Countdown To One: Rain Condenses Bees’ Chances

By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

Only a half-inning was played before Wednesday’s doubleheader showdown between the Burlington Bees and the Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp sank in the muddy depths of Community Field’s right-field turf and warning track.

A sudden heavy rain that hit right after the Bees scored two runs in the top of the first inning led to a delay of more than 90 minutes before umpires ruled that the field was unplayable.

Instead of two games that could have determined the second-half champion of the Prospect League’s Northwest Division, the two teams went their separate ways with the Bees holding a half-game lead over the Pistol Shrimp with Thursday’s regular-season finales to be played.

The Bees (32-21 overall, 20-7 second half) play at Quincy (16-37, 7-23), while Illinois Valley (31-22, 20-8) plays host to first-half division champion Clinton (33-19, 15-12). A Bees win or an Illinois Valley loss would clinch the first playoff bid in Burlington’s five seasons in the league.

“We wanted to play them today, show them that we deserve it for real,” Bees manager Owen Oreskovich said after meeting with his players in the dugout following the announcement of the cancellation. “But we’re going to go out there tomorrow with the same mentality.”

The Bees were the visiting team in the first game, which was a make-up of the June 25 game at Illinois Valley that was rained out, and struck quickly for a 2-0 lead. Cole Yearsley’s double scored Jace Figuereo, then Yearsley scored on Corey Boyette’s sacrifice fly.

But rain started to fall as the Bees took the field for the bottom of the inning, then it began pouring as Illinois Valley’s Lucas Smith stepped to the plate. Plate umpire Preston Childers waved the teams off the field as Bees staff members and players, with some help from a couple of Illinois Valley players, got the tarp on the field.

The rain stopped within 15 minutes, but after the tarp was removed, there was standing water along the warning track in front of each team’s dugout, and a large area in right field behind where the infield ended was swampy. The two teams decided to wait 90 minutes to try to play again, but the field failed to dry.

“I mean, it really rained hard there,” Oreskovich said. “We did whatever we could. We got the tarp on right away. But right field is a problem, and the warning track was a problem. That’s just real life. There was nothing we could do.”

Even if the game had been able to restarted, it likely wouldn’t have gotten finished — more rain fell 90 minutes after the game was called off.

The outfield had already taken a half-inch of rain overnight — the infield had been tarped after Tuesday’s win over Johnstown.

Now it’s all about one game.

“We’re going to be foot on the gas pedal as soon as we get on the bus tomorrow,” Oreskovich said. “We’re going to be rocking, ready to go in there and get a win to get into the playoffs.”

Photo: Bees players Jace Figuereo (24), Mitchell Cox (40), Raul Gil (15) and Jack Duncan (32) help get the tarp on the field as a heavy rain falls on Community Field during the first game of Wednesday’s scheduled doubleheader. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)

BEES 11, DOGGY PADDLERS 1: Clarkson Deals In The Heat

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.

***Caleb Seibers (second from left) is congratulated after his two-run home run in the first inning. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)***

“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)

BEES 11, PISTOL SHRIMP 9: Walk-Off Win Starts A New Week

By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

Joe Evans got the Burlington Bees to a spot where they could win the game.

Merrick Mathews finished the victory.

Mathews’ two-out two-run home run in the 10th inning gave the Bees an 11-9 win over the Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp in Sunday’s Prospect League game at Community Field.

The Bees (2-3) snapped a three-game losing streak, coming off a road trip in which they were outscored 19-4 in two losses to the O’Fallon Hoots. They took a wild ride in this one — they rallied from an early 5-1 deficit to take the lead, let that lead get away, tied the game in the eighth inning, squandered a bases-loaded opportunity in the ninth inning, then finally finished the win with three runs in the 10th.

“After that road trip, we needed that one pretty bad here,” Oreskovich said. “We got it done.”

The Bees trailed 9-8 in the 10th, but tied the game when Landon Akers’ ground out scored Scotty Savage, who opened the inning at second base under the league’s extra-inning rule.

