By JOHN BOHNENKAMP
Kael Clarkson’s first two innings set up his last four.
Clarkson allowed one run in a hot day’s work, and Caleb Seibers drove in five runs as the Burlington Bees defeated the Quincy Doggy Paddlers 11-1 in 6 ½ innings in Sunday’s Prospect League game at Community Field.
The Bees (30-21 overall, 18-7 second half) kept the lead over Illinois Valley in the battle for the second-half playoff spot from the Northwest Division. The Pistol Shrimp defeated Clinton 9-5 on Sunday, so Burlington remained percentage points ahead in first place in the division.
Clarkson (3-2) retired the first six hitters he faced, then pitched his way out of trouble in the rest of his six-inning stint. The quick work he made in those first two innings was important considering the game was played on a day when the heat index hit 100 degrees at game time.
“It really helped with my confidence,” Clarkson said. “It gave me a lot of confidence not getting crazy tired early in the game, so I could go longer into the game.”
Clarkson said the battle with the heat was more mental than physical.
“Making sure you tell yourself that you’re OK, that you’re not tired, even though you are,” he said. “That’s what helped me. Just staying positive and just trying to work through the heat. Getting quick innings is a big part of that.”
The lone run Clarkson allowed came in the third inning, when Quincy’s Jimmy Koza singled in Jack Linenfelser. But Clarkson left runners on first and third to end the inning when he struck out Tommy Harrison, starting a trend that would continue the rest of his outing.
Quincy had runners on second and third with no outs in the fourth inning, and first and second with no outs in the fifth and sixth innings, and didn’t score either time. Clarkson got two infield popups to end the fourth, a double play to end the fifth, and a strikeout and an infield popup combined with a runner thrown out trying to steal third to get out of the sixth.
“The defense always makes great plays,” Clarkson said. “They always have my back. And when I’m in those jams, I just try to get outs, get weak contact, let them work, and they’ll help me get out of all that.”
“He just beared down and dug deep there,” Bees manager Owen Oreskovich said. “That’s what you want to see out of these guys. Sometimes you don’t get that this late in the summer, but he went out and got out of trouble.”
Clarkson struck out five and walked two.
“My change-up was really working — I think I threw 12 in a row at one point,” Clarkson said. “All of my strikeouts came on changeups.”
The Bees scored six runs in the first inning, with Seibers’ two-run home run to left field capping the outburst. Burlington didn’t score again until the fifth inning, when Keanu Spenser scored on a wild pitch, then set up the 10-run rule with a four-run sixth inning that included Seibers’ three-run double down the left-field line.
“We had that big start, but we needed to keep putting pressure on them, although we did get some runs late, which was good to see,” Oreskovich said.
Spenser and Kooper Schulte each had three hits for the Bees, who had 16 hits.
Jared Marty (2-6) was the losing pitcher for Quincy.
The Bees, who have won eight consecutive home games, play host to a two-game series with the Johnstown Mill Rats starting Monday. They close the home part of the regular-season schedule with Wednesday’s doubleheader against Illinois Valley.
“We’re all pretty excited right now,” Clarkson said. “We’re very confident we can win the rest of this week and get into the playoffs.”
Top photo: Burlington Bees starter Kael Clarkson gave up one run in six innings in Sunday’s win over Quincy. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)
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