BEES 6-11, PISTOL SHRIMP 5-10: Boyette’s Big Night Leads To Sweep

By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

Corey Boyette is in his third season with the Burlington Bees, so manager Owen Oreskovich knows what he is going to get out of him.

Boyette hitting two home runs in two games on Thursday night, then, wasn’t a surprise.

“That kid’s a stud,” Oreskovich said after the Bees swept the Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp, 6-5 and 11-10, in Prospect League games at Community Field.

Boyette’s seventh-inning home run in the first game, a suspended game from June 24, proved to be the winning margin after the Pistol Shrimp rallied for two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. His second home run, a three-run shot to right field in the second game, capped a five-run sixth inning and also proved to be crucial after Illinois Valley scored three runs in the top of the seventh.

“I’m just glad to be out here helping the team,” said Boyette, who will be a senior at Lipscomb University. “It worked out where (the home runs) were pretty important. So I’m glad I could do what I could do.”

Boyette has hit .272 in his three seasons with the Bees, with 11 home runs and 59 runs batted in. He is batting .350 over his last six games, and is tied for the team lead with 21 RBIs

“When he texted me and told me he’s going to be here all summer, that was something I was extremely excited about,” Oreskovich said. “He got off to a little slow start, but he’s probably second or third on our team in RBIs. So he’s a kid you want up with runners in scoring position.”

“This is just my home away from home,” Boyette said. “Got a great relationship with the coaching staff, and I just want to come here and help them win.”

The Bees trailed 7-6 going into the bottom of the sixth before their offense broke out. Danny Rollins’ single to center field scored Kooper Schulte. Caleb Seibers’ triple scored Rollins to put Burlington in front. Three batters later, Boyette pounded a fastball from Jared Herzog (1-1) over the right-field fence.

“I expected him to go back to the heater, and he did,” said Boyette, who walked against Herzog in the fifth inning. “Didn’t miss it.”

Illinois Valley threatened in the top of the seventh inning. The Pistol Shrimp scored three runs and had runners on second and third with two outs, but Bees reliever Braeden Sunken, pitching for the second time on the night, got Kyle Gibson to ground out to end the game.

Shawn Scott (1-0) was the winning pitcher.

***Burlington Bees reliever Braeden Sunken closed out both wins. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)***

The suspended game was tied at 3 when it resumed with the Bees batting in the sixth inning, and it didn’t take them long to get runs.

Seibers and Caleb Klein each drove in runs in the sixth inning, then Boyette’s home run in the seventh pushed the lead to 6-3.

Illinois Valley got both of its runs in the seventh off Sunken, who then got A.J. Weller to ground out with a runner on second base to end the game.

Parker Lewin (1-1) was the winning pitcher. Caleb Okada (2-2) was the losing pitcher.

The first half of the Prospect League season ends on Friday — the Bees play host to Quincy — then the second half opens Saturday with the Bees playing host to Normal.

“These guys have a want to win,” Oreskovich said. “So when we can’t, it bothers them just as much as it bothers me. So it was really good to close out that first one, jump on them kind of right away (in the second game), and then finish it out. Little nervous at the end of both of them, but that’s two (wins), so can’t complain about that.”

Top photo: Burlington’s Corey Boyette hits a three-run home run in Thursday’s second game against Illinois Valley. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)

BEES 8, CORNBELTERS 7: Two-Out Magic Helps Extend Winning Streak

By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

Every run the Burlington Bees scored in Monday’s 8-7 win over the Normal CornBelters came with two outs.

“And that’s how you win games,” manager Owen Oreskovich said. “It’s just plain and simple.”

“That says we don’t quit with two outs,” said designated hitter Dash Denton, whose ninth-inning single brought home pinch-runner Noah Company with the winning run.

The Bees (5-2) extended their winning streak to four games by rallying from an early 4-0 deficit with the timely hits and a bullpen that only allowed one unearned run from the third through eighth innings.

“We don’t ever get down on ourselves,” Denton said. “Even though we’re down in the game, we’ve got to keep going, keep scoring.”

The CornBelters (3-4) tied the game in the top of the ninth with their own two-out magic when Caleb Royer hit a two-run home run off Bees reliever Parker Lewin (1-0). The home run, Denton said, didn’t affect the Bees’ mood.

“We knew we were going to win in the bottom of the ninth, no doubt about it,” he said.

Keanu Spenser led off the inning with a walk and was replaced at first by Company, who immediately stole second base. Corey Boyette was called out on strikes, then Abrahan Rios was intentionally walked. Griffin Bushnell struck out for the second out, bringing Denton up. Denton then singled past third baseman Nolan McCrossin, and Company came home with the winning run.

The Bees slowly carved away at the early Normal lead.

Kooper Schulte hit a two-run home run in the third inning, then Spenser got the Bees to within 4-3 on an RBI single in the fifth.

