Zielinski Drafted By Giants

By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

Infielder Zane Zielinski became the second former Burlington Bees player in the Prospect League era to go in the Major League Baseball draft when he was selected in the ninth round by the San Francisco Giants on Monday.

Zielinski, who played for the Bees in their inaugural Prospect League season in 2021, was the 268th overall pick.

Zielinski batted .363 at Illinois-Chicago this season, starting all 55 games. He hit eight home runs and drove in 42 runs on his way to being an All-Missouri Valley Conference first-team pick.

Zielinski stole 20 bases in 24 attempts. He finished the season with a 1.032 OPS.

Zielinski was the Bees’ leading hitter in 2021, batting .317 with two home runs and 26 runs batted in. He had two doubles and 13 stolen bases.

Spencer Nivens, also a member of the 2021 team, was the first Bees player to be drafted, going to the Kansas City Royals in the fifth round last year. Nivens is playing with the Royals’ High-A affiliate in the Quad Cities, and is batting .158 with four home runs. Nivens also spent two games on a rehabilitation assignment with the Royals’ Rookie League team in Arizona, hitting .625.

Photo: Zane Zielinski takes a swing during a 2021 game with the Burlington Bees. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)

THE MONDAY HIVE: Duncan Doesn’t Mind The Winding Roads

By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

There is no easy way to get from Macomb, Illinois to Burlington.

Jack Duncan usually takes the highways that take him through Blandinsville, LaHarpe and Terre Haute, then up the Carman Road to U.S. Highway 34, then over the Mississippi River to Burlington and Community Field, where Duncan has spent the summer pitching for the Burlington Bees.

“I like that way — I’ll stop at the gas station in Blandinsville to get something to drink,” Duncan said, smiling.

There are various other back roads Duncan will take, too, for the 50-mile journey to his summer baseball home.

Duncan, a Macomb native and a pitcher at Western Illinois University, doesn’t mind. Usually, fellow Bees reliever Chase Golden, who was with Duncan at WIU last season, rides along.

It’s 50 miles and a little less than an hour’s drive, and Duncan likes it.

“I like listening to music, talking about baseball, whatever,” Duncan said. “That 50 minutes, actually, helps me get into game mode. If you live here in town, it’s five minutes, and you’re here. I actually feel more prepared. You think about baseball coming up here, you get ready.”

Duncan needed this summer with the Bees in the Prospect League to build off his short first season with the Leathernecks.

“It’s been all right,” Duncan said. “It’s had its ups and downs, but that’s baseball.”

Duncan is 0-4 with a 5.53 earned run average, but leads the Bees with three saves. A deeper dive into his numbers shows those ups and downs that Duncan talked about.

Duncan didn’t allow an earned run in his first five appearances, then gave up five runs in the ninth inning of an 8-7 loss at Jackson on June 26. He came back to get a three-inning save, not allowing a run in a 4-1 win over Clinton on July 4.

Duncan has lost his last two outings, giving up three runs in a 7-4 home loss to Alton on July 9, then he gave up two 10th-inning runs in Sunday’s 7-6 loss at Normal.

“It’s not fun to look back and try to find what you need to get better at, and watch those bad outings,” Duncan said. “But there’s a lot to take from it, and learn how to deal with failure so you can come back the next outing ready to go. Learn from your mistakes.”

The rebound from the loss at Jackson was crucial for his confidence.

“You really want to bounce back after a bad outing,” Duncan said. “That one felt good. You want to see your stuff work again. You do whatever you can — you take that time off after you throw to get ready. And it feels good when you come back and do well.”

Bees manager Owen Oreskovich had a message for Duncan after the Jackson loss, and liked Duncan’s response.

“He just had a bad day, and stuff happens,” Oreskovich said. “You know, it happens to the best closers in the league, the best pitchers in the league. Guys have bad days. Sometimes you really can’t control that.

“But I told him after the (Jackson) game, I brought him in and talked to him and told him that you’re still going to go back into that (late-inning) position. It’s not like I lost confidence in you or anything like that. So I don’t know if that totally helped him out. calmed his nerves a little bit but that was huge what he did (against Clinton).”

“I told O the day after that if there’s any situation, and you don’t know who to pitch there, I’ll be that guy,” Duncan said. “You want to get out there as soon as possible to get that feeling off your chest.”

