By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

There is no easy way to get from Macomb, Illinois to Burlington.

Jack Duncan usually takes the highways that take him through Blandinsville, LaHarpe and Terre Haute, then up the Carman Road to U.S. Highway 34, then over the Mississippi River to Burlington and Community Field, where Duncan has spent the summer pitching for the Burlington Bees.

“I like that way — I’ll stop at the gas station in Blandinsville to get something to drink,” Duncan said, smiling.

There are various other back roads Duncan will take, too, for the 50-mile journey to his summer baseball home.

Duncan, a Macomb native and a pitcher at Western Illinois University, doesn’t mind. Usually, fellow Bees reliever Chase Golden, who was with Duncan at WIU last season, rides along.

It’s 50 miles and a little less than an hour’s drive, and Duncan likes it.

“I like listening to music, talking about baseball, whatever,” Duncan said. “That 50 minutes, actually, helps me get into game mode. If you live here in town, it’s five minutes, and you’re here. I actually feel more prepared. You think about baseball coming up here, you get ready.”

Duncan needed this summer with the Bees in the Prospect League to build off his short first season with the Leathernecks. 

“It’s been all right,” Duncan said. “It’s had its ups and downs, but that’s baseball.”

Duncan is 0-4 with a 5.53 earned run average, but leads the Bees with three saves. A deeper dive into his numbers shows those ups and downs that Duncan talked about.

Duncan didn’t allow an earned run in his first five appearances, then gave up five runs in the ninth inning of an 8-7 loss at Jackson on June 26. He came back to get a three-inning save, not allowing a run in a 4-1 win over Clinton on July 4.

Duncan has lost his last two outings, giving up three runs in a 7-4 home loss to Alton on July 9, then he gave up two 10th-inning runs in Sunday’s 7-6 loss at Normal.

“It’s not fun to look back and try to find what you need to get better at, and watch those bad outings,” Duncan said. “But there’s a lot to take from it, and learn how to deal with failure so you can come back the next outing ready to go. Learn from your mistakes.”

The rebound from the loss at Jackson was crucial for his confidence.

“You really want to bounce back after a bad outing,” Duncan said. “That one felt good. You want to see your stuff work again. You do whatever you can — you take that time off after you throw to get ready. And it feels good when you come back and do well.”

Bees manager Owen Oreskovich had a message for Duncan after the Jackson loss, and liked Duncan’s response.

“He just had a bad day, and stuff happens,” Oreskovich said. “You know, it happens to the best closers in the league, the best pitchers in the league. Guys have bad days. Sometimes you really can’t control that.

“But I told him after the (Jackson) game, I brought him in and talked to him and told him that you’re still going to go back into that (late-inning) position. It’s not like I lost confidence in you or anything like that. So I don’t know if that totally helped him out. calmed his nerves a little bit but that was huge what he did (against Clinton).”

“I told O the day after that if there’s any situation, and you don’t know who to pitch there, I’ll be that guy,” Duncan said. “You want to get out there as soon as possible to get that feeling off your chest.”

Duncan made three appearances for the Leathernecks last season as a freshman, giving up six earned runs in 2 ⅓ innings before a knee injury sidelined him the rest of the season.

That’s why this summer with the Bees is so important.

“I sat and watched pretty much the whole season — I didn’t get to be in any conference games because of my knee,” Duncan said. “So, yeah, I was ready to go. When I got here, I was like, I’m staying here all summer, I want innings, I want to face college-level hitters. It’s really been really good to be able to play.

“I really haven’t gotten a lot of college guys out. I got three innings in at Western, and they weren’t great. It’s different facing college hitters. They’re not going to chase anything that maybe you get in high school, so that’s why I want to get experience here.”

Duncan used his down time during the college season to watch the older pitchers on the Leathernecks’ roster.

“Pretty much every game, I was back behind home plate, charting pitches, seeing what guys were throwing, trying to pick up as much as I could in how they go through their process,” he said. “I definitely learned a lot, more than what you would think during a season.”

Duncan said he’s talked a lot with Western Illinois coach Terry Davis this summer.

“I’m not sure yet what my role is going to be,” Duncan said. “I’m going to come in there in the fall and compete, see where TD wants me to fit in. I want to pitch meaningful innings this year, and if I do what I know I can do, I’ll have that chance.”

