By JOHN BOHNENKAMP
It got loud at Community Field, that late-season-need-a-win kind of loud.
Ninety decibels, according to the watch of one fan, as Bryce Brown’s double sliced the right-center field gap and Jeremy Figueroa and Corey Boyette raced home with the tying and winning runs as the Burlington Bees defeated the Clinton LumberKings, 7-6, on Saturday night.
The second largest crowd of the season — attendance was announced at 2,262 — saw the Bees continuously slug back at their Northwest Division rivals, overcoming a crucial call in the ninth inning to close within three games of the LumberKings for the division’s second-half spot in the Prospect League playoffs.
“We’re trying to make a playoff push, so every win matters,” said Brown, who had three hits to push his batting average to .391. “Every game matters, especially against them, because we’re a few games back.
“Great crowd. Great vibe here tonight.”
“Big crowd — it was awesome,” Bees manager Owen Oreskovich said. “I love having them here. You know, it felt like a playoff atmosphere. It’s nice to play in front of crowds like this.
“They had our backs tonight.”
The Bees looked to be in position to tie the game earlier in the ninth. Pinch-hitter Cooper Donlin singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Donlin then appeared to advance to third base on Cedric Dunnwald’s flyout to center field, but after an appeal base umpire Jacob Hudson ruled Dunnwald had left early and called him out.
“I asked (Hudson) for an explanation, he said (Donlin) left early, so…” Oreskovich said, shrugging.
The call looked even bigger when Figueroa hit a slow ground ball to shortstop, reaching on an error. Boyette then followed with a single, bringing up Brown.
“We could have just rolled over there after that call,” Brown said. “Then we get the grounder and then the line drive to right field to bring me up. That doesn’t happen if we roll over.”
Brown then drilled the ball into the gap. Figueroa scored easily, and then Boyette was waved in, easily beating the throw to the plate.
That’s when it really got loud.
“The guys in front of me extended the game,” Brown said. “I knew I was going to get a ball in the (strike) zone, because he’s not going to spike a pitch in that situation.”
“We had some good hitters coming up after Figgy there, so I knew we had a chance,” Oreskovich said. “I was confident. Brownie’s probably swinging the hottest back in the Prospect League right now.
“We had three good hitters step up, get on base. That was huge.”
The Bees tied the game twice and led once through the first six innings, then, trailing 6-5, held the LumberKings scoreless the rest of the game. Jack Duncan pitched 2 ⅓ scoreless innings in relief of starter Michael Schaul, then Erik Kiewiet (2-1) got the win, getting out of a bases-loaded situation in the ninth without giving up a run.
“Just great pitching there late, and I thought Mike did a good job with the start,” Oreskovich said.
It was the fifth consecutive home win for the Bees.
“Our guys don’t give up,” Oreskovich said. “They’re showing a lot of resilience right now.”
“Huge win.”
Photo: Bryce Brown follows through on his game-winning hit in the bottom of the ninth inning (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)
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