Duncan made three appearances for the Leathernecks last season as a freshman, giving up six earned runs in 2 ⅓ innings before a knee injury sidelined him the rest of the season.

That’s why this summer with the Bees is so important.

“I sat and watched pretty much the whole season — I didn’t get to be in any conference games because of my knee,” Duncan said. “So, yeah, I was ready to go. When I got here, I was like, I’m staying here all summer, I want innings, I want to face college-level hitters. It’s really been really good to be able to play.

“I really haven’t gotten a lot of college guys out. I got three innings in at Western, and they weren’t great. It’s different facing college hitters. They’re not going to chase anything that maybe you get in high school, so that’s why I want to get experience here.”

Duncan used his down time during the college season to watch the older pitchers on the Leathernecks’ roster.

“Pretty much every game, I was back behind home plate, charting pitches, seeing what guys were throwing, trying to pick up as much as I could in how they go through their process,” he said. “I definitely learned a lot, more than what you would think during a season.”

Duncan said he’s talked a lot with Western Illinois coach Terry Davis this summer.

“I’m not sure yet what my role is going to be,” Duncan said. “I’m going to come in there in the fall and compete, see where TD wants me to fit in. I want to pitch meaningful innings this year, and if I do what I know I can do, I’ll have that chance.”

It’s why he doesn’t mind the back roads to get where he wants to go after this summer.

“It’s been a lot of fun here in Burlington,” Duncan said. “I didn’t expect it to be this fun, but I’ve really enjoyed it.”

Photo: Bees reliever Jack Duncan (right) and teammate Chase Golden often are car-pool partners on the ride from Macomb, Illinois to Burlington. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)

BEES 5, THRILLBILLIES 4: Walking It Off For Back-To-Back Wins

By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

Jace Figuereo didn’t know the picket fence of Thrillbillies surrounding the Community Field infield was that daunting.

The Burlington Bees left fielder still had a plan on how he could drive in the winning run of Thursday’s Prospect League game.

It didn’t matter. Figuereo was hit in the thigh by the bouncing pitch of Thrillville reliever Dalton Hitt with the bases loaded, bringing in Jackson Rooker to give the Bees a 5-4 win.

The Bees (4-4 second half) have won back-to-back games for the first time this season, a modest streak that still feels big.

“Every win is a big win,” Figuereo said. “It doesn’t matter who we play, where it was, whatever. To be able to string a couple of wins together is nice. It gives us confidence moving forward.”

“It’s good to see the tide is turning a little bit,” Bees manager Owen Oreskovich said.

The Bees trailed 3-0 and 4-3, then won the game with big plays in the eighth and ninth innings. Cedric Dunnwald hit a solo home run in the eighth inning, then a single, two walks, and Figuereo’s hit by pitch finished the win.

“We feel like we’re in every game no matter what,” Oreskovich said. “It’s just about battling.”

Kinnick Pusteoska led off the bottom of the ninth with a single to right field and was replaced by Rooker. Jackson Reid was called on to bunt Rooker to second, but ended up walking. Nick Meyer also was asked to bunt, but he, too, drew a walk.

So, with the bases loaded and Figuereo coming up, Thrillville manager Ralph Santana brought right fielder Alex Zimmerman to play as a fifth infielder to clog up the middle of the infield.

Figuereo didn’t notice the move.

“They had five guys?” he said. “Where was the fifth guy? No, I didn’t see him.”

Figuereo still had a plan.

“Just put the ball in play, in the air preferably, into the outfield,” he said. “Back in school (at Southeastern Community College), those are situations we practice every day, so that’s where my mentality was.”

Figuereo fouled off the first pitch.

“First swing, I got under it and it went foul, so, right idea,” he said. “The second pitch hit me.”

It did, bouncing in front of the plate and catching him mid-thigh.

“Anything to get on base,” Figuereo said. “I will never complain about a hit-by-pitch, a walk. Anything to get me on base, I’ll take it.”

The Thrillbillies (1-7) scored three runs off Bees starter Jacob Sjuts in the first three innings, then Sjuts retired 11 of the last 12 hitters he faced to keep his team in the game.

The Bees got one run in the third inning when Jeremy Figueroa’s double scored Figuereo. They then tied the game in the seventh when Meyer’s double into the left-center field gap scored Pusteoska and Reid.

