By John Bohnenkamp

Playing for the Burlington Bees in the Prospect League last season was the finale of Jack Gray’s playing career.

It turned out to be the beginning of his coaching career.

The Burlington native spent this college season as the pitching coach at Carl Sandburg College. And he’s back with the Bees this summer, this time as the team’s pitching coach.

“I love it,” Gray said. “No place I’d rather be right now.”

Gray has a deep family connection with the Bees, dating to when the Bees were a franchise in the Class A Midwest League. Ed Larson, Gray’s grandfather, was a long-time Midwest League executive and also was president of the Burlington Baseball Association. Larson died in 2019 during the final season for the Bees in the Midwest League.

Gray played in college, starting at Carl Sandburg College before concluding his career at Western Illinois University last season. And when he finished with the Bees last season, his playing days were over and his coaching career was set to begin.

Gray didn’t hesitate when new Bees manager Owen Oreskovich, who was an assistant with the team last season, called Gray and asked him if he wanted to be on his staff.

“It took me about five seconds to say yes,” Gray said. “It was just a perfect fit, with all of the history with my family with the Bees.

“It was nice to end my playing time here, just because with my grandpa and everything, there’s been such a tradition here. And with it being the first year in a new league, it just worked perfectly. It was a lot of fun here. Having my career end here, I wouldn’t want it to end anywhere else.”

Now Gray has shifted into a new role.

“He is very willing and wants to learn to be a coach,” Oreskovich said. “I wanted to give him that opportunity, teach him some of the things I’ve learned, especially after being an assistant coach here.”

Gray’s coaching career was launched in between games of a doubleheader between the Bees and the Normal CornBelters last season. Carl Sandburg head coach Josh Foreman, who was an assistant with CornBelters, asked Gray if he wanted to join his staff. Gray, whose college playing career included playing for Foreman at Carl Sandburg, thought it was a great opportunity.

“I learned a lot,” he said. “It’s a bit of a jump going from player to coach right away.

“One of the main things I learned is that basically not everyone is going to learn the exact same thing the exact same way. Some guys are going to interpret it a little differently.”

Gray took a hands-off approach working with the Sandburg pitchers, and he’s going to do the same thing with the Bees.

“I’m not a big ‘I’ve got to change all of your mechanics’ guy,” Gray said. “I threw weird, so if they’re comfortable throwing weird and they can throw strikes and be efficient, why not? If it works for them, I’ll fine-tune what I can, but let them be comfortable with what they’re doing.

“With the summer league, I’ll do a little bit of instruction. But basically, a lot of the guys are here to get innings — either they didn’t get to play a lot in the spring, or they want to work on something and this is a perfect time to work on it. I’ll let them work on their own, and if they need some help, I’ll be there to help them.”

Eight of Gray’s teammates from last season have returned. Being their coach will be an adjustment, Gray said.

“They know I’m a coach now, and they respect that,” Gray said. “Don’t get me wrong, they’re still friends of mine. It is a little weird coaching your friends. But from what I’ve seen, they’re going to listen to me exactly like a coach.”

“It will be good for Jack to be our pitching coach,” said Bees assistant coach Chris Monroe, who was Gray’s pitching coach at Western Illinois. “He’s going to learn his own style on how to do things, how he wants things done. And there’s no better place to do it than a few blocks down the street from his house. You can’t beat that.”

It is that connection, and the fact that he’s still wearing a Bees uniform, that made this a perfect place for Gray.

“Kind of keeping it in the family,” Gray said. “I know my grandpa would like it. I figure he’s somewhere watching all of this and smiling.”

Photo: Jack Gray (right) signs an autograph for a fan after a game last season at Community Field. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)

By John Bohnenkamp

Owen Oreskovich said putting together the Burlington Bees’ roster was a lot like putting together a college baseball team, something he has done as an assistant coach.

Now that the Bees’ manager got his players, though, he wants them to approach this summer as if they were on a professional team, something he learned last year as an assistant coach with the team in the Prospect League.

“(Former Bees manager) Gary (McClure) ran it like a pro team,” Oreskovich said. “And I really liked that from a summer aspect. I’m not your school’s coach — I’m not going to have a stretching program, that kind of stuff. You do what you’ve got to do — whatever you do at school, you go do it, however much time you need. You want me to go throw (batting practice), I’ll go throw it. Come ask. I’m a personable guy.

