By JOHN BOHNENKAMP
Lucas Krebs was one strike away from the end of the game, one ball away from reaching first base and bringing the tying run to the plate for the Burlington Bees.
Then a bolt of lightning behind the right-field fence, and the torrential rain that followed, ended the night.
The Bees’ last opportunity ended with a severe thunderstorm that hit in the ninth inning of Friday’s 8-6 loss to the Clinton LumberKings in a Prospect League game at Community Field.
The storm that hit came too quickly for the tarp to be put on the field, and the unplayable conditions that followed from the inch of rain that fell in an hour forced an end to the game. Because of that, the game reverted to the last completed inning, with the LumberKings leading.
The Bees (15-17 overall, 4-3 second half), who had a four-game winning streak snapped, fell a half-game behind the LumberKings (18-12, 4-2) for the lead in the Northwest Division heading into a three-game series at Clinton this weekend.
“It’s huge,” Bees manager Owen Oreskovich said of the weekend, which includes a game Saturday night at a doubleheader on Sunday. “You know, they’re playing a good game right now, and I think we are too. The way we’re playing right now, I think we can beat anyone in the league, so I’m very confident in how we’re going to finish up this second half, and I like the way it started already for us.”
Burlington fell behind 7-1 heading into the bottom of the third inning, but chipped into the LumberKings’ margin until the game was washed out. They scored two runs in the bottom of the third, a run in the sixth, and two in the eighth.
The Bees had 14 hits. Adam Kudronowicz was 4 for 4 and reached base five times. Rowen Bergeron had three hits.
“That’s tough to fight back from, but you know, we still showed some fight,” Oreskovich said. “I’m fine with the guys and how they went about that game, and they showed fight all the way up until the end.”
Clinton had scored a run in the top of the ninth to make it 9-6, but Jace Figuereo reached with one out in the bottom of the ninth. Krebs was up with two outs when the storm hit.
Jack Robertson (1-0) was the winning pitcher, while Bees starter Quinn Wilfong (3-1) took the loss.
Photo: Burlington’s Juan Fernandez slides into third base on his triple in the third inning. (Photo by Steve Cirinna)
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