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)

By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

It was a hard game to watch.

The Burlington Bees’ 17-9 loss to the O’Fallon Hoots in Tuesday’s Prospect League game at Community Field was a struggle from the beginning.

The Hoots scored in every inning except the final two. The Bees committed five errors, had six wild pitches, and hit five O’Fallon batters.

“It’s pretty hard,” Bees manager Owen Oreskovich said when asked how he got through a game like that. “Our pitching was pretty bad today. Defense was bad too — every error we make, it seems we give up on a run on it. It’s pretty defeating to feel like that. It’s not a good feeling. It’s not enjoyable to watch games like that, it’s not enjoyable to be a part of games like that.

“It was just a bad game.”

It came after a crisp 7-4 win over Normal on Monday night, which led to even more frustration.

The Bees are tied for fourth in the league with 32 errors, a number that Oreskovich said has to change.

“It’s very concerning,” he said. “It’s getting to the point where it’s getting concerning. Routine plays, we’ve got to make them. There’s no excuse for it. I mean, you get a bad hop once in a while, I understand that. But there’s no excuse for some of the plays.”

The Bees almost matched O’Fallon run for run early — the Hoots led 6-5 after 2 innings. But O’Fallon kept adding runs, and seemed to be poised to win the game by the 10-run rule before the Bees got three runs in the sixth to cut the lead to 15-9.

Burlington had 12 hits. Merrick Mathews had three hits and drove in three runs. Boston Halloran had three hits and Jackson Reid had two.

“We scored nine runs,” Oreskovich said. “You should win a game scoring nine runs.”

Bees starting pitcher Jackson Wohlers gave up six runs in two innings. Kyle Looper gave up five runs in two innings. Vinny Mauro gave up six runs in three innings.

Erik Kiewiet then closed the game for the Bees with two scoreless innings.

“Kiewiet was really good the last two innings,” Oreskovich said.

Photo: Bees right fielder Scotty Savage (24) scores on a wild pitch in the sixth inning. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)

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)

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)

By John Bohnenkamp

A simple tweak of his swing has made the difference for Burlington Bees catcher Nolan Elmore.

Elmore had three hits and drove in three runs, including the go-ahead run in the eighth inning, as the Bees rallied past the O’Fallon Hoots 6-5 in Monday’s Prospect League game at Community Field.

The Bees (16-25 overall, 5-5 second half) remained in a tie with the Normal CornBelters for the second-half lead in the Great River Division.

Elmore, who joined the Bees at the beginning of the month, was 1-for-9 at the plate in his first three games. But a piece of advice from Bees manager Owen Oreskovich when the team started its road trip last week has changed Elmore’s approach at the plate.

“When I got here, on every single fastball, I was completely late,” Elmore said. “I was swinging with it. He said, ‘Hit it out front.’ Something so simple like that made sense.”

“One key little word, and it worked,” Oreskovich said.

Elmore went 1-for-4 with a home run in last Wednesday’s game at Lafayette. He went 0-for-3 in Friday’s loss at Terre Haute, but he was making contact.

Elmore hit a solo home run in the third inning of this game, then drove in a run with a single in the sixth inning.

He came up with two outs in the eighth, with the score tied at 5 and Jaden Hackbarth on second base. Elmore swung at a high 3-2 pitch and fouled it back, then looked down to Oreskovich and gestured. The gesture from Oreskovich back gave Elmore the answer he was seeking.

“I wanted to know if it was in the (strike) zone,” Elmore said. “I was confident I was on it.”

“He asked me, ‘Was that up?’” Oreskovich said, laughing. “I said, ‘Way up.’”

Elmore then singled off Bryce Grossius (0-1) on the next pitch. Hackbarth slid across the plate ahead of the throw from center field, and the Bees had the lead.

Kyle Maurer then struck out two of the four hitters he faced in the ninth to pick up his fourth save of the season.

Nick Tampa (2-1) was the winning pitcher. The Bees got 3 ⅔ shutout innings from Tampa, Maurer and Jeron Conner.

