN BOHNENKAMP
The Cape Catfish have proven in the early part of the Prospect League season that they won’t let you get away with mistakes.
The pitchers for the Burlington Bees found that out in Friday’s 9-3 loss to the Catfish at Community Field.
The Catfish (13-1) lead the league in runs scored and batting average, and they jumped on the Bees (4-9) with a pair of three-run innings that featured a couple of long home runs.
Lane Crowden had a three-run homer in the fourth inning, then Landon Godsey added a two-run homer in the fifth.
“Just a couple of pitches…” lamented Bees manager Owen Oreskovich.
The Catfish have a league-best .353 batting average and average more than 10 runs per game, so big innings almost seem inevitable.
It struck the Bees at the middle point of the game.
Jacob Zahner (0-1), the starting pitcher for the Bees, gave up just one run in the first three innings and was one out away from getting out of the fourth when he walked Godsey on a 3-2 pitch. Kevin McCarthy followed with a single and then Crowden hit his home run over the left-field wall.
“(Zahner) was really good. He was early,” Oreskovich said. “That two-out walk, the base hit, and then the home run … I wouldn’t say it knocked the wind out of anyone’s sails, but it’s just aggravating, especially to him. That’s what’s frustrating.”
The Catfish got three more runs in the fifth. Jeff Clarke scored on an error, then Godsey launched his home run to the outfield.
Bees pitchers allowed 13 hits, six walks, and the Catfish stole five bases. That kind of traffic leads to runs.
“I mean, they’re pretty good,” Oreskovich said. “I thought for the most part our pitchers did a good job. We got out of a lot of spots. But we gave them too many free bases, and that’s killing us right now.”
The Bees had baserunners in every inning but the eighth, but couldn’t come up with their version of a big inning.
Mason Schwalbach’s double scored Jaden Hackbarth with the Bees’ first run in the third inning. Jackson Fisher had a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning, and Kooper Schulte had an RBI single in the seventh.
The Bees had nine hits.
“I thought our offense did a good job of keeping us in that game,” Oreskovich said. “We had guys on base. But then we were hitting balls right at guys.”
Dylan Peck (3-0) was the winning pitcher.
The Bees begin a five-game road trip with Saturday’s game at O’Fallon. They play at Jackson on Monday and Tuesday, the Catfish on Wednesday and Alton on Thursday.
Burlington is 0-6 on the road this season.
“Plain and simple, we have (struggled),” Oreskovich said. “We have to come out ready to play from the first inning. Our pitchers have to be tough on the mound. They haven’t been the toughest yet, but they have to be tough on the mound on the road. And our offense needs to back them up and then we need to play defense behind them. You do that, you win baseball games. We need to lock in on doing that.”
NOTES: Caleb Wulf played in his first game with the Bees this season, going 1-for-4 as the designated hitter. Wulf hit .384 this season at Southeastern Community College, which plays its home games at Community Field. … Schwalbach and Tanner Holland extended their hitting streaks to six games. Coy Sarsfield, who went 2-for-4, has a five-game hitting streak. Schulte and Hackbarth have hits in four consecutive games.
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