Cooper Donlin followed with a double, and then advanced to third on a passed ball. But Illinois Valley reliever Anthony Solis (0-1) struck out Cedric Dunnwald for the second out.

Mathews, a junior infielder at Iowa this season, was 0-for-9 with the Bees, 0-for-3 on the day, when he came to the plate.

“I know no one is going to believe this, but I had a feeling he was going to come up with a big hit,” Oreskovich said. “It was just something I had in my head throughout the game. He was on some good pitches earlier in the game.”

Solis missed with a slider to Mathews to open the at-bat. Mathews then pounded a fastball over the left-field fence.

“I was watching the guys in front of me,” Mathews said. “I knew he wasn’t really hitting with his off-speed. He threw me a first-pitch slider that he missed, so I was pretty much dead-red heater after that. I got what I was looking for.”

Mathews was mobbed at home plate as he scored.

“It was pretty cool,” he said. “It was my first walk-off home run, so it was pretty cool.”

“That was huge for him,” Oreskovich said. “It was good to see him come up and get a big hit in a big spot.”

Evans (2-0) has become a reliable reliever for Oreskovich. The left-hander, who was a starter at Morton (Ill.) College this season, has thrown seven innings in two appearances, striking out six and allowing just one earned run.

Evans entered this game in the seventh after Illinois Valley scored three runs to take an 8-7 lead. He allowed just three hits in four innings, striking out three.

“Obviously, when you first get in there, the jitters are there a little bit,” Evans said. “Once I throw that first pitch and get it over with, it’s smooth sailing from there.

“Coming from a junior college, the competition isn’t as great over there. Coming here, going out and throwing strikes and getting ahead, it’s huge. It gave me confidence.”

“That kid is a competitor if I’ve ever seen one,” Oreskovich said. “Phenomenal competitor. He just goes out there and does his thing. That’s what we talked about earlier in the year — being who you are. And that’s who he is. That was huge. That was just as big as everything else.”

The Bees trailed 5-1 going into the bottom of the sixth inning, but scored six runs to take the lead. Ty Plummer, another player from Iowa, singled to drive in the go-ahead run.

It’s only the beginning of the second week of the season, but everyone understood the importance of the win.

“It was huge, for sure,” Evans said. “We had a few ballgames where our pitchers struggled a little bit. It was really huge for us to get in the win column.”

“Hopefully we can get some things rolling,” Mathews said. “Hopefully it kick-starts us into a new week, and we can get on a roll.”

Box score

Photo: Merrick Mathews watches his game-winning home run in the 10th inning. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)

Bees Open Season At Clinton

By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

The Burlington Bees won’t have to travel too far in the first two weeks of the 2024 Prospect League season.

Eight of the Bees’ first 13 games will be at Community Field, according to the schedule released by the league on Thursday.

The Bees open the season on the road against the Clinton LumberKings on May 28, then open the home portion of their schedule the following night with a 6:30 p.m. game against the Alton River Dragons.

The Bees play a three-game series against the O’Fallon Hoots — at home on May 30 and then on the road May 31 and June 1 — then play five of their next eight games at home.

Among the games on the schedule:

• The Bees have four Sunday home games — June 2 and June 23 vs. Illinois Valley, June 9 vs. Clinton, and July 7 vs. Normal.

• Five home games during the week around July 4 — July 2 vs. O’Fallon, July 3 and 5 vs. Clinton, July 6 vs. Springfield and July 7 vs. Normal. The Bees play at Clinton on July 4.

• The longest road trip of the season is a six-game trip from June 25-30 that includes two games against the Cape Catfish, three with the Jackson Rockabillys and one with the Springfield Lucky Horseshoes.

• The Community Basket Extravaganza is set for July 21 at 2 p.m.

• The home regular-season finale is July 30 against Clinton. The Bees close the regular season the following night at Clinton.

Eighteen teams will play in the Prospect League this season, the largest number in the league’s 61-year history. Two new teams join the league — the Dubois County Bombers of Huntingburg, Indiana, and the Full Count Rhythm of Hendersonville, Tennessee.

