It was a game that Burlington Bees manager Owen Oreskovich had wanted, and even predicted.

Oreskovich knew that even with his team’s first-half struggles in the Prospect League, the roster makeup was such that the Bees can make a second-half run.

Wednesday’s 6-2 win over the Thrillville Thrillbillies at Community Field was an example of that.

The Bees (3-4 second half) got production from everywhere in the lineup, the perfect pitching tandem in Jacob Zahner and Michael Schaul, and error-free defense.

“We won today, we’ve lost a couple of games, but I feel like all of our games in the second half so far, it felt like we could win,” Oreskovich said. “And that’s a good feeling.”

The big key to this win, though, was Zahner, who put together his best pitching performance of the season. Zahner (1-3) came into the game with a 6.65 earned run average, with opponents hitting .284 against him, but he held the Thrillbillies to just six hits over six innings, and outside of the two-run second inning kept them from scoring.

“I thought he had a lot of life on his fastball,” Oreskovich said. “He made pitches when he had to. He had that two-run inning, but he went back out there and threw up zeros. It was huge.”

Oreskovich let Zahner have the sixth inning with the Bees up 3-2, and how he escaped it was big for him, and his teammates.

Zahner allowed singles to Mark Kattula and Bryson Arnette to open the inning. He got Carson Garner on a flyout to right field, then got Cam Hill to ground into a 5-4 force play. Zahner then struck out Alex Wilson to end the inning and his night.

“I thought he was rolling,” Oreskovich said. “I thought he had a little more life on his fastball than in the past. I thought he was feeling good, rolling. I think he deserved that inning.

“I was going to let him finish that out. He deserved that, as well.”

An inning later, the Bees added to their lead with a three-run seventh inning capped by Keanu Spenser’s two-run double.

“We got momentum from how the sixth inning ended, and you’ve got to keep momentum rolling in this game,” Oreskovich said.

Schaul closed the game with three scoreless innings, striking out four for his second save of the season.

The Bees had nine hits. Jeremy Figueroa had three hits and Jace Figuereo had two at the top of the lineup — Figuereo’s two-run double in the fourth put Burlington in the lead — but there was production everywhere in the lineup.

Even the players who didn’t have a hit contributed. Scotty Savage went 0-of-4, but scored a run. Corey Boyette and Jackson Rooker also went hitless, but each drove in a run.

Jacob Hustedde (0-2) was the losing pitcher.

Photo: Bees pitcher Jacob Zahner allowed two runs in six innings for his first win of the season. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)

By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

It was a game the Burlington Bees had control of until they didn’t.

Alton scored four runs over the final two innings — three in the ninth — to take a 7-4 win in Tuesday’s rain-delayed Prospect League game at Community Field.

The Bees (2-4 second half) led 4-3 going into the eighth inning before a costly throwing error allowed the River Dragons (3-3) to tie the game. Then Alton broke the game open in the ninth, getting all of their runs after two were out.

What was frustrating for Bees manager Owen Oreskovich was how the River Dragons got their runs.

Reliever Chase Golden had pitched three shutout innings and had gotten one out in the eighth when Alton’s Joe Connolly singled to center field. But an attempt to throw out Connolly, who had made a wide turn, at first base went sailing away, allowing Connolly to move to second base. Connolly then scored on Justin Santoyo’s single.

“I thought Goldie was great,” Oreskovich said. “If we don’t throw the ball away trying to make a play after it’s wet, I think it’s a different inning. Those at-bats are different, those pitches are different. Maybe we get (a double play) and get out of there with the lead.”

Then came a stormy ninth inning which saw two ejections before the River Dragons put together their rally.

Left fielder R.J. LaRocco struck out to open the inning and argued with home plate umpire Dana Wilson, who threw LaRocco out of the game. Just two pitches into Zane Timon’s at bat, first-base coach Kurt Russell was ejected by base umpire Sam Hufnagle.

Timon struck out for the second out, then pinch-hitter Cole Schrank singled. Cooper Howell walked, then Connolly singled to load the bases. Duncan hit Santoyo in the ankle with a pitch to bring in pinch-runner Dane Stevenson, then Erik Broekemeier’s two-run single capped the scoring.

The Bees loaded the bases in the ninth inning against Carter Hunt, but Merrick Mathews was called out on strikes and Cedric Dunnwald popped out to first to end the game.

“We’ve got to get a hit there,” Oreskovich said. “You get a run there, and their pitcher gets even more rattled, then who knows what happens from there.”