Elmore, who plays at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire, was working at a landscaping job in late June when he got a call from his coach, Jerod Edmundson, telling him the Bees were looking for a catcher.

“(Bees coach) Chris Monroe played for my coach (at Framingham State),” said Elmore, who hit .236 this season with eight home runs. “This team needed catchers. I got the call, I was at work, and my coach said there was an opportunity. So I took it.”

Elmore is hitting .250 with the Bees in six games. His hitting problem since he joined the team has been solved.

“He said it today,” Oreskovich said. ‘‘One little thing and it clicked like that.’ He’s an awesome kid. Really works hard behind the plate. It’s great to see.”

ON DECK: The Bees play host to the Clinton LumberKings in Tuesday’s 6:30 p.m. game.

Photo: Bees catcher Nolan Elmore watches his third-inning home run. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)

By John Bohnenkamp

Ryan Grace didn’t play baseball this spring. So, since arriving to play for the Burlington Bees in the Prospect League, it’s taken him some time to get going.

Grace is hitting now, and so are his teammates.

Grace had four hits, part of a 17-hit night for the Bees in their 15-5 win over the O’Fallon Hoots on Friday night at Community Field.

Grace, a first baseman, redshirted this season at Quinnipiac. He started the season with just three hits in his first 18 at-bats.

He’s hitting .356 now and is on a five-game hitting streak in which he’s hit .500.

“I’m just trying to hit it hard every time I’m at bat,” Grace said. “Wherever it goes, if it’s hit hard, it’s a good at-bat in my eyes.”

Grace went 4-for-5 in this game, scoring two runs and driving in a run.

“I don’t know how much live pitching he had seen when he got here, but it didn’t look like a lot,” Bees manager Owen Oreskovich said. “The more we’ve gotten him in there, the more comfortable he’s feeling, the more confident he is. Having him being comfortable and confident in what he’s doing, especially when he has a good game, it’s good to see for him.”

Grace was looking to play this summer for two reasons, and Burlington proved to be a good spot.

“I want to play,” said Grace, who is from Concord, Mass. “I haven’t played all spring. I wanted to travel, but I didn’t want to stop playing baseball. So I thought this was the best opportunity — see the Midwest, and play ball.

“It’s great. I love it here.”

“I like just the way he brings the intensity when he’s playing,” Oreskovich said. “He jokes around in the clubhouse all of the time. But when he plays baseball, he’s serious about everything. He doesn’t like to mess up.”

The Bees (8-14) have won three of their last four games, including back-to-back wins for only the second time this season.

Grace’s run-scoring single in the third started a seven-run inning for the Bees. They led 10-1 after four innings, then finished the game on the 10-run rule with a five-run seventh.

Spencer Nivens had two hits and drove in four runs for the Bees. Oscar Ponce drove in three runs.

The Bees got a strong start from pitcher Ian Landreneau (1-3), who got some help to get out of trouble in the first inning.

Sam Maddox led off the game with a four-pitch walk, stole second, and advanced to third when no one covered second base on the throw. Jake McCutcheon followed with a bouncing single to Grace, who was able to hold Maddox at third. McCutcheon then stole second, with Maddox trying to score on the throw down to second. But Dawson Estep’s throw back to the plate got Maddox, whose slide didn’t reach home plate.

Landreneau got Colin Bergmann on a popout and then struck out Ryan Malzahn to end the inning.

“(Landreneau) did a good job of filling it up after the first batter of the game,” Oreskovich said. “Him getting out of trouble in the first inning, which he probably shouldn’t have been in … he did a good job just settling in and overcoming that, making pitches and getting guys out.”

O’Fallon starter Matt James lasted just 2 ⅔ innings. The Hoots were short on pitchers, so first baseman Cole Robinson finished the game. Robinson’s slow, looping pitches kept the Bees from mounting any sort of offense until the seventh.

“That’s harder to hit than real pitching,” Oreskovich said. “If you don’t know baseball, or play baseball, you wouldn’t understand it. It’s hard when a guy is throwing that slow and it has a steep angle like that. It’s very hard to adjust and get your timing, get your barrel on it.”