**Bees pitcher Joe Evans got the win in his final appearance of the season. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)**

Evans (2-2), such a crucial part of the Bees’ bullpen all season, gave up a run in the eighth. He walked Alex Wilson with two outs, then Wilson advanced to third on Evans’ errant pickoff throw and scored on a wild pitch.

“I was struggling in the eighth inning,” Evans said. “But I know my teammates can pick me up.”

Dunnwald did pick Evans up with his first home run of the season, setting up the ninth.

Evans pitched a scoreless top of the inning, finishing his season the right way.

“It was a really good outing for the last time in Burlington,” Evans said. “I had a lot of fun. It was fantastic. A lot of great memories, meeting great guys from great places. I learned a lot from different people from different programs. It’s been a blast.

“I was hoping we didn’t end up losing this one.”

They didn’t.

Photo: Burlington Bees left fielder Jace Figuereo is doused with water after getting hit by a pitch to force in the winning run in Thursday’s game. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)

BEES 6, THRILLBILLIES 2: A Night When It All Clicks

It was a game that Burlington Bees manager Owen Oreskovich had wanted, and even predicted.

Oreskovich knew that even with his team’s first-half struggles in the Prospect League, the roster makeup was such that the Bees can make a second-half run.

Wednesday’s 6-2 win over the Thrillville Thrillbillies at Community Field was an example of that.

The Bees (3-4 second half) got production from everywhere in the lineup, the perfect pitching tandem in Jacob Zahner and Michael Schaul, and error-free defense.

“We won today, we’ve lost a couple of games, but I feel like all of our games in the second half so far, it felt like we could win,” Oreskovich said. “And that’s a good feeling.”

The big key to this win, though, was Zahner, who put together his best pitching performance of the season. Zahner (1-3) came into the game with a 6.65 earned run average, with opponents hitting .284 against him, but he held the Thrillbillies to just six hits over six innings, and outside of the two-run second inning kept them from scoring.

“I thought he had a lot of life on his fastball,” Oreskovich said. “He made pitches when he had to. He had that two-run inning, but he went back out there and threw up zeros. It was huge.”

Oreskovich let Zahner have the sixth inning with the Bees up 3-2, and how he escaped it was big for him, and his teammates.

Zahner allowed singles to Mark Kattula and Bryson Arnette to open the inning. He got Carson Garner on a flyout to right field, then got Cam Hill to ground into a 5-4 force play. Zahner then struck out Alex Wilson to end the inning and his night.

“I thought he was rolling,” Oreskovich said. “I thought he had a little more life on his fastball than in the past. I thought he was feeling good, rolling. I think he deserved that inning.

“I was going to let him finish that out. He deserved that, as well.”

An inning later, the Bees added to their lead with a three-run seventh inning capped by Keanu Spenser’s two-run double.

“We got momentum from how the sixth inning ended, and you’ve got to keep momentum rolling in this game,” Oreskovich said.

Schaul closed the game with three scoreless innings, striking out four for his second save of the season.

**Jace Figuereo singles in the seventh inning. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)**

The Bees had nine hits. Jeremy Figueroa had three hits and Jace Figuereo had two at the top of the lineup — Figuereo’s two-run double in the fourth put Burlington in the lead — but there was production everywhere in the lineup.

Even the players who didn’t have a hit contributed. Scotty Savage went 0-of-4, but scored a run. Corey Boyette and Jackson Rooker also went hitless, but each drove in a run.

Jacob Hustedde (0-2) was the losing pitcher.

Photo: Bees pitcher Jacob Zahner allowed two runs in six innings for his first win of the season. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)

RIVER DRAGONS 7, BEES 4: One That Got Away Late

By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

It was a game the Burlington Bees had control of until they didn’t.

Alton scored four runs over the final two innings — three in the ninth — to take a 7-4 win in Tuesday’s rain-delayed Prospect League game at Community Field.

The Bees (2-4 second half) led 4-3 going into the eighth inning before a costly throwing error allowed the River Dragons (3-3) to tie the game. Then Alton broke the game open in the ninth, getting all of their runs after two were out.

What was frustrating for Bees manager Owen Oreskovich was how the River Dragons got their runs.

Reliever Chase Golden had pitched three shutout innings and had gotten one out in the eighth when Alton’s Joe Connolly singled to center field. But an attempt to throw out Connolly, who had made a wide turn, at first base went sailing away, allowing Connolly to move to second base. Connolly then scored on Justin Santoyo’s single.

