Pitching carries Burlington Bees past Springfield in Prospect League baseball

The Burlington Bees rode the shutout pitching of four pitchers and coasted past the Springfield Lucky Horseshoes, 7-0, in a Prospect League baseball game at Community Field Wednesday night.

Garrett Moltzan (1-1) started and pitched five innings for the win, giving up no runs on two hits and two walks while striking out five.

"G Mo (Moltzan) was incredible today," Bees manager Owen Oreskovich said. "That last time we talked about him he was on a pitch count thing because he threw a lot in his conference tournament. But he went out there today and he just competed. He threw five innings and only threw 74 pitches. He did absolutely everything we wanted from him."

The three relievers weren't shabby, either. Nick Tampa walked two in two innings, Steve Escarcega gave up no hits and no walks in an inning and Kyle Maurer gave up two hits in the final inning, but recorded three strikeout.

"Nick (Tampa) came in throwing it up," Oreskovich said. "It got a little away from him, but I sent (pitching coach) Jack (Gray) out there to calm him down and he got those last two outs of his second inning for us. Then Steve (Escarcega) was just incredible for us. That's all I want from them. They go out there and throw strikes and don't walk anyone I'll be happy at the end of the day. I'd rather have them hit eight homers than walk 10 guys."

Maurer gave up a leadoff double to Dylan Nevar, then struck out Cooper Combs. Jacob Compton singled, pushing Nevar to third base, but Maurer wouldn't let the Horseshoes score. He fanned Joe Kolbeck and Payton Penningto to end the game and preserve the shutout. All three strikeouts were via called third strikes.

"Then Kyle (Maurer), he's also a competitor," Oreskovich said. "He's thrown one other time this summer and he didn't throw too much this spring, but he's got a very good curveball. It's sharp, it's tight, it's hard. He said he felt really good. He had a little bitter taste in his mouth after he gave up that walk-off against Normal. I wanted to give him the ball with with the lead and give him a chance to win the ball game. He had it, today."

The Bees scored all they needed in the first inning on Kevin Santiago's RBI-single.

In the fifth inning, Sam Monroe led off with a single to right and advanced two bases on a hit batsman and a walk. With two outs, Chase Honeycutt grounded to pitcher Evan Long, who threw wildly to first base. Monroe scored for a 2-0 edge.

In the sixth, the Bees made it 5-0. Monroe doubled home Dawson Estep, Joey Fitzgerald coaxed a base on balls with bases loaded, forcing Monroe across the plate. A.J. Henkle scored on a wild Lucas Otto pitch.

The Bees scored the final two runs in the seventh. Ryan Grace singled, advanced to second on a wild pitch and to third on Estep's single. He scored on a wild pitch. Estep scored on a Trey Adams sacrifice fly to right.

Monroe, the Bees' leadoff hitter, led all swingers with three hits in four trips.

"I can't say enough good things about that kid," Oreskovich said. "He's an absolute competitor out there every time. He's a perfect summer ball player. He wants to play. He wants to win. He's a competitor every time. He's absolutely incredible."

The Bees leave Thursday for their first long road trip of the season, playing a doubleheader at O'Fallon Thursday night. They're at the Cape Catfish Friday and Saturday, at Springfield Sunday, and at Illinois Valley Tuesday and Wednesday. They return home Thursday, June 16, hosting O'Fallon.

"More than anything, (the road trip) is going to be a bonding thing and getting that trust in each other," Oreskovich said. "It's getting a little closer to the guys. They're pretty good together already. They all seem like very good friends so far. That bonding experience, that trust, they all want to win and I want to win. I think when you're closer together like that you have a better chance of that happening."

Springfield. 000. 000. 000 — 0

Burlington. 100. 013. 20x — 7

WP — Garrett Moltzan (1-1). LP — Zachary Ryan (0-2). Leading hitters — Springfield: Dylan Nevar 1-4, Cooper Combs 1-3, Jacob Compton 2-4. Burlington: Sam Monroe 3-4, Kevin Santiago 1-4, Joey Fitzgerald 1-4, Ryan Grace 1-5, Dawson Estep 2-3. 2B — Nevar, Monroe. RBI — Burlington: Monroe, Santiago, Fitzgerald, Adams..

Records: Springfield 3-5, Burlington 3-5.

This article originally appeared on The Hawk Eye: Burlington Bees pitch a shutout against Springfield in Prospect League