The Bees have 16 players committed for this season:

Pitchers — Noah Harbin (Maryville University), Zach Leuschen (Southeastern CC), and Jackson Wohlers (Rock Valley College).

Catchers — Michael Carrano (Parkland College) and Jacob Schindler (McHenry County College)

Infielders — Skyler Agnew (Hawaii-Pacific), Landon Akers (Bellarmine), Carson Bittner (Phoenix College), Ty Plummer (Iowa), Kinnick Pusteoska (Tennessee Tech), and Ryan Skwarek (McHenry County College)

Outfielders — Luke Bragga (Tennessee Tech), Cooper Donlin (Hawaii-Pacific), Cedric Dunnwald (Mount Mercy), Jackson Reid (Chandler-Gilbert CC), and Scotty Savage (Milwaukee Area Tech).

Photo: Cedric Dunnwald slides into second base during the Burlington Bees’ season opener against Quincy last season. Dunnwald is among the players committed to play for the Bees in the 2024 Prospect League season. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)

BEES 8, PISTOL SHRIMP 7: Playing The Hunches

By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

Burlington Bees manager Owen Oreskovich thought Trent Rice was going to have a big night, just watching him taking batting practice.

Oreskovich thought about giving starting pitcher Jacob Zahner another inning, but knew he had already given the Bees four strong innings.

Every move, it seemed, paid off for the Bees in Tuesday’s 8-7 win over the Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp in a Prospect League game at Community Field.

Burlington (18-24 overall, 8-7 second half) moved into a tie with the Quincy Gems for the second-half playoff spot from the Great River Division heading into a four-game road trip that starts Thursday.

Oreskovich had wanted a good start from his rotation, and he got it from Zahner, who allowed just one earned run and five hits in four innings.

Oreskovich kicked around the idea of giving Zahner a fifth inning.

“We thought about running him out there, he was only at 79 pitches,” Oreskovich said. “But we wanted him to give us a good start, and he did that. We didn’t want him to run through that lineup for the third time.”

The Bees took a 3-2 lead in the third on Rice’s two-run home run to left field, his first of the season.

“I knew he was going to have a day,” Oreskovich said. “Well, I can’t say I knew. But his BP today was pretty damn good. It was incredible today.”

The Bees kept adding runs, getting two in the fifth and seventh innings, and one in the eighth.

That last one was important, because reliever Jordan Martinez gave up a three-run home run in the ninth to cut the lead to 8-7. Oreskovich went with closer Jake Jakubowski, who struck out the last two hitters for his fourth save of the season.

David Theriot (1-0) was the winning pitcher, giving the Bees three innings of relief, allowing two runs.

“I don’t know if he’s thrown that many pitches in a while,” Oreskovich said of Theriot, who threw 61, 45 for strikes. “But he said he was feeling good, looking good. He just gave up a couple of hits here and there, nothing special. He battled through it, left some guys on base, which was huge.”

Eight Bees had one hit each. Rice, Mason Schwalbach and Coy Sarsfield each scored two runs.

The Bees open their road trip with two games at Illinois Valley, which is one game behind them in the standings.

“We’re not changing our mindset that we have every other day,” Oreskovich said. “Just be better than the other team.”

NOTES: Schwalbach hit his league-leading 18th double in the eighth inning to drive in Rice with the Bees’ final run. Not counting the completion of a suspended game on Monday, Schwalbach has hit in his last seven games, batting .379 in the stretch. … Wulf has a five-game hitting streak, hitting .450.

Photo: Bees second baseman Caleb Wulf tags out Illinois Valley’s Chase Recetich at second base in the seventh inning. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)

BEES 6, PISTOL SHRIMP 3: A Big Week For Wulf

By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

The numbers aren’t official yet, but still, Caleb Wulf had a big week for the Burlington Bees.

Wulf had three hits and scored twice as the Bees defeated the Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp 6-3 in Saturday’s Prospect League game at Community Field.

The Bees (13-18 overall, 3-1 second half) have a half-game lead over the Pistol Shrimp (15-17, 3-2) in the Great River Division standings heading into Sunday’s off day.

