ROCKABILLYS 4, BEES 3: A Simple Matter Of Execution

By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

Just one hit in the last five innings could have made a difference for the Burlington Bees.

But Saturday’s 4-3 11-inning loss to the Jackson Rockabillys in a Prospect League game at Community Field came down to simple execution.

And that left Bees manager Owen Oreskovich frustrated.

The Bees (10-16) stranded 16 baserunners, including 10 in the final five innings in which they went hitless.

“I don’t know when the last time was we got a hit in that game, but it was a long time,” Oreskovich said. “But we’ve got to do a better job, and be better.”

The closest the Bees came to a hit came in the ninth inning, and it might have produced the winning run. Burlington had runners on first and second with one out when Caleb Wulf hit a hard grounder that look like it would get into the space between Jackson third baseman Carter Vrabel and shortstop Ayden Hamilton. But Vrabel, the son of Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel, made a diving stab of the grounder and got up to get the force out at second. Brandon Bickford struck out to end the inning.

The Rockabillys (10-17) scored the winning run in the 11th without a hit. Wesley Mann started the inning on second base under the league’s extra-inning rule and moved to third on Vrabel’s groundout. Hamilton’s sacrifice fly then scored Mann.

The Bees tried a similar path in the bottom of the inning. Trent Rice started the inning on second and moved to third on Coy Sarsfield’s sacrifice bunt. But Keanu Spenser struck out, then Wulf grounded out to end the game.

The Bees built a 3-1 lead over the first five innings. Tanner Holland drove in all of the runs with an RBI single in the third inning and a two-run single in the fifth.

Jackson tied the game in the seventh. James Denten and Tyler Heckert singled to open the inning, then Griffon Cameron’s single to right field scored Denten. Cameron got caught in a rundown between first and second, and was tagged out as Heckert raced home with the tying run.

Cauy Massner, making his last start of the season for the Bees, gave up three runs in 6 ⅔ innings. Jaden Siemer pitched 3 ⅓ scoreless innings of relief. Golden (1-1) took the loss.

“I thought Massner was great,” Oreskovich said. “That’s as good as he’s pitched all season, and I was hoping we could get one in the win column for him. Siemer was outstanding, and Goldy pitched well even though they got that run.”

Jamal Allen (1-1) was the winning pitcher.

ON DECK: The Bees play at Quincy in a 6:30 p.m. game on Sunday.

NOTES: Bees shortstop Kooper Schulte, 10th in the league with a .373 batting average, is out indefinitely with a hand injury suffered when he was hit by a pitch in the first inning of the first game of Thursday’s doubleheader against Springfield. “He’s going to be out for a while,” Oreskovich said. … Sarsfield, who was hit on the elbow in Wednesday’s game against Jackson, pinch-ran for Mason Schwalbach in the ninth inning in his first appearance since being injured. … Outfielder Corey Boyette joined the Bees. Boyette played for NJCAA Division II national champion Heartland Community College this spring, hitting .457 with six home runs and 76 runs batted in.

Photo: Cauy Massner delivers a pitch in Saturday’s game. (John Lovretta/bees-blog.com)

Box score

BEES 6-3, LUCKY HORSESHOES 4-1: A Sweep, And Some Momentum

By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

Owen Oreskovich couldn’t help smiling.

“That,” the Burlington Bees’ manager said after Thursday’s Prospect League doubleheader sweep of the Springfield Lucky Horseshoes, “is how we should be playing baseball.”

The two wins — 6-4 in the first game, 3-1 in the second game — had all of the formula that Oreskovich has wanted out of his team this season.

It was timely hitting — Tanner Holland’s two-run single broke a 3-all tie in the fourth inning of the first game, and Brandon Bickford’s double into the left-center field gap broke a 1-all tie in the second game.

It was strong bullpen work — Jake Jakubowski struck out two of the three hitters he faced in the seventh to save the first game, and Chase Golden struck out five in two innings to get the win in the second game.

And it was about putting constant pressure on the Lucky Horseshoes — the Bees had runners on base in five of their six innings on offense in the first game, and in five of the six innings in the second game.

Suddenly the Bees (10-14), who gave up 26 runs in two losses to O’Fallon earlier in the week, have won three consecutive games since then, and have won five of their last seven.