“I’m going to run it like a pro team runs things. I just want these kids to have fun. That’s what baseball is about, in a good league. Treat them like pro baseball players.”

The Bees open the season on Wednesday night against the Quincy Gems at Community Field.

Oreskovich said finding players was similar to his job as an assistant at Mount Mercy University in Cedar Rapids.

“It’s just the same old thing I do every day,” he said. “It’s just recruiting.”

Still, Oreskovich had to scramble in the days before the team reported to Community Field this weekend to find the final pieces to the 30-man roster.

“It’s tougher to find arms nowadays,” Oreskovich said. “But I found some guys and I really think we have a good team here.”

Eight players are back from last season’s team, which was in its first year in the Prospect League.

Finding the rest of the roster required some work.

“It’s all about asking coaches, people you know,” Oreskovich said. “Some of the kids, you see them on Twitter, you reach out to them. That’s how you do a lot of baseball recruiting these days. You go on (social media), you see video. And you reach out to them.”

A look at the Bees’ roster:

PITCHERS

Steven Escarcega (RHP, Hawaii Pacific) — Has not pitched this season.

Weston Fulk (LHP, Iowa) — Redshirted this season for the Hawkeyes. A first-team all-state selection in Iowa last summer after going 6-3 with a 2.42 ERA at Ankeny High School, where he was teammates with Iowa pitcher Brody Brecht. Can play first base as well.

Devin Holmes (LHP, Highland CC) — 1-0 in eight appearances. Struck out 15 in 10 ⅔ innings.

Jaxon Ingram (RHP, Texas Wesleyan) — 1-0 in three appearances this season.

Ian Landreneau (RHP, Texas Wesleyan) — 3-5 with a 5.59 ERA in 14 appearances. He has 34 strikeouts in 48 1/3 innings.

C.J. Lewis (RHP, Toledo) — 0-0 with a 2.70 ERA in three appearances this season.

Cauy Massner (RHP, Iowa Wesleyan) — Only local players on the team — graduated from Mediapolis High School. 

Kyle Maurer (RHP, Fort Wayne) — 0-0 with a 10.03 ERA in 13 appearances. Maurer pitched in four games for the Bees last season.

Osvaldo Mendez (LHP, Alabama State) — 5-2 with a 4.83 ERA. Struck out 62 in 50 ⅓ innings. Pitching for the Puerto Rico U23 team, and will join the team in late June.

Garrett Moltzan (RHP, Texas Wesleyan) — 3-1 with a 3.71 ERA in 20 appearances, with 58 strikeouts in 51 innings. Went 1-3 with a 6.81 ERA for the Bees last season.

Adrian Nery (RHP, Morton College) — 2-2 with a 7.03 ERA. Struck out 20 in 24 ⅓ innings.

Owen Rice (LHP, McHenry County CC) — 3-2 with a 4.50 ERA, with 37 strikeouts in 30 innings.

Nick Tampa (RHP, Morton College) — 1-0 with 1 save in 5 appearances. Struck out 10 in 6 ⅓ innings.

Jared Townsend (LHP, Iowa Western CC) — Hasn’t played this season, but will be the Bees’ Opening Day starter.

Paolo Zavala (RHP, Morton College) — 5-1 with a 3.72 ERA, with 29 strikeouts in 38 ⅔ innings.

CATCHERS

Chase Honeycutt (Jones College) — Hit .171 with 2 home runs and 15 runs batted in. Hit .261 with 14 RBIs for the Bees last season.

Brady Logan (Northwest Mississippi CC) — Hit .308 with 1 home run and 17 RBIs.

Ben Tallman (Iowa) — Hit .244 in 35 games with the Hawkeyes, with 1 home run and 11 RBIs.

INFIELDERS

Trey Adams (Northeastern JC) — Hit .353 with 4 home runs and 33 RBIs. Has 16 stolen bases.

Tucker Cole (Black Hawk College) — Hit .224 with 2 home runs and 18 RBIs.

Dawson Estep (Connors State College) — Hit .313 in 9 games.