Wulf was 3-for-4 in Saturday’s game and hit .444 during the week, and that doesn’t include his 4-for-5 night in Friday’s game against Quincy that was suspended after 9 innings because of rain.

Wulf hit .384 for Southeastern Community College this season, helping the Blackhawks to a runner-up finish in the NJCAA Division II World Series. Wulf took a break after the long season and joined the Bees on June 25. His recent run comes after a 6-for-25 start to the season.

“I think it’s just getting back into a routine, playing every day, keeping things simple,” Wulf said. “I had a pretty good spring, and I was trying to get back to what I was doing then, and it’s been paying off so far.”

“(The SCC season) was fun, but it was pretty good to get time off there for about a week and a half. And then it got to the point where it was like, OK, I want to be back on the field and be playing, not just sit around and not do anything. It felt good to get back out here and play again.”

It’s a busy summer for Wulf, who works in the mornings at Kid Zone, a day-care center in West Burlington. The routine can be hectic, Wulf said, especially after late arrivals back in Burlington after road games, but he is enjoying it.

“It’s good experience, because I want to be a teacher,” Wulf said. “So working with little kids and making a little money, it’s fun. It’s fun working with them, they always have funny stories to tell me. Some of the kids have come out here to watch me play. It’s special to work with them during the day, and then have them come out here.”

“Man, he’s a happy kid all of the time,” Bees manager Owen Oreskovich said. “He’s up early in the morning, working four or five hours. And then he’s here at noon, one of the first people here in the day, going out there in the cages, getting his work done, whatever he needs to do. And then he just enjoys playing. He’s not going to come in, slam his bat, slam his helmet. He doesn’t let much affect him.

“He’s one of those competitors you get once in a blue moon. I love having that kid around.”

Wulf scored the go-ahead run in the fourth inning. With the score tied at 2, Wulf singled to open the inning, and advanced to third on Brandon Bickford’s single. Wulf then scored on a one-out double from Ian Wolski.

The Bees added two runs in the fifth. Corey Boyette led off the inning with a solo home run, then Mason Schwalbach followed with a triple. Schwalbach then scored on a wild pitch.

Wulf scored the Bees’ final run in the eighth. He led off the inning with a single, and scored on Wolski’s bases-loaded sacrifice fly.

The Bees’ bullpen had to carry a big part of the game. Adrian Nery, who found out two hours before the game that he was going to have to start in place of Jacob Zahner, lasted just two innings, but only surrendered two runs.

Ryan Donley (3-1) pitched two scoreless innings. Chase Golden got out of a bases-loaded situation to throw a scoreless fifth inning. Zach Leuschen gave up one run in three innings, then Drew Martin recorded his third save with a scoreless ninth.

“I thought Nery did a good job for only knowing he was starting two hours before the game,” Oreskovich said. We found that out in the middle of batting practice.

“The bullpen was incredible again. Donley did an incredible job like he has the last couple of outings. Goldie did good for his one inning. Leusch did a hell of a job giving us three. And then D-Mart did a hell of a job closing it out.”

ON DECK: The Bees are off Sunday before playing host to the Normal CornBelters on Monday.

NOTES: Boyette, who joined the Bees at the end of June, has hit in all five games he’s played, batting .333 in the streak. … Schwalbach has a four-game hitting streak, batting .438 in the current stretch. … Schwalbach has two triples this season, both against the Pistol Shrimp. … Bickford, who went 2-for-3, is batting .350 over his last seven games.

Box score

Photo: Caleb Wulf singled in the second inning of Saturday’s game. (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)

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)

BEES 7, PISTOL SHRIMP 6: An Error, Then Another One, Then A Win

By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

Jaden Hackbarth was almost the final out twice.

But when he saw what was happening as he raced toward first base as part of a basepath carousel of Burlington Bees, Hackbarth knew what was it meant.

“I thought, ‘Oh, that’s game,’” Hackbarth said.

And so it was.

Two errors on back-to-back swings by Hackbarth in the bottom of the ninth inning finished the Bees’ 7-6 comeback win over the Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp in Thursday’s Prospect League game at Community Field.