“We call this a winning streak. Three is a winning streak,” Oreskovich said, laughing. “Glad we can finally get to that point. Everybody’s believing in each other now.”

The sound of winning echoed through the Bees’ clubhouse on a late night.

“You can hear it from down there,” Oreskovich said.

The losses early in the week seemed a long time ago, but there was a lesson in them.

“We were a little harsh when we had to be,” Oreskovich said. “Even teammate-wise, like, ‘Hey, you’re not doing what you’re doing, and you’ve got to do it.'”

Oreskovich knew, even after the losses to O’Fallon, that his pitching staff could come up with the key innings the Bees needed to win, and in this streak — and especially in this doubleheader — the mound work has been impressive.

Jeremy Fox (1-2) scattered eight hits over five innings to win the first game. Rem Maxwell walked four of the first eight hitters he faced to start the second game, but settled in to retire seven of the next eight hitters.

Golden (1-0), who came into the game with a 12.46 ERA, struck out the first two and last two hitters he faced before turning the game over to Drew Martin in the seventh, who got Springfield’s Patrick Graham to ground into a double play to end the game.

“We’ve been talking about how it looks like it’s right there for this staff,” Oreskovich said. “And tonight, it is there. A hell of a job by our staff.”

That kept the Bees in position for that key inning, and it came in the sixth. Bickford’s double scored Keanu Spenser from first base, then Bickford would score on Cedric Dunnwald’s single.

The same kind of inning happened in the first game, when Holland singled to bring in Drew Gaskins and Trent Rice. Holland then stole second and third, and scored on Connor Laeng’s single.

The Bees ended their longest homestand of the season with a winning streak, and momentum.

“I think it’s incredible for us, going forward as a team,” Oreskovich said.

NOTES: Bees shortstop Kooper Schulte left the first game after being hit on the left arm by a pitch. Schulte didn’t play in the second game. Coy Sarsfield, who was hit on the elbow in Wednesday’s win over Jackson, didn’t play in either game. … The doubleheader started an hour late because of travel issues for Springfield, caused by a line of storms that swept through central Illinois late Thursday morning and into the afternoon. “Their manager said they were getting ready to leave when the storms hit, and they had to shelter in the clubhouse,” Oreskovich said. The bus trip then took longer than expected because of detours caused by closed highways.

Photo: Burlington’s Jaden Hackbarth singles in the first inning of Thursday’s first game of a doubleheader at Community Field. (John Lovretta/bees-blog.com)

BEES 17, ROCKABILLYS 4: 10-Run Second Inning More Than Enough

By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

Blake Gaskey was happy to watch the Burlington Bees turn the Community Field base paths into a speedway.

The Bees scored 10 second-inning runs and raced to a 17-4 win over the Jackson Rockabillys in Wednesday’s Prospect League game.

Burlington (9-15) had four stolen bases in the second inning, putting pressure on a Jackson defense which would commit four errors in the inning and five in the game.

“We’ve been on that side before, making five errors in a game,” Bees manager Owen Oreskovich said. “It’s not fun, but that’s what happens when you put the ball in play. You make the other teams make plays.”

The Rockabillys (9-15) didn’t make plays and Gaskey, the Bees’ starting pitcher, was the beneficiary of all of that offense, which allowed him to stay calm through five innings of work.

Fifteen hitters later, he had a 10-2 lead.

“It’s definitely a little bit rewarding to be able to go out there the next inning to know that I got run support and I could just do my thing,” said Gaskey, who struck out four and allowed just two earned runs.

“Gaskey did a hell of a job,” Oreskovich said. “Our offense backed him up, putting the ball in play.”

Gaskey didn’t give up a run in the third and fourth innings, then after allowing a two-run home run to Dalton Rudd in the fifth inning, retired the last three hitters he faced.

“Really, it was just being able to throw strikes with the fastball and the slider,” Gaskey said. “I was able to throw strikes with my change-up, but I was leaving it up and I knew I wouldn’t be successful with it. I just worked with what I had, tried to get first-pitch outs.”

Gaskey’s outing helped conserve the Bees’ bullpen with a doubleheader against Springfield scheduled for Thursday. The game was shortened to seven innings because of the poor air quality that left a smoky haze over the ballpark.

“(Going five innings) was really important, especially since it was a seven-inning game,” Gaskey said..

The Bees kept pounding the Rockabillys. They scored five runs in the fourth inning, an outburst that included Keanu Spenser’s second grand slam of the season.