“I thought Goldie was great,” Oreskovich said. “If we don’t throw the ball away trying to make a play after it’s wet, I think it’s a different inning. Those at-bats are different, those pitches are different. Maybe we get (a double play) and get out of there with the lead.”

Then came a stormy ninth inning which saw two ejections before the River Dragons put together their rally.

Left fielder R.J. LaRocco struck out to open the inning and argued with home plate umpire Dana Wilson, who threw LaRocco out of the game. Just two pitches into Zane Timon’s at bat, first-base coach Kurt Russell was ejected by base umpire Sam Hufnagle.

Timon struck out for the second out, then pinch-hitter Cole Schrank singled. Cooper Howell walked, then Connolly singled to load the bases. Duncan hit Santoyo in the ankle with a pitch to bring in pinch-runner Dane Stevenson, then Erik Broekemeier’s two-run single capped the scoring.

The Bees loaded the bases in the ninth inning against Carter Hunt, but Merrick Mathews was called out on strikes and Cedric Dunnwald popped out to first to end the game.

“We’ve got to get a hit there,” Oreskovich said. “You get a run there, and their pitcher gets even more rattled, then who knows what happens from there.”

The Bees fell behind 3-0 in the first inning. Howell reached on an error, advanced to second on Connolly’s ground out, stole third base, then scored on a fielder’s choice. Preston Wright then added a two-run single.

Bees starter Jackson Wohlers settled in after that, pitching three shutout innings.

Burlington got two runs back in the fourth inning on Dunnwald’s single that scored Keanu Spenser and Cooper Donlin.

Wohlers would have come out for the fifth inning, but heavy rain hit the ballpark as soon as the fourth inning ended, leading to a rain delay of 1 hour, 13 minutes.

“I had no problem putting him back out there,” Oreskovich said. “He was pitching well, and he could have given us at least one more inning.”

Scott Detweiler (2-1) was the winning pitcher. Duncan (1-2) took the loss.

Photo: Burlington Bees first baseman Merrick Mathews waits for the throw as Alton’s Cooper Howell races down the line in the second inning. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)

THE MONDAY HIVE: Spenser Comes Back With Fond Memories

By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

Keanu Spenser’s college baseball season wasn’t quite what he wanted, thanks to a bout with appendicitis.

But before that happened, Spenser had already made up his mind where he wanted to play his summer baseball this year.

Spenser is back with the Burlington Bees, playing the second half in the Prospect League.

Why he came back, he said, was simple.

“Honestly, last year’s experience here was something I had never experienced before with baseball, and I just wanted to come back and be a part of it again,” Spenser said.

Spenser hit .304 with the Bees last season, with a team-high 10 home runs to go with 42 runs batted in. He was second on the team with 52 hits, and posted a .978 OPS.

But his appreciation of playing in Burlington had nothing to do with his statistics.

“The No. 1 thing is just the fan base here,” he said. “It’s a raw baseball experience. The host families — they don’t even know us, but they open their homes to us. People come out to the games. They enjoy the Bees, they enjoy baseball. They’re true fans of the game.

“It was the most fun I had ever had playing baseball. It meant the world to me.”

It’s why, around Christmas break, Spenser reached out to Bees manager Owen Oreskovich and said he wanted to play with the team again this season, but only for a half of the season.

“He said the second half was going to be open, so I just jumped right on it,” Spenser said.

A few weeks later, as Spenser was getting ready for his season at Queens University in Charlotte, N.C., an NCAA Division I program in the ASUN Conference, he woke up one morning with a deep pain in his stomach.

“I knew it wasn’t right,” Spenser said. “I went to class, to see if maybe it would feel better, but by the end of class it wasn’t. I called our trainer, he checked me out, and he was like, ‘Yeah, you should probably go to the ER.’

“When I got there, they did an MRI, injected me with some dye to check it out. The lady was like, ‘Yeah, your appendix needs to come out now before it blows.’”

Spenser knew such a surgery would likely end his season before it started, but a doctor presented him with an alternative.

“He said I could take some antibiotics, see if I could clear up the infection so the inflammation would go down,” Spenser said. “He said there would be an 85 percent chance of it working. So I called my parents, talked with them, and I said I was going to take the antibiotics, because it would be my only shot at playing this season.

“Everything worked out. I took the antibiotics, the inflammation went down. That way I didn’t have to have surgery.”