The Bees (2-0), who had two hits and no runs through the first innings, scored four runs in the eighth inning and three runs in a wild ninth, finally taking advantage of all the Pistol Shrimp gave them throughout the night.

“It wasn’t pretty,” Bees manager Owen Oreskovich said, smiling. “Wasn’t pretty.”

No, but it was a lot of fun, Hackbarth said over the celebratory cacophony in the Bees’ clubhouse.

“We were kind of dead in those first seven innings without any runs,” the third baseman said. “I think the team showed a lot of grit and it showed us we can compete with one of the better teams in the league, and that we can come from behind.”

The Bees were down to their last out, down 6-4 in the ninth, after Illinois Valley reliever Bret Baldus struck out Jackson Fisher and Tanner Holland to start the inning. But Baldus walked Cedric Dunnwald on a 3-2 pitch and then walked Drew Gaskins on five pitches.

Juju Thompson (0-1) replaced Baldus and walked Connor Laeng on a 3-2 pitch to load the bases. With Hackbarth at the plate, Thompson threw a wild pitch, allowing Dunnwald to score and advancing Gaskins and Laeng.

Hackbarth worked a 3-2 count, then hit a foul ball in front of the Pistol Shrimp dugout that first baseman Emanuel Andujar seemed to have a play on, but the ball dropped behind Andujar for an error.

“I was hoping he couldn’t see it when it got up in the lights,” Oreskovich said. “That’s another one of those things when it happens, things have to go your way.”

“I was really hoping he was going to drop it and give me another chance,” Hackbarth said. “I didn’t think I put my best swing on it, and when it fell, a big sigh of relief.”

Hackbarth did get a good swing on the next pitch, hitting a hard grounder up the middle that shortstop Jake Ferguson fielded. Ferguson whirled and threw to first, but the ball was high and sailed off the glove of a leaping Andujar. Gaskins and Laeng scored, and the rally was complete.

“I knew he was going to come at me with a strike,” Hackbarth said. “I wanted to make sure I was on time — I didn’t want him to beat me with his best stuff. I hit it well, and just tried to run as quick as I could to first.”

“The shortstop made a great play,” Oreskovich said. “But that ball was smoked.”

Burlington Bees third baseman Jaden Hackbarth watches his ninth-inning grounder that led to the winning runs. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)

It was a night when the Bees made plenty of contact, it just seemed like everything found a Pistol Shrimp glove.

Hackbarth hit two balls to center field that were tracked down. Brandon Bickford lined out to left field with runners on second and third to end the Bees’ four-run eighth inning.

Burlington left 11 baserunners in the first seven innings.

“I don’t think the box score is going to show what was happening,” Oreskovich said.

“It was definitely frustrating,” Hackbarth said. “But they kept putting guys on (the Pistol Shrimp gave up 13 walks) and we were bound to get some runs going with those opportunities.”

The Bees got strong pitching from starter Jacob Zahner and relievers Luke Fredrick and Ryan Donley (1-0).

Zahner, making his first pitching appearance of the year after not throwing at all for Southeastern Community College, gave up just two earned runs in four innings, allowing eight hits while striking out two. Fredrick gave up one run over three innings, then Donley allowed one unearned run in two innings.

“I’ve got to give credit to our pitching staff,” Oreskovich said. “They had 11 hits, or whatever it was. But our guys were throwing weak contact, they were doing their job.

“Zahner pitched a hell of a game out there, I really like what I saw in him. Fredrick going out there and throwing up zeroes was huge. (Donley) came in and was great. Those guys kept us in the game, gave us the chance at the end.”

Two games into the season, two wins for the Bees.

“Give credit to these guys,” Oreskovich said. “They believed. I like this team a lot. They’ve got a confidence about them. They want to compete every time, and they want to win. They’re having fun.”

ON DECK: The Bees begin a two-game series at Illinois Valley with Friday’s 7:05 p.m. game. Cauy Massner will be the starting pitcher for Burlington.

Box score

Top photo: The Burlington Bees celebrate after Thursday’s 7-6 win over Illinois Valley. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)