Boyette then put Burlington in front with a two-run single in the seventh, followed by Rios’ RBI single.

Normal cut the lead to 6-5 in the eighth on an unearned run. The Bees got that run back in the bottom of the inning on Caleb Seibers’ run-scoring single.

Bees starter Alex Logan gave up four runs in the first two innings, but relievers Jack Duncan and Kaimana Burgo kept the CornBelters from adding on to their lead. Duncan pitched two scoreless innings despite allowing six baserunners, including four who were hit by pitches. Burgo scattered three hits over three scoreless innings while striking out four.

Shawn Scott overcame wildness to the first two hitters he faced to get out of the eighth with only the unearned run. Lewin was able to get out of the ninth inning after the home run, getting a lineout from Shea Zbrosek with runners on first and second to end the inning.

“Dunc didn’t have his good stuff but he got us two zeros,” Oreskovich said. “Kaimana did a fantastic job — three zeros, filled up the (strike) zone. Shawn got out of his inning. (Lewin) made good pitches except the one he left a little too far out over the plate.

“This was really a team win.”

Two-out magic makes a big difference.

“Never gave up,” Oreskovich said. “It would have been easy to give up, especially after that second inning. But just that speaks words about this group we got here, and you know, it might be something special.”

Top photo: Burlington Bees players congratulate Dash Denton (8) after his game-winning hit on Monday. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)

BEES 12, QUINCY 5: Schulte’s Cycle Leads Opening Rout

By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

Kooper Schulte’s first batting practice session with the Burlington Bees on Tuesday was, by his description, “pretty, pretty bad.”

His first game of the Prospect League season was a lot better.

Schulte hit for the cycle, going 5-for-5 with five runs batted in the Bees’ 12-5 win over the Quincy Doggy Paddlers in the season opener at Community Field.

“It was the first time I’d hit with a wood bat in almost a year,” Schulte said of his afternoon struggles.

Schulte opened the game with a first-inning triple. He hit a two-run home run to left field in the third inning, singled home a run in the fourth, drove in two more runs with a bloop single in the fifth, then opened the seventh inning with a double.

Schulte said he wasn’t sure about the significance of what had happened when he heard the cheers after the double into the right-center field gap that gave him the cycle.

“I asked O (Bees manager Owen Oreskovich) what was going on, and he said, ‘You just hit for the cycle,’” Schulte said, smiling.

“I knew what he needed to do, but I wasn’t going to bring it up,” Oreskovich said, laughing.

Oreskovich wasn’t sure early Monday if he was going to have Schulte for the opener. Schulte, who is from nearby New London, just finished the season with Iowa — the Hawkeyes lost to UCLA in Saturday’s Big Ten Tournament semifinals — but he sent Oreskovich a text message in the afternoon that he was going to be available.

“We had exit meetings with the coaches this morning, got back to New London by 11 o’clock this morning, and I was on my way here by noon,” Schulte said.

“I’m always glad to have that kid in the lineup,” Oreskovich said.

Schulte, who hit .268 for Iowa this season, played for the Bees in 2023, hitting .373 before a hand injury ended his season. So Oreskovich knows what he has in the shortstop.

“I think it’s the way he’s brought up, you know, especially with his father being who he is (Southeastern Community College coach Justin Schulte), one of the most winningest coaches out there right now,” Oreskovich said. “But I think it’s just the way he’s brought up with his work ethic — he’s one of the hardest workers ever. And, you know, he hates losing and he hates failing.”

***Burlington’s Keanu Spenser rounds the bases after his fourth-inning home run (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)***

The Bees broke open a 3-3 game with a four-run fourth inning capped by Keanu Spenser’s home run to deep left field. They added two runs in the fifth, two in the sixth and one in the seventh.

Everyone in the Bees’ lineup reached base. Burlington had 14 hits.

“It was awesome to see that,” Oreskovich said. “And we’ve got some guys still to come in here who can do some damage.”

The Bees went 6-23 in the first half last season, and the talk in the clubhouse before the game was about starting strong.

“These guys want to win,” Oreskovich said.

“It feels good to start out 1-0,” Schulte said. “There’s a lot of energy in here, a lot of good vibes, with a win like this.”

Parker Lewin, the second of four Bees pitchers, got the win, pitching 2 ⅓ scoreless innings.

The Bees go on the road to end the week with four games — Wednesday and Thursday at Normal and Friday and Saturday at Clinton.

“We’ve got to stay locked in,” Oreskovich said. “Going on the road is kind of always tough, especially when you’re on the road for multiple days in a row. But this is a different group, so I think they’re up for the challenge, and I don’t think it’s going to matter to them too much.”

Top photo: Bees shortstop Kooper Schulte slides into third on his first-inning triple. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)