But it was enough of a setback that Spenser didn’t get a lot of playing time. He played in just 13 games, hitting .222 with three home runs and five RBIs.

“I understood it,” Spenser said. “The coaches, it’s their job. Our other first baseman was playing better, so I played some at designated hitter and I did some pinch-hitting.”

Spenser headed back to his home in Scottsdale, Arizona after the season, putting on some weight while playing in the Copper State League to get some work in before coming to Burlington.

Spenser has played in four games with the Bees, hitting .364.

“I think having those few weeks of playing in Arizona was good, getting regular at-bats,” Spenser said. “It’s definitely been a good confidence booster coming in here and doing well.”

Spenser is back in a clubhouse with some familiar faces from last season, but he is also getting to know some new players, including three players from Hawaii Pacific — outfielder Cooper Donlin, pitcher Shea Blanchard and infielder Skyler Agnew — where Spenser will be transferring to play next season.

“I just wanted to be able to go play baseball in Hawaii, if I had the opportunity to do that,” Spenser said. “And knowing in the last few seasons they’ve played amazing, I knew it would be a good place. It was kind of a no-brainer.

“Shea, Cooper, and Skyler are great guys. It’s been fun getting to know them.”

Spenser said he wants to spend this month with the Bees refining his swing.

If anything, he said, it’s good to be back in a place where he’s enjoyed playing.

“I really like being here,” Spenser said.

Photo: Keanu Spenser looks on from the third-base dugout at Community Field in his second season with the Burlington Bees. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)

BEES 5, LUCKY HORSESHOES 0: A Week Of Mastery For Theriot

By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

The final out of David Theriot Jr.’s second biggest outing of the week hadn’t yet settled into shortstop Landon Akers’ glove as Burlington Bees manager Owen Oreskovich popped out of the third-base dugout.

Theriot’s 96th pitch that induced the popout by Springfield’s Gavin Erhardt was his last, according to the Prospect League’s pitch limit, and Oreskovich was on his way to the mound in the final act of a brilliant performance.

And as Theriot left the mound, many in the Community Field crowd gave him a standing ovation.

Theriot threw 6 ⅔ shutout innings for his second win over Springfield in seven days, a 5-0 victory on Saturday night.

The Bees were wearing specialty jerseys for the game, and Theriot’s was auctioned off for $80.

How much was his pitching worth?

“More than that,” Oreskovich said, laughing. “More than that, for sure.”

Theriot allowed just four hits, walked three, and struck out four, throwing 57 strikes in his second bedeviling of the Lucky Horseshoes this week.

Theriot allowed two hits and struck out seven in seven shutout innings of last Sunday’s 2-0 win at Springfield to end the first half.

“He’s had two unbelievable outings the last two times out, and I kind of expect that out of him because of how he is, the competitor he is,” Oreskovich said. “He hates losing just as much as I do, which is kind of a hard thing.”

This outing wasn’t quite as crisp, but Theriot had a similar approach.

“What I try to do, when it normally works for me, is just get ahead in the count,” Theriot said. “Tonight the first inning was a little sloppy, but I still got the zero.”

Ah, yes, the first inning.

Theriot opened the game with a walk to Jimmy Koza. Wandel Campana followed with a single. Tyler Butina was hit by a pitch.

Then one of those things that has seemed to happen to the Bees this season happened to someone else.

***Bees right fielder Cooper Donlin makes a diving catch in the first inning. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)***

Theriot struck out Jaison Andujar for the first out, then Collin Jennings hit a line drive that Bees right fielder Cooper Donlin lunged to catch. It looked like a sacrifice fly as Koza raced to the plate. But the Bees appealed that Koza left early, and Koza was called out.

“Oh, it was huge,” Theriot said. “Initially I thought the play was butchered by the umpire. A lot of the guys in the dugout started yelling (Koza) left early. We’ll take it. We’ll take the zero.”

“He got out of that jam early — bases loaded, no outs, and then he gets a strikeout and a double play,” Oreskovich said. “That’s huge. That propels the rest of the game for him. That’s a little weight off his shoulders. That was the difference.

“That’s a good feeling. You want to throw a zero up in the first inning, make a statement for the game. Hell of a play by Coop, and then we get the double play.”

Theriot then commanded the game from that point. Springfield had baserunners in every inning but the fifth against Theriot, but only one reached second base.

“Some guys did get some decent barrels on me, but it worked out fine,” Theriot said. “Guys made the plays behind me.”