Spenser, who added a run-scoring double in the fifth inning, is now batting .300 for the season and is tied with Mason Schwalbach for the team lead in home runs. Spenser has a four-game hitting streak, hitting .353 in the streak.

“He’s seeing it well right now,” Oreskovich said. “He doesn’t let any bad at-bat affect him, and that’s a really good thing he has.”

Will Schnepf (0-2) was the losing pitcher. Only two of the runs he allowed in the second inning were earned.

ON DECK: The Bees and Springfield play a doubleheader beginning at 5 p.m. Tuesday’s game between the two teams was postponed because of the poor air quality.NOTES: Oreskovich said the hazy conditions didn’t seem to cause problems for his team, but said visibility got worse as the sun set. “I didn’t see those last couple of fly balls,” he said. “Somehow the outfielders did.” … Jackson third baseman Carter Vrabel, the son of Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel, was 0-for-4 in the game and scored a run.

Photo: Bees starter Blake Gaskey picked up the win, allowing two earned runs in five innings. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)

HOOTS 15, BEES 5: Pair Of Six-Run Innings Lead To Frustration

By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

One six-run inning was costly.

Two of those? Too much.

The Burlington Bees’ 15-5 loss to the O’Fallon Hoots in Monday’s Prospect League game at Community Field was a lesson in frustration for the home team.

Bees’ pitchers gave up 14 walks and 13 hits, leading to a parade of Hoots on the bases.

O’Fallon’s six-run second inning set an early tone. The six-run fourth proved fatal.

“One is bad enough,” Bees manager Owen Oreskovich said. “The second one…”

The Bees (7-14) seemed to have weathered the first outburst. They were within 6-5 before the Hoots knocked out Burlington starter Aiden McGee.

McGee got out of the first inning by striking out the last two hitters, then O’Fallon had a seven-hit second to take a 6-2 lead. McGee responded with a scoreless third and Oreskovich was hoping he had settled in for a longer outing.

Instead, McGee loaded the bases with nobody out, ending his night. O’Fallon’s Chase Beattie then cleared the bases with a double into right-center field off reliever Adrian Nery. The Hoots (12-9) added three more runs off Nery in the inning, and it was a 12-5 lead.

“I thought (McGee) was going to be able to start that fourth inning off right, and it wasn’t the case,” Oreskovich said. “It’s tough to bring in a kid with bases loaded, nobody out, and ask him to get out of that with no damage. We just had to do a better job.”

O’Fallon added three more runs in the sixth inning with two outs. Reliever Nick Tampa hit Ethan Rossow with a pitch, then walked the next three hitters to bring in a run. John Stallcup’s two-run single closed the scoring for the game.

“We had a couple of innings tonight where we get two outs right away, and then there’s two or three walks and then a hit,” Oreskovich said. “That can’t happen. You’ve got to bear down, make a pitch. Focus on that pitch, and make it.”

The Bees got an early lead, getting two in the bottom of the first inning on Mason Schwalbach’s home run to right field. They added a run in the third when Jaden Hackbarth singled in Caleb Wulf, then got two more in the third when Kooper Schulte drove in a run, then scored on a wild pitch.

Drew Politte (4-2) was the winning pitcher.

ON DECK: The Bees play host to the Springfield Lucky Horseshoes in a 6:30 p.m. game Tuesday. Jeremy Fox (0-2, 11.57 ERA) will be the starting pitcher for Burlington.

NOTES: Schwalbach is now third in the league in home runs with five. … Burlington’s Coy Sarsfield extended his hitting streak to four games with a first-inning single. The outfielder from Iowa is hitting .400 in the last four games.

Box score

Photo: Mason Schwalbach (21) is greeted at home plate by teammates Jaden Hackbarth and Keanu Spenser after his first-inning home run. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)

THE MONDAY HIVE: Bees’ Rice Shows Maturity Out Of High School

By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

Trent Rice is 18 years old, just graduated high school, and he admitted to some nerves coming into a situation where he has to face older, experienced players.

And then you see him racing across left field at Community Field to catch a fly ball twisting into the corner and then you realize he’ll be just fine in the Prospect League.

Rice was a late arrival to the Burlington Bees — his high school season in Michigan was just wrapping up when the Prospect League started — but he has made an impact.

