By JOHN BOHNENKAMP
The Burlington Bees head into the final week of the Prospect League season with some momentum from Saturday’s doubleheader sweep of the Normal CornBelters at Community Field.
The 6-1 win in the first game and the 11-7 win in the second game featured key moments provided by players who have been here since the beginning of the season.
“That dedication means a lot, because you don’t see too much of that nowadays,” Bees manager Owen Oreskovich said. “They love baseball just as much as I do, and that’s an incredible thing to see. Them sticking out, I really appreciate them for that. They’ll never know how much I appreciate that, even if I tell them that. But it means a lot to me.”
Thirteen players on the Burlington roster were on the original roster to start the season. And when the Bees needed big plays in their offensive outbursts in both games, it was the veterans who stepped up:
• Cooper Donlin was 4-for-6 in the doubleheader and scored four runs.
• Cedric Dunnwald and Merrick Mathews each drove in runs in the five-run sixth inning that broke open a 1-1 game in the first game.
• Christian Dunn was 2-for-3 and drove in two runs in the second game.
• Michael Schaul gave up one run in five innings in the first game.
• Jack Duncan got the save in the second game.
The Bees (11-12 second half) head to Clinton on Sunday for an afternoon game against the LumberKings, who have a two-game lead on Springfield and a three-game lead on Burlington for the Northwest Division’s second-half playoff spot. Three of the Bees’ final four games are against the LumberKings.
“You weren’t in here right after the game when I told the guys what time we were leaving tomorrow,” Oreskovich said. “They’re excited to go compete, go play another game, show everybody what they can do.
“I’m proud of our guys. We used a lot of guys in the second game, everybody did good things, so that was good.”
The Bees trailed 5-2 in the fifth inning of the second game before striking for five runs to take the lead. Jace Figuereo’s double drove in two runs for a 6-5 lead, then Jeremy Figueroa added an RBI single.
Normal tied the game at 7 in the top of the sixth on Tyler Thompson’s two-run single, but the Bees came right back with four runs in the bottom of the inning. Dunn’s sacrifice fly broke the tie, then Jayden Cummings’ infield single followed by Figuereo’s two-run triple provided the final margin.
Tucker Ladeburg (1-0) got the win in the first game. Brady Richards (1-1) was the winner in the second game.
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