The Bees took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Corey Boyette’s single to right field scored Akers. Boyette would score on Skyler Agnew’s single, and Donlin scored on Nick Meyer’s bases-loaded walk.

Bryce Brown’s two-run single drove in Jackson Lindquist and Meyer in the fourth inning closed the scoring for Burlington.

Oreskovich was hoping to get a full seven innings out of Theriot, knowing that he was up against the league’s 95-pitch limit — pitchers can finish the hitter they’re facing if they get to that mark. A one-out single by Tristan Meny jeopardized the chance to reach that goal.

“O said, ‘You’ve got to get out of this in 12 pitches. That’s all you’ve got,’” said Theriot, a senior at Texas Wesleyan. “I fell short a little bit.

“I could have kept going. But I know it’s summer ball. I’m sure my coach was watching, and I’m sure he was like, ‘Get out of there now.’”

“He can get a nice little sendoff after the seventh if he can get a clean (inning),” Oreskovich said. “But he still got a nice sendoff.”

Joe Evans then completed the shutout, throwing 2 ⅓ innings, allowing one hit while striking out five.

The Bees made the most of their six hits. Donlin, who went 0-for-3, had his 17-game hitting streak snapped.

It was Burlington’s second win in the second half after winning just six in the first half.

“I do hope that things can start changing here, and the baseball gods can start changing some things,” Oreskovich said. “We’ve got to play clean baseball, and we did that tonight. We threw strikes, got ahead, worked out of jams. If we do that, we’ll be just fine.”

“This was fun,” Theriot said. “We’re going to see more of this. We’re going to see wins. We need to.”

Photo: Bees pitcher David Theriot Jr., threw 6 2/3 shutout innings in Saturday’s 5-0 win over Springfield. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)

LUMBERKINGS 11, BEES 3: A Time For Hellos And Goodbyes

By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

The second half of the Prospect League season is usually a time for roster changes.

Pitchers who arrived in the first half have reached their innings limit, or position players have had enough at-bats.

It’s become that way for the Burlington Bees in the last week, with the arrival of some old faces and some new ones, and the departures of players who have been around since the beginning.

Some of the new faces made some noise in Friday’s game against the Clinton LumberKings at Community Field, but it wasn’t enough to keep the Bees from falling, 11-3.

Shortstop Bryce Brown, playing in his second game with the Bees, hit a two-run home run in the first inning. Designated hitter Keanu Spenser, who was with the team last season, had two hits and scored a run.

The Bees won just six games in the first half, so getting help to make a second-half run was going to be necessary.

“It’s a little more fun in (batting practice), because you’ve got some fresh guys out there, showing what they are able to do,” Bees manager Owen Oreskovich said. “And it’s a little bit of a challenge to the other guys.

“It’s kind of a fresh feeling for everybody.”

Oreskovich has gotten a spark from two players he had last season. Spenser is hitting .444 with a three-game hitting streak to start his season. Corey Boyette is hitting .297 in his first nine games.

“I enjoy having them, because I know what they’re capable of doing,” Oreskovich said. “It’s kind of a little bit of a bonus for me, getting to see some guys I’ve seen play before. I know they’re capable of doing incredible things.”

There are departures, too. Pitcher Bobby Helt, who had reached his innings limit for the summer, gave Oreskovich six innings of strong pitching in Thursday’s 4-1 win at Clinton, allowing just one run.

“I’ve had him for three years here, and he’s one of the best,” Oreskovich said. “It’s tough to see him go, but I totally understand it.”

Brown gave the Bees a 2-0 lead in the first inning with his home run to left field for his first hit with the team. But what could have been an early spark didn’t lead to anything else in the inning.

Cooper Donlin followed with a double, extending his hitting streak to 17 games and on-base streak to 21, but was picked off second base for the first out of the inning. Skyler Agnew singled with two outs, but he was picked off at first.

Clinton took a 4-2 lead in the second inning, then broke open the game with six runs in the sixth.

The Bees could have gotten out of the inning with no runs had they been able to turn a double play. Clinton had the bases loaded with one out when Byron Blaise hit a grounder to third baseman Carson Bittner. Bittner, who had to reach to his left to field the ball, came back to get the force out at third, but his throw to first base was late and a run scored.

Blake Timmons followed with an RBI double, James Hackett singled in two runs, Gage Franck had a double to drive in a run, then Jesse Contreras singled in a run.