Rice is batting .400, which would put him seventh in the league in hitting if he had enough at-bats to qualify, and has proven he can handle himself against the college players in the league.

“Obviously, for me, there’s a lot to learn,” said Rice, a three-time first-team All-State selection at Cardinal Mooney High School in Macomb, Michigan. “I’m the youngest guy here and I’ve never really been a part of something like this. The college kids, they’ve taught me a ton since I’ve been here.”

Rice went 1-for-4 in his first start at Clinton on June 11, starting a six-game hitting streak that included five multi-hit games.

“He was smacking the ball around all on this last road trip,” Bees manager Owen Oreskovich said.

Oreskovich likes Rice’s speed, which he showed in Saturday’s 8-7 win over the Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp.

***Trent Rice catches a fly ball from Illinois Valley’s Louis Verona in Saturday’s game at Community Field. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)***

Rice, batting at the top of the Bees’ lineup, beat out an infield hit in the first inning, and then in the fifth inning chased down a fly ball in foul territory down the left-field line for the second out.

“There aren’t many guys who get to that ball,” Oreskovich said. “I’ve got confidence in him because he’s got confidence in himself. I didn’t even ask him if he’d ever hit lead-off. I just put him in there. He’s a mature kid, no doubt about it.”

What has helped with his confidence, Rice said, was the advice of his teammates.

“The first couple of days were rough, getting into the swing of things,” he said. “But, the guys really took me in and showed me the ropes early on. And I’m glad they did.”

“I came in late to the season, so I really didn’t know what to expect. I knew I would be battling uphill, and it was going to be tough. But I came in, and the guys were extremely excited for me to be here, and that helped.”

The Prospect League is for college players, but teams can have four players who have completed their high school careers and have signed a letter of intent or have a financial aid agreement with a college. Players are not eligible until after their official graduation date. Rice, who signed a letter of intent with Oakland University, and infielder Drew Gaskins, another Oakland signee, are the only high school players on the Bees’ roster.

“I was actually at work one day — I worked at a pizzeria for two months — and one of my coaches called me and asked me if I wanted to go to Burlington,” Rice said. “I had no idea what it was, but I thought if it was an opportunity for me before college, I wanted to take it.”

Rice played baseball and basketball throughout his time at Cardinal Mooney, a school of just 140 students. He was a 1,000-point scorer in basketball, and also played one season of football, as a wide receiver and cornerback.

“Baseball and basketball were my two sports growing up,” Rice said. “ I actually started playing basketball before I started playing baseball. But just everything that went with baseball in the summer, that’s what I wanted to be a part of. And my skills are geared more toward baseball.”

He is getting a lesson in the off-field side of summer baseball. Nine of Rice’s first 11 games were on the road, including a five-games-in-six-days trip that included two games in Jackson, Tenn. and single games in O’Fallon, Mo., Cape Girardeau, Mo., and Alton, Ill.

“Obviously it’s something I’ve never been a part of,” Rice said. “It’s a little tiring — the traveling, the hotels. It’s tiring for me, because I’ve never been a part of it. So it’s going to help me a lot along the way. I just have to get used to it, and keep grinding.”

It’s all about the experience, Rice said.

“I think I’m going to get a ton of growth out of this,” he said. “Not only just being around these college guys, but my skills as well. Hitting is the big thing for me. I wanted to get better at that, not only with power, but having a mentality at the plate, knowing what pitches are coming, things like that.

“It’s already helped me. I’ve seen the best pitching I’ve ever seen. It’s really going to prep me for college, for sure. Just to see the arms, the different curveballs, the different off-speed pitches, even if I don’t hit as well as I would like to, it’s going to help me out, no matter what.”

Top photo: Trent Rice is hitting .400 in his first season with the Burlington Bees. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)

HOOTS 11, BEES 2: Bad Start After A Big Night

By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

The Burlington Bees were back at Community Field for a day game after a night in which they rallied for a win.

The momentum, though, didn’t come with them.

The O’Fallon Hoots struck for nine runs in the first three innings on the way to an 11-2 win over the Bees in Sunday’s Prospect League game.

The Bees (7-13) came back from an early 6-1 deficit to defeat Illinois Valley 8-7 in 10 innings on Saturday night.

But they quickly fell behind in this game, with a deep deficit that was much too difficult to overcome.

