By JOHN BOHNENKAMP
Blake Gaskey was happy to watch the Burlington Bees turn the Community Field base paths into a speedway.
The Bees scored 10 second-inning runs and raced to a 17-4 win over the Jackson Rockabillys in Wednesday’s Prospect League game.
Burlington (9-15) had four stolen bases in the second inning, putting pressure on a Jackson defense which would commit four errors in the inning and five in the game.
“We’ve been on that side before, making five errors in a game,” Bees manager Owen Oreskovich said. “It’s not fun, but that’s what happens when you put the ball in play. You make the other teams make plays.”
The Rockabillys (9-15) didn’t make plays and Gaskey, the Bees’ starting pitcher, was the beneficiary of all of that offense, which allowed him to stay calm through five innings of work.
Fifteen hitters later, he had a 10-2 lead.
“It’s definitely a little bit rewarding to be able to go out there the next inning to know that I got run support and I could just do my thing,” said Gaskey, who struck out four and allowed just two earned runs.
“Gaskey did a hell of a job,” Oreskovich said. “Our offense backed him up, putting the ball in play.”
Gaskey didn’t give up a run in the third and fourth innings, then after allowing a two-run home run to Dalton Rudd in the fifth inning, retired the last three hitters he faced.
“Really, it was just being able to throw strikes with the fastball and the slider,” Gaskey said. “I was able to throw strikes with my change-up, but I was leaving it up and I knew I wouldn’t be successful with it. I just worked with what I had, tried to get first-pitch outs.”
Gaskey’s outing helped conserve the Bees’ bullpen with a doubleheader against Springfield scheduled for Thursday. The game was shortened to seven innings because of the poor air quality that left a smoky haze over the ballpark.
“(Going five innings) was really important, especially since it was a seven-inning game,” Gaskey said..
The Bees kept pounding the Rockabillys. They scored five runs in the fourth inning, an outburst that included Keanu Spenser’s second grand slam of the season.
Spenser, who added a run-scoring double in the fifth inning, is now batting .300 for the season and is tied with Mason Schwalbach for the team lead in home runs. Spenser has a four-game hitting streak, hitting .353 in the streak.
“He’s seeing it well right now,” Oreskovich said. “He doesn’t let any bad at-bat affect him, and that’s a really good thing he has.”
Will Schnepf (0-2) was the losing pitcher. Only two of the runs he allowed in the second inning were earned.
ON DECK: The Bees and Springfield play a doubleheader beginning at 5 p.m. Tuesday’s game between the two teams was postponed because of the poor air quality.NOTES: Oreskovich said the hazy conditions didn’t seem to cause problems for his team, but said visibility got worse as the sun set. “I didn’t see those last couple of fly balls,” he said. “Somehow the outfielders did.” … Jackson third baseman Carter Vrabel, the son of Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel, was 0-for-4 in the game and scored a run.
Photo: Bees starter Blake Gaskey picked up the win, allowing two earned runs in five innings. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)
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