The Bees fell behind 3-0 in the first inning. Howell reached on an error, advanced to second on Connolly’s ground out, stole third base, then scored on a fielder’s choice. Preston Wright then added a two-run single.

Bees starter Jackson Wohlers settled in after that, pitching three shutout innings.

Burlington got two runs back in the fourth inning on Dunnwald’s single that scored Keanu Spenser and Cooper Donlin.

Wohlers would have come out for the fifth inning, but heavy rain hit the ballpark as soon as the fourth inning ended, leading to a rain delay of 1 hour, 13 minutes.

“I had no problem putting him back out there,” Oreskovich said. “He was pitching well, and he could have given us at least one more inning.”

Scott Detweiler (2-1) was the winning pitcher. Duncan (1-2) took the loss.

Photo: Burlington Bees first baseman Merrick Mathews waits for the throw as Alton’s Cooper Howell races down the line in the second inning. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)

By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

Keanu Spenser’s college baseball season wasn’t quite what he wanted, thanks to a bout with appendicitis.

But before that happened, Spenser had already made up his mind where he wanted to play his summer baseball this year.

Spenser is back with the Burlington Bees, playing the second half in the Prospect League.

Why he came back, he said, was simple.

“Honestly, last year’s experience here was something I had never experienced before with baseball, and I just wanted to come back and be a part of it again,” Spenser said.

Spenser hit .304 with the Bees last season, with a team-high 10 home runs to go with 42 runs batted in. He was second on the team with 52 hits, and posted a .978 OPS.

But his appreciation of playing in Burlington had nothing to do with his statistics.

“The No. 1 thing is just the fan base here,” he said. “It’s a raw baseball experience. The host families — they don’t even know us, but they open their homes to us. People come out to the games. They enjoy the Bees, they enjoy baseball. They’re true fans of the game.

“It was the most fun I had ever had playing baseball. It meant the world to me.”

It’s why, around Christmas break, Spenser reached out to Bees manager Owen Oreskovich and said he wanted to play with the team again this season, but only for a half of the season.

“He said the second half was going to be open, so I just jumped right on it,” Spenser said.

A few weeks later, as Spenser was getting ready for his season at Queens University in Charlotte, N.C., an NCAA Division I program in the ASUN Conference, he woke up one morning with a deep pain in his stomach.

“I knew it wasn’t right,” Spenser said. “I went to class, to see if maybe it would feel better, but by the end of class it wasn’t. I called our trainer, he checked me out, and he was like, ‘Yeah, you should probably go to the ER.’

“When I got there, they did an MRI, injected me with some dye to check it out. The lady was like, ‘Yeah, your appendix needs to come out now before it blows.’”

Spenser knew such a surgery would likely end his season before it started, but a doctor presented him with an alternative.

“He said I could take some antibiotics, see if I could clear up the infection so the inflammation would go down,” Spenser said. “He said there would be an 85 percent chance of it working. So I called my parents, talked with them, and I said I was going to take the antibiotics, because it would be my only shot at playing this season.

“Everything worked out. I took the antibiotics, the inflammation went down. That way I didn’t have to have surgery.”

But it was enough of a setback that Spenser didn’t get a lot of playing time. He played in just 13 games, hitting .222 with three home runs and five RBIs.

“I understood it,” Spenser said. “The coaches, it’s their job. Our other first baseman was playing better, so I played some at designated hitter and I did some pinch-hitting.”

Spenser headed back to his home in Scottsdale, Arizona after the season, putting on some weight while playing in the Copper State League to get some work in before coming to Burlington.

Spenser has played in four games with the Bees, hitting .364.

“I think having those few weeks of playing in Arizona was good, getting regular at-bats,” Spenser said. “It’s definitely been a good confidence booster coming in here and doing well.”

Spenser is back in a clubhouse with some familiar faces from last season, but he is also getting to know some new players, including three players from Hawaii Pacific — outfielder Cooper Donlin, pitcher Shea Blanchard and infielder Skyler Agnew — where Spenser will be transferring to play next season.

“I just wanted to be able to go play baseball in Hawaii, if I had the opportunity to do that,” Spenser said. “And knowing in the last few seasons they’ve played amazing, I knew it would be a good place. It was kind of a no-brainer.

“Shea, Cooper, and Skyler are great guys. It’s been fun getting to know them.”

Spenser said he wants to spend this month with the Bees refining his swing.

If anything, he said, it’s good to be back in a place where he’s enjoyed playing.

“I really like being here,” Spenser said.

Photo: Keanu Spenser looks on from the third-base dugout at Community Field in his second season with the Burlington Bees. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)