The Hoots (11-9) scored three runs in each of the first three innings, swatting 11 hits off Bees starting pitcher Cauy Massner (0-4), who lasted just 2 2/3 innings.

“It wasn’t our day, especially in the first three innings,” Bees manager Owen Oreskovich said.

Massner’s struggles left the Bees’ bullpen with a lot of innings to cover, but Chase Golden, Preston Kaufman and Bobby Helt filled their roles.

Golden gave up two unearned runs and two hits in 2 1/3 innings. Kaufman pitched a scoreless sixth inning, then Helt allowed one hit and struck out four in the final three innings.

“Chase did a phenomenal job — if a popup gets caught he doesn’t give up those two runs,” Oreskovich said. “Our bullpen essentially threw up zeros over the last six innings. They did a phenomenal job.

“I don’t want these guys to look at the score when they’re coming in. I’m bringing them in so it stays where it is. I tell all of these guys, I don’t want any more (runs), and that’s what I expect out of them coming out of the bullpen. You’re coming in to keep it where it is. We can’t go back and subtract runs. We need to keep it where it is.”

Tanner Holland drove in both of the Bees’ runs with an RBI single in the second inning and a solo home run in the fifth.

That was all the Bees could do against O’Fallon starting pitcher Matt Haley (1-2), who allowed five hits in seven innings.

The Hoots had 15 hits, including four from leadoff hitter Braedon Stokes.

ON DECK: The two teams play again at 6:30 p.m. Monday at Community Field. Aiden McGee (1-1, 6.23 ERA) will start for the Bees against O’Fallon’s Barrett Lohman (1-0, 2.45).

NOTES: Bees right fielder Coy Sarsfeld extended his hitting streak to three games with a seventh-inning single. … Bees third baseman Connor Laeng singled in the second inning for his first hit of the season.

Box score

Photo: Bees shortstop Cooper Schulte tags out O’Fallon’s Mike O’Connor on a stolen-base attempt in the fourth inning. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)

BEES 8, PISTOL SHRIMP 7: Bickford Delivers In The 10th

By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

It was a crowded infield.

A traffic jam of Burlington Bees and a wall of Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp greeted Brandon Bickford in the bottom of the 10th inning.

Bickford’s winning fly ball towered over all of that.

Bickford’s sacrifice fly scored Coy Sarsfield with the winning run as the Bees won, 8-7, in Saturday’s Prospect League game at Community Field.

Burlington (7-12) rallied from an early 6-1 deficit to win for the third time in its last five games.

“No giving up, go out and fight, win a game,” Bees manager Owen Oreskovich said.

Sarsfield started the inning on second base under the league’s new extra-inning rule, and moved to third on Kooper Schulte’s single to left field. Schulte moved to second on an error on the throw back to the infield, then Jackson Fisher was walked to load the bases.

That brought up Bickford, a .188 hitter this season who had a 4-for-4 game in Wednesday’s loss to the Cape Catfish.

Illinois Valley countered with a five-man infield, bringing in left fielder Louis Perona to play on the left side of the infield.

Bickford didn’t change his approach.

“I was just trying to put a good ball in play, hopefully hit it far enough that we could score and win the game,” Bickford said. “I was just looking for a ball up. Luckily I got one and put a good swing on it. And we scored.”

Bickford’s fly ball was caught by Tobey Jackson in short center field, but Sarsfield was able to get home with the winning run.

“When I first hit it, I did not think I hit it hard enough,” Bickford said. “Fortunately, we had a fast runner on third. He made an aggressive play and scored.”

Bickford struggled with his hitting to start the season, with just two hits in his first 24 at-bats. His game on Wednesday brought back some confidence.

“More of it was just working with the coaches, getting my swing back to feeling good,” Bickford said. “And getting pitches I need to hit well.”

“He had the four-hit night at Cape, and he smoked some balls at Alton (in Thursday’s 8-6 win),” said Oreskovich, the hitting coach at Mount Mercy University where Bickford plays. “It’s huge. I’ve got faith in that kid. Even though he’ll have a bad day once in a while, he always has a smile on his face. So, that was huge for him to get that hit.”

***Brandon Bickford hits a sacrifice fly in the 10th inning. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)***

Bickford, who is from Des Moines, had 12 family members in attendance.

“It was a really cool opportunity,” Bickford said. “Some of them haven’t seen me play in a few years. Luckily we got a win, and a good hit to walk it off.”

