By JOHN BOHNENKAMP
It’s the final two weeks of the Prospect League’s regular season, and two natural occurrences are happening to the Burlington Bees’ roster.
There are players leaving, and there are some players coming in just to get some innings and some at-bats before the summer ends.
The new players for the Bees all had significant moments in Monday’s game against Clinton at Community Field, but it wasn’t enough to prevent a 4-2 loss to the LumberKings.
The Bees’ roster is down to 29 players — league rules allow up to 40 players — and it’s something Owen Oreskovich has grown accustomed to in his three seasons as manager.
“It’s always challenging this time of year,” Oreskovich said. “You don’t really know until you’ve got to deal with it. It’s different every year. It’s just a different challenge we have to take on every day.”
The newcomers all played a part in the game.
Michael Carrano Jr., whose first game with the Bees was nine days ago, provided Burlington’s only runs with a two-run home run in the second inning.
Justin Hackett, a right-handed pitcher from Iowa, got his first start for the Bees. Hackett, who is commuting between Iowa City and Burlington for his starts, struck out five in four innings, but was touched for three runs in the third inning on just two hits. He closed strong, striking out the side in the fourth inning.
“He lost a little bit (in the third),” Oreskovich said. “But (the fourth) will really benefit him, the way he finished.”
Brady Richards, who made his first appearance for the Bees five days ago, allowed one run over four innings, getting big plays behind him to get out of two jams.
Richards allowed a walk and a double to open the fifth. Jalen Martinez singled to right field to score Jaden Hackbarth, but first baseman Merrick Mathews made a smart play cutting off Cooper Donlin’s throw home, and threw out Martinez at second base. Richards then got out of the inning without allowing any more runs.
Richards walked the first two hitters of the sixth, then got Noah Gordon to hit a grounder to third baseman Skyler Agnew. Agnew tried to tag out Brett White coming from second to third, but base umpire Jacob Hudson ruled White was out of the baseline and called him out. Agnew threw to second for the force out, but the throw to first for a possible triple play was just a bit late. Richards then struck out Hackbarth, then retired the next six hitters to end his night.
“Brady’s been really good both times he’s pitched for us,” Oreskovich said.
The Bees, who had eight hits, had runners in scoring position in the eighth and ninth innings, but couldn’t score.
“We got the hits, we just didn’t get them at the right time,” Oreskovich said.
Clinton starter Blake Gaskey (1-0), making his first appearance of the season, allowed six hits and struck out five over six innings without walking anyone. Gaskey pitched for the Bees early last season, and also played two seasons at Southeastern Community College in West Burlington before pitching at Ohio this season.
The Bees (8-9 second half) fell 3 ½ games behind the LumberKings for the Northwest Division’s second-half playoff spot with 10 games left in the season.
Photo: Bees catcher Michael Carrano Jr. (39) celebrates his home run with Merrick Mathews and Boston Halloran. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)
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