“You take care of the little things, and big things fall into place,” Oreskovich said. “Little things like not getting a double play, or getting picked off in an inning where we could have gotten more runs, they hurt.”

Jack Surdey (2-1) was the winning pitcher. Jacob Zahner took the loss.

Photo: Burlington’s Bryce Brown (left) is greeted at home plate by Cooper Donlin (center) and Jace Figuereo after his two-run home run in the first inning. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)

LUMBERKINGS 11, BEES 5: Errors Loom Over Second Loss Of Second Half

By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

The errors always seem to come at a bad time for the Burlington Bees.

Three errors led to three unearned runs in Wednesday’s 11-5 loss to the Clinton LumberKings in a Prospect League game at Community Field.

The Bees fell to 0-2 in the second half, and while manager Owen Oreskovich said he felt like his team was getting ready to break through after a 6-23 first half, the costly mistakes keep holding them back.

The Bees are tied for third in the league with 55 errors leading to 44 unearned runs.

Two throwing errors in the fifth and sixth innings helped Clinton build a 9-3 lead, and kept the Bees from mounting a comeback.

“That seems to be nothing new with how the summer has gone so far,” Oreskovich said. “It’s one of those things we can’t seem to kick.”

Each team had 13 hits, but the LumberKings (3-0) made the most of theirs. Six of the Bees’ hits came with two outs, which kept any sort of rally from developing.

“We need to get hits before there are two outs, which would be another beneficial thing,” Oreskovich said.

Clinton built a 5-0 lead in the first two innings off Bees starter Jackson Wohlers. Wohlers was hit on the right hip by a line drive from Rayth Peterson, who was the second batter of the game. Four of the five outs Wohlers got in the game were strikeouts, but Oreskovich wondered if the line drive played a role in his struggles.

“I can’t fully say that it affected him,” Oreskovich said. “But it had something to do with it. His slider wasn’t there very much after that, it was kind of staying flat. And his fastball was flat. It was his hip, so trying to push off, it could have affected him.”

The Bees got solid relief pitching. Joe Evans allowed two unearned runs and struck out four in 3 ⅓ innings. Vinny Mauro allowed just one earned run in three innings.

The Bees got two runs in the bottom of the second inning. Keanu Spenser scored on Skyler Agnew’s sacrifice fly to deep right field. Cooper Donlin, who extended his hitting streak to 16 games and on-base streak to 20 games, scored on a wild pitch.

“I like his approach at the plate,” Oreskovich said of Donlin’s streak. “He just gets in the box and does his thing.”

Agnew hit a home run in the fifth inning. Corey Boyette drove in a run with a single in the seventh, then added an RBI single in the ninth.

Photo: Burlington’s Skyler Agnew (left) is greeted by teammate Christian Dunn after his fifth-inning home run. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)

HOOTS 4, BEES 2: A Stormy End To A Calm Night

By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

It was one of those games the Burlington Bees would have liked to have seen gone the distance.

Instead, the Bees opened the second half of the Prospect League season with a 4-2 loss in six innings to the O’Fallon Hoots on Tuesday at Community Field.

The second half is a clean slate for the Bees, who had some momentum after Sunday’s 2-0 win over Springfield that ended the team’s 12-game losing streak.

And they had some momentum in this game, coming back from an early 3-0 deficit. But lightning from nearby thunderstorms forced the game to be suspended before the top of the seventh inning could start, and the ensuing heavy rain washed out the rest of the night.

It was a competitive game, something the Bees didn’t have much of on their last time at home, when they gave up 62 runs in four losses before going on the road for a six-game trip to end the half.

The Bees had seven hits, including two from Landon Akers and Merrick Mathews. Cooper Donlin extended his hitting streak to 15 games with a third-inning single.

Burlington scored its first run in the third inning when Mathews’ single to left field scored Akers. Jackson Lindquist’s double off the left-field wall scored Mathews in the sixth inning.

But the Bees squandered some other scoring chances, leaving two runners on base in four of the first five innings

Burlington also got solid pitching from starter Noah Harbin (0-3) and reliever Michael Schaul. Harbin gave up two earned runs in five innings, then Schaul pitched a perfect sixth inning with two strikeouts.

Photo: Burlington’s Landon Akers is greeted at third base by manager Owen Oreskovich after stealing the base in the third inning. (John Lovretta/bees-blog.com)