The Bees had gotten out of the top of the 10th with some big pitches from Jake Jakubowski (1-0). Illinois Valley had Cody Kashimoto on third with one out when Jakubowski snagged a hard grounder from designated hitter Tyler Dorsch, throwing Dorsch out at first while keeping Kashimoto from scoring. After Justin Rios was hit by a pitch, Jakubowski got Jackson to ground out to end the inning.

“JJ made a big play on that grounder,” Oreskovich said. “He was really big over those last two innings.”

The Bees trailed 6-1 when the game was delayed by rain in the top of the fourth inning. They immediately struck after the 61-minute stoppage on Mason Schwalbach’s two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth, then they tied the game in the fifth with three runs, two coming on a single from Keanu Spenser and one on a single from Sarsfield.

The Schwalbach homer, along with Spenser’s solo home run in the second, provided a lift, Oreskovich said.

“Those are huge, because those are dugout boosters,” he said.

The Bees took a 7-6 lead in the sixth on Jaden Hackbarth’s RBI single, then the Pistol Shrimp tied it in the eighth on Jackson’s sacrifice fly.

Sam Corbett (0-1) was the losing pitcher.

ON DECK: The Bees, on a six-game homestand, play the O’Fallon Hoots in a 2 p.m. game on Sunday. Cauy Massner will be the starting pitcher for Burlington.

Box score

Photo: Coy Sarsfield slides across home plate with the winning run in the Burlington Bees’ 8-7 victory over Illinois Valley. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)

THE MONDAY HIVE: Consistency In Bees’ Lineup Helps Sarsfield

By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

Coy Sarsfield arrived a little late — there was this little matter of playing in the NCAA baseball tournament — but he’s found a daily home in the Burlington Bees’ lineup.

Getting to play in the Prospect League every day, the outfielder from Iowa said, is important after battling back from a broken leg that cost him most of his senior season in high school and his first season with the Hawkeyes.

“It’s been almost two years of not playing consistently,” Sarsfield said. “Now, playing consistently, I think it’s going to be huge for me, just getting back into everything. The biggest thing is pitching, getting live at-bats. I feel like being here, just for five games, I feel like I’m seeing the ball better, getting better swings.”

Sarsfield is hitting .292 after seven games with the Bees. He had a five-game hitting streak snapped with an 0-for-3 game in Saturday’s loss to the O’Fallon Hoots.

Sarsfield has found a home in the Bees’ outfield, playing mostly in right field. He showed his defensive abilities in last Thursday’s 9-8 win over Illinois Valley, when he made a sliding catch on a sinking line drive from Pistol Shrimp catcher Nick Chavez. Sarsfield threw to first and appeared to get Logan Delgado coming back to the base — Delgado was originally called out, but the call was overruled after base umpire Dan Carriker consulted with plate umpire Jacob Fisher.

“Damn near a double play,” marveled Bees manager Owen Oreskovich. “He made a hell of a catch out there, and came up throwing.

“He’s quick, he’s got some juice, he knows the game, and he can roam around the outfield. So it’s huge for us to have a kid like that.”

**Burlington Bees outfielder Coy Sarsfield comes up throwing after making a diving catch in Thursday’s game against Illinois Valley. (John Lovretta/bees-blog.com)**

What’s huge for Sarsfield is just getting to play consistently. He broke his leg seven games into his senior season in 2021 at Linn-Mar High School in Marion, Iowa and had to have surgery. A second surgery in November of that year led to Sarsfield sitting out his freshman year with the Hawkeyes.

“He’s seeing at-bats on consecutive days, and I think that’s going to benefit that kid a lot,” Oreskovich said. “He loves the game.”

Sarsfield played in just 17 games for Iowa this season, hitting .176, but he was involved with one of the biggest moments for the Hawkeyes in their 6-5 win over North Carolina in an elimination game on June 4 in the NCAA’s Terre Haute Regional.

Sarsfield, pinch-running for Blake Guerin in the 13th inning, scored the go-ahead run, coming around from first base on Michael Seegers’ triple.

“In my head, I know there’s two outs and as soon as there’s contact, I’m going,” Sarsfield said. “Michael Seegers gets a hold of one, I saw it was touched pretty well. I didn’t know where it was going. I just put my head down, got around second, saw (Iowa coach Rick) Heller waving his arms, and I made it home. I was thinking, ‘I’m going to score and we’re going to win this game.’”

