By JOHN BOHNENKAMP
Just one hit in the last five innings could have made a difference for the Burlington Bees.
But Saturday’s 4-3 11-inning loss to the Jackson Rockabillys in a Prospect League game at Community Field came down to simple execution.
And that left Bees manager Owen Oreskovich frustrated.
The Bees (10-16) stranded 16 baserunners, including 10 in the final five innings in which they went hitless.
“I don’t know when the last time was we got a hit in that game, but it was a long time,” Oreskovich said. “But we’ve got to do a better job, and be better.”
The closest the Bees came to a hit came in the ninth inning, and it might have produced the winning run. Burlington had runners on first and second with one out when Caleb Wulf hit a hard grounder that look like it would get into the space between Jackson third baseman Carter Vrabel and shortstop Ayden Hamilton. But Vrabel, the son of Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel, made a diving stab of the grounder and got up to get the force out at second. Brandon Bickford struck out to end the inning.
The Rockabillys (10-17) scored the winning run in the 11th without a hit. Wesley Mann started the inning on second base under the league’s extra-inning rule and moved to third on Vrabel’s groundout. Hamilton’s sacrifice fly then scored Mann.
The Bees tried a similar path in the bottom of the inning. Trent Rice started the inning on second and moved to third on Coy Sarsfield’s sacrifice bunt. But Keanu Spenser struck out, then Wulf grounded out to end the game.
The Bees built a 3-1 lead over the first five innings. Tanner Holland drove in all of the runs with an RBI single in the third inning and a two-run single in the fifth.
Jackson tied the game in the seventh. James Denten and Tyler Heckert singled to open the inning, then Griffon Cameron’s single to right field scored Denten. Cameron got caught in a rundown between first and second, and was tagged out as Heckert raced home with the tying run.
Cauy Massner, making his last start of the season for the Bees, gave up three runs in 6 ⅔ innings. Jaden Siemer pitched 3 ⅓ scoreless innings of relief. Golden (1-1) took the loss.
“I thought Massner was great,” Oreskovich said. “That’s as good as he’s pitched all season, and I was hoping we could get one in the win column for him. Siemer was outstanding, and Goldy pitched well even though they got that run.”
Jamal Allen (1-1) was the winning pitcher.
ON DECK: The Bees play at Quincy in a 6:30 p.m. game on Sunday.
NOTES: Bees shortstop Kooper Schulte, 10th in the league with a .373 batting average, is out indefinitely with a hand injury suffered when he was hit by a pitch in the first inning of the first game of Thursday’s doubleheader against Springfield. “He’s going to be out for a while,” Oreskovich said. … Sarsfield, who was hit on the elbow in Wednesday’s game against Jackson, pinch-ran for Mason Schwalbach in the ninth inning in his first appearance since being injured. … Outfielder Corey Boyette joined the Bees. Boyette played for NJCAA Division II national champion Heartland Community College this spring, hitting .457 with six home runs and 76 runs batted in.
Photo: Cauy Massner delivers a pitch in Saturday’s game. (John Lovretta/bees-blog.com)
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