It’s why he doesn’t mind the back roads to get where he wants to go after this summer.

“It’s been a lot of fun here in Burlington,” Duncan said. “I didn’t expect it to be this fun, but I’ve really enjoyed it.”

Photo: Bees reliever Jack Duncan (right) and teammate Chase Golden often are car-pool partners on the ride from Macomb, Illinois to Burlington. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)

By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

Chase Golden came to the Burlington Bees looking for some summer innings.

The right-hander from Western Illinois University has gained an education on being a reliever in high-leverage situations, and has become an important part of the Bees’ bullpen bridge in the late innings.

Golden is 1-1 in 11 appearances with a 5.27 earned run average. But he has recovered from a slow start to post some impressive numbers.

Golden had a 14.40 ERA with 13 walks and seven strikeouts in five innings in his first four appearances on the season. But over his last seven appearances, Golden has walked just three and struck out 15 in 8 ⅔ innings, not allowing an earned run.

“I mean, it was a rough start but it got a lot better,” Golden said. “It’s been a lot better recently, focusing on just getting in the strike zone.”

Now he’s become a key part of the Bees’ middle relief group, getting crucial innings.

“I like throwing in high-leverage situations,” Golden said. “It’s my game. I feel when it’s not a high-leverage situation, it’s harder to be as locked in. But I just love the pressure.” 

“We just worked on getting him confidence,” Bees manager Owen Oreskovich said. “He’s got great stuff, but he struggled a bit early in the season. So we started using him in certain spots, allowing him to get an inning here and there, and it’s worked for him.”

Control, Golden said, was a big factor. He was the starting pitcher in the Bees’ June 3 loss to Illinois Valley, walking six in two innings. Two appearances later, in a June 10 loss at Springfield, Golden walked six in 1 ⅓ innings and allowed five runs in the 10-1 defeat.

But after giving up three runs in ⅔ of an inning in an 11-6 loss at Quincy, Golden hasn’t given up an earned run.

“After my first couple outings where I was missing the zone a lot, I started throwing off a mound pretty much every day,” Golden said. “Just throwing off a mound, getting a feel for the slope, and that’s really translated well for me since then.”

“He’s pitching with a lot of confidence now,” Oreskovich said.

That showed in the Bees’ 6-3 win over Illinois Valley on Saturday night. Golden entered the game in the fifth inning and after getting the first out, walked two hitters sandwiched around an infield single. But Golden struck out Jake Ferguson, then appeared to have struck out Alton Gyselman to end the inning, but an appeal on the checked swing went in Gyselman’s favor. Golden then came back to get Gyselman on a called third strike, giving out a yell in celebration before heading off the mound.

“Goldie did good for his one inning,” Oreskovich said.

Golden pitched just 18 ⅔ innings as a freshman at Western Illinois this season, going 0-1 with a 12.54 ERA. He found out about the Bees through teammate Jacob Greenan, who played in Burlington in 2021.

“I just wanted to pitch, throw some innings,” he said.

The experience Golden got with the Leathernecks this season, he said, was important.

“It was just learning how to play college baseball, just because it’s so different from playing in high school,” Golden said. “How to pitch. When to throw certain pitches. How to attack, how to get ahead of certain hitters.”

Golden made appearances in games against Missouri, Texas Tech and Michigan State, as well as in three games against Summit League champion Oral Roberts, which advanced to the College World Series.

“It was great to see good competition,” Golden said. “Pitching against those older guys really made me a better pitcher, I think. And I think that’s helping me this summer and hopefully translates into next season.”

Golden went into the summer not knowing who his new coach at Western Illinois was going to be. Terry Davis was named the Leathernecks’ coach last week, replacing interim coach Tayler Sheriff.

“I thought about (the coaching change) a lot,” Golden said. “I’m happy with how it ended up. I’m ready to go into battle with Coach Davis and see what the Leathernecks can do next season.”

The goal, Golden said, is to continue to build on the momentum he’s picked up in the last three weeks.

“I just want to continue to pound the strike zone,” Golden said. “I would like to keep learning on how to put hitters away for the rest of the summer, and to carry that into next spring.”

Photo: Bees reliever Chase Golden hasn’t allowed an earned run in his last seven appearances. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)