The Hawkeyes, though, lost to Indiana State in the next game to end the season.

“It was unreal,” Sarsfield said. “Just the atmosphere, the energy. Playing for something really big, and everything that comes with that, is pretty cool. Obviously, it didn’t end the way we wanted it to turn out. Kind of heartbreaking. But it gives everyone a vision for what we want to do in the future.”

Sarsfield has been envisioning his future since arriving at Iowa. But getting a chance to observe has been helpful, he said.

“A year in college, just watching, it’s crazy how much you can see, and how much you can learn when you get in a game situation,” Sarsfield said. “You don’t realize until you watch people do things how much you need to prepare to be ready. In high school, you know you have to work hard. Then, you get to Iowa, and you see you really need to work harder to get on the field.”

Sarsfield joined the Bees on June 10, and made his first start the following day at Clinton.

“Obviously there’s some nerves going into a new situation,” he said. “But once I got into the clubhouse, everyone was welcoming. It’s baseball, everyone understands at this age what’s going on and has a good understanding of everything.”

Oreskovich has used Sarsfield in the middle of the Bees’ lineup. He went 2-for-5 in Thursday’s win, including a two-run double in Burlington’s five-run fourth inning.

“I hit him in the ‘5’ hole because I know he’s someone who’s going to put the bat on the ball,” Oreskovich said. “And he actually came up with some giant hits.”

“I would say it’s very important,” Sarsfield said of getting to consistently be in the lineup. “This year at Iowa, I didn’t get to play a bunch. Now that I’m back in the swing of things, it’s allowing me to play much better and getting me back in a rhythm.”

Top photo: Burlington Bees outfielder Coy Sarsfield bats in Thursday’s game against Illinois Valley. (John Lovretta/bees-blog.com)

CATFISH 9, BEES 3: League’s Best Offense Strikes In Two Big Innings

By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

The Cape Catfish have proven in the early part of the Prospect League season that they won’t let you get away with mistakes.

The pitchers for the Burlington Bees found that out in Friday’s 9-3 loss to the Catfish at Community Field.

The Catfish (13-1) lead the league in runs scored and batting average, and they jumped on the Bees (4-9) with a pair of three-run innings that featured a couple of long home runs.

Lane Crowden had a three-run homer in the fourth inning, then Landon Godsey added a two-run homer in the fifth.

“Just a couple of pitches…” lamented Bees manager Owen Oreskovich.

The Catfish have a league-best .353 batting average and average more than 10 runs per game, so big innings almost seem inevitable.

It struck the Bees at the middle point of the game.

Jacob Zahner (0-1), the starting pitcher for the Bees, gave up just one run in the first three innings and was one out away from getting out of the fourth when he walked Godsey on a 3-2 pitch. Kevin McCarthy followed with a single and then Crowden hit his home run over the left-field wall.

“(Zahner) was really good. He was early,” Oreskovich said. “That two-out walk, the base hit, and then the home run … I wouldn’t say it knocked the wind out of anyone’s sails, but it’s just aggravating, especially to him. That’s what’s frustrating.”

The Catfish got three more runs in the fifth. Jeff Clarke scored on an error, then Godsey launched his home run to the outfield.

Bees pitchers allowed 13 hits, six walks, and the Catfish stole five bases. That kind of traffic leads to runs.

“I mean, they’re pretty good,” Oreskovich said. “I thought for the most part our pitchers did a good job. We got out of a lot of spots. But we gave them too many free bases, and that’s killing us right now.”

The Bees had baserunners in every inning but the eighth, but couldn’t come up with their version of a big inning.

Mason Schwalbach’s double scored Jaden Hackbarth with the Bees’ first run in the third inning. Jackson Fisher had a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning, and Kooper Schulte had an RBI single in the seventh.

The Bees had nine hits.

“I thought our offense did a good job of keeping us in that game,” Oreskovich said. “We had guys on base. But then we were hitting balls right at guys.”

Dylan Peck (3-0) was the winning pitcher.

The Bees begin a five-game road trip with Saturday’s game at O’Fallon. They play at Jackson on Monday and Tuesday, the Catfish on Wednesday and Alton on Thursday.

Burlington is 0-6 on the road this season.