Joey Fitzgerald (Harper College) — Hit .262 with 2 home runs and 20 RBIs. Hit .218 with the Bees last season.

Ryan Grace (Quinnipiac) — Redshirted this season.

Kevin Santiago (Texas Wesleyan) — Hit .352 with 10 home runs and 42 RBIs. Has a .697 slugging percentage and a .420 on-base percentage. Hit .271 with 7 home runs and 27 RBIs for the Bees last season.

Charlie Terrill (McHenry County CC) — Hit .214 with 1 home run and 7 RBIs.

OUTFIELDERS

Brandon Bickford (Mount Mercy) — Hit .233 with 1 home run and 8 RBIs.

A.J. Henkle (Illinois-Chicago) — Has played in one game this season. Hit .233 with 1 home run and 7 RBIs last season for the Bees.

Sam Monroe (Southeastern CC) — Hit .283 for the Blackhawks with 4 home runs and 32 RBIs. Hit .267 for the Bees last season.

Spencer Nivens (Missouri State) — Hitting .352 with 9 home runs and 48 RBIs in 57 games. Has a .972 OPS. Will join the team after playing in the NCAA tournament with the Bears.

Lincoln Riley (Eastern Illinois) — Hit .283 with 2 home runs and 21 RBIs. Hit .237 with 3 home runs and 26 RBIs for the Bees last season.

Photo: Burlington Bees outfielder Sam Monroe makes a catch in a game last season. Monroe is one of eight players returning from last season’s team. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)

By John Bohnenkamp

Owen Oreskovich said it was an easy decision to take the job as the Burlington Bees manager in the Prospect League this season.

Oreskovich, who was a coach with the Bees last season, is a full-time assistant at Mount Mercy University in Cedar Rapids. But Oreskovich enjoyed his time in Burlington, and the chance to manage a team in the college summer league was too good to pass up.

“I enjoyed my time here last year,” Oreskovich said at the Bees’ spring banquet on Friday night. “Burlington’s a great town, you’ve got a great front office here, good place to be, good people to be around. It wasn’t a hard answer.”

The challenge for Oreskovich has been putting together a roster for this season.

Oreskovich already has 22 players signed for this summer, but is still trying to complete his pitching staff.

“We basically have a full position player roster set already,” he said. “Just looking to add eight or nine arms.”

Oreskovich said several players from last season’s team are coming back — position players Lincoln Riley (.237), A.J. Henkle (.233), Chase Honeycutt (.261), Kevin Santiago (.271, 7 home runs), Joey Fitzgerald (.218) and Sam Monroe (.267), along with pitcher Garrett Moltzan (1-3, 6.81 ERA).

Oreskovich has gotten help finding players from new Bees pitching coach Jack Gray, who is working at Carl Sandburg College this season after finishing his college career last season at Western Illinois. And other players have tipped him off to friends or players they have seen.

“Some guys will text me and say, ‘Hey, I’ve got this buddy here,’” Oreskovich said. “So I’ll tell them I’ll check them out, see if it’s someone we want. And we’ve been able to find some guys like that.”

He’s also gotten help from Mount Mercy head coach Jack Dahm, who manages the Clinton LumberKings in the Prospect League as well.

“Coach Dahm’s been doing this a long time,” said Oreskovich, who also played at Mount Mercy. “He knows all there is to know, and he’s a great guy to lean on for help.”

Oreskovich wants a full roster, because he knows it can be a long season.

“I learned that you’ve got to give these kids a little bit of a break once in a while,” he said. “I want to have a few more position players and pitchers. It’s a long season. Some of these kids will play a full college season, that’s about 50 games. And then they’ll come here and play 60. Big-leaguers do it, but that’s all they do. They don’t have school or anything else.

“So, I want to be there for them, guide them, let them have some fun. Let them enjoy themselves. To me, that’s what summer baseball is for. It’s still competitive, you want to win. But all of the things you learn here — getting to meet new guys, living with host families, getting to know the fans — those are things that can last a lifetime.”

Photo: Bees third-base coach Owen Oreskovich (right) congratulates A.J. Henkle after a home run last season. Oreskovich will be the Bees’ manager this season, while Henkle will return for a second season. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)