The Bees finally got to a tiring Robinson in the seventh, scoring five runs on six hits. Ben Tallman’s line-drive single to left field scored Nick Tampa with the game-ending run.

UP NEXT: The Bees play host to the Cape Catfish (8-14) in Saturday’s 6:30 p.m. game.

NOTES: Tallman had his first two hits of the season. Tallman, a catcher from Iowa, hadn’t had a hit in his first 25 at-bats, but went 2-for-4 in the game. … Bees designated hitter Marcos Sanchez, who joined the team this week, is 4-for-8 in his first three games. … Nivens extended his hitting streak to four games.

Photo: Bees catcher Ben Tallman tags out O’Fallon’s Sam Maddox in the first inning. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)

By John Bohnenkamp

The bases saw a lot of action on Thursday night.

Home plate didn’t, and that’s been a problem for the Burlington Bees in their last two games.

The 9-1 loss to the O’Fallon Hoots in a Prospect League game at Community Field was the second consecutive defeat in which the Bees scored just one run.

It’s not a matter of getting runners on base — Burlington (5-11) left 11 baserunners in this game — it’s a matter of getting them home.

“We just can’t seem to find a timely hit at all right now,” Bees manager Owen Oreskovich said. “Scored one run in, it might be the last three games, the last two for sure, and had plenty of runners on base in all of those games. Just waiting for somebody to step up and get a hit when we need it.”

It’s also hurting that the Bees aren’t putting the ball in play. They had 16 strikeouts in this game, 16 in Wednesday’s 9-1 loss at Illinois Valley. The Bees have 151 strikeouts this season, second-most in the league behind O’Fallon.

“We’ve got to cut down on the strikeouts,” Oreskovich said. “(Sixteen) last night, maybe 15 tonight. That’s just not going to win ball games when you’re striking out that many times. Put the ball in play, make them make a play, it could change it.

“I think it would go back on the approach in some ways. We’re fouling off balls too early in counts, not putting them in play, and now you’re in two-strike counts. You’ve got to capitalize on not fouling them off, putting them in play. And, especially with two strikes, just battle more than we have. Like I said, you put the ball in play, you don’t know what could happen. You might find a hole, you could get a little Texas Leaguer. I mean, anything can happen.”

Typical of the night for the Bees was a sequence of plays in the seventh. Sam Monroe and Spencer Nivens walked to open the inning. Kevin Santago then hit a broken-bat line drive off O’Fallon pitcher Geo Canfield, but the ball went to second baseman Will Doherty, who then turned a double play. Weston Fulk then struck out to end the inning.

O’Fallon (9-8) extended its winning streak to four games by taking control of the game early. The Hoots scored five runs in the first four innings off Bees starter Cauy Massner (0-1), who was sharp in the first innings, getting his first 11 pitches over for strikes.

Massner walked four in five innings, allowing five runs on seven hits.

O’Fallon added two runs in the sixth inning, then single runs in the eighth and ninth.

Burlington’s only run came in the second inning, when Dawson Estep doubled to right-center field to score Brandon Bickford.

ON DECK: The Bees play host to the Quincy Gems in a 6:30 p.m. game on Friday.

NOTES: Infielder Charlie Terrill has been placed on the injured list because of bone spurs. Terrill was hitting .400 in eight games. “That kid is one of the toughest kids I’ve ever been around,” Oreskovich said. “He was doing everything exactly the way we wanted it done.” … Santiago went 2-for-5 to extend his hitting streak to four games. Santiago, who is hitting .353 this season, is batting .389 in this streak. … Massner was the recipient of a crucial bounce in the second inning. O’Fallon had the bases loaded when a Massner pitch sailed over catcher Brady Logan. The ball hit off the backstop and caromed hard back to Logan, who waited at home plate to tag Ryan Malzahn, who was trying to score on the play.

Photo: Burlington Bees first baseman Ryan Grace tags O’Fallon’s Will Doherty on a pickoff play in the fifth inning. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)