“Plain and simple, we have (struggled),” Oreskovich said. “We have to come out ready to play from the first inning. Our pitchers have to be tough on the mound. They haven’t been the toughest yet, but they have to be tough on the mound on the road. And our offense needs to back them up and then we need to play defense behind them. You do that, you win baseball games. We need to lock in on doing that.”

NOTES: Caleb Wulf played in his first game with the Bees this season, going 1-for-4 as the designated hitter. Wulf hit .384 this season at Southeastern Community College, which plays its home games at Community Field. … Schwalbach and Tanner Holland extended their hitting streaks to six games. Coy Sarsfield, who went 2-for-4, has a five-game hitting streak. Schulte and Hackbarth have hits in four consecutive games.

Box score

BEES 9, PISTOL SHRIMP 8: Message Received, And A Streak Comes To An End

By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

Wednesday was a day off from a five-game losing streak, but Burlington Bees manager Owen Oreskovich had his team at Community Field for a morning workout.

And in a conversation with the players on the field, Oreskovich told his team that there is still a lot of baseball remaining this summer in the Prospect League schedule for the Bees.

The response on Thursday was a 9-8 win over the Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp.

A five-run fourth inning put the Bees into the lead, and then they held off a late Illinois Valley rally for the win.

“Yesterday was more of just keeping these guys tough in their heads,” Oreskovich said. “I can’t say if it did or didn’t make a true difference. But it helped their heads a little bit. We’re still out here trying to do this thing.”

“Basically, it was just, ‘Get that W,’” shortstop Kooper Schulte said. “We’ve been on a losing streak — I don’t know how long it was, but it was too long. So it was just, let’s get the ‘W.’ And hopefully we can keep it rolling from there.”

The Bees (4-8) had 12 hits, including eight from their 2-3-4-5 spots in the lineup. Mason Schwalbach had three hits and drove in three runs. Schulte and Coy Sarsfield each had two hits.

The inspiration of Oreskovich’s message came from this spring. Mount Mercy, the college where Oreskovich is an assistant coach, opened the season 2-6, then won 21 of its next 23 games.

“So it’s possible to turn things around,” Oreskovich said. “I felt like it was time to make sure everyone is bought in to trying to win baseball games. There’s a ton of baseball left.

“It’s baseball. You’ve seen that stuff happen many times.”

“No one likes losing,” Schulte said. “I freaking hate losing, myself. But it’s part of life. Stuff happens. You just have to push through that.”

Of course, the Bees came out and promptly gave up three runs in the top of the first inning. But they responded with three runs in the bottom of the inning — Schwalbach had an RBI triple, Ian Wolski followed with a run-scoring single and then later scored on a throwing error.

“I’ve said before — we try to score every inning,” Oreskovich said. “And when you’re down 3-0 coming in and you haven’t even hit yet, sometimes that’s a little tough on an offense. But these guys are strong-minded, and our offense knows we’ve got to do a little extra right now. They’re doing everything they can, battling every time up there.”

“It was big-time,” Schulte said of the response. “That pretty much gave us the momentum throughout the game. I thought we were scoring every inning the way it was going.”

Then came the fifth, when the Bees erupted trailing 4-3. Schwalbach’s sacrifice fly tied the game, then Sarsfield and Keanu Spenser had back-to-back two-run doubles.

Schwalbach’s single in the fifth inning scored Drew Gaskins with Burlington’s final run of the night.

Illinois Valley (5-8) scored three runs in the seventh, and threatened in the ninth inning with two runners on base with two outs, but Bees reliever Drew Martin closed out the game by getting Logan Delgado to ground out.

Dylan Haslett (1-1) was the winning pitcher. Martin got his first save. Sam Corbett (0-1) was the losing pitcher.

NOTES: Schwalbach extended his hitting streak to five games. He is hitting .357 this season, and is hitting ,474 during his current streak. … Schulte boosted his batting average to .448. … Sarsfield has hit in four of his first five games.

ON DECK: The Bees play the Cape Catfish (12-1) in Friday’s 6:30 p.m. game at Community Field. Jacob Zahner will pitch for the Bees.

Box score

Photo: Burlington Bees shortstop Kooper Schulte tries to tag out Illinois Valley’s Tobey Jackson on a stolen-base attempt in the third inning. (John Lovretta/bees-blog.com)