By JOHN BOHNENKAMP
It was a game that couldn’t get away, and the Burlington Bees made sure it didn’t.
Juan Fernandez scored the winning run on a wild pitch in the 11th inning to lead the Bees to an 8-7 win over the Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp in Sunday’s Prospect League game at Community Field.
The Bees (19-21 overall, 8-7 second half) stayed three games behind the Clinton LumberKings for the second-half playoff spot in the Northwest Division.
Burlington tied the game in the ninth and 10th innings to stay alive, then grabbed the win in the 11th.
“Every win matters now,” Bees manager Owen Oreskovich said. “It was a whole team effort tonight, and these guys want to win.”
Fernandez, who started the inning on second base on the league’s extra-inning rule, moved to third with one out when a pickoff throw from Illinois Valley pitcher Kaeden Schatsiek (0-2) went into center field. Rowen Bergeron walked, and Troy Peltz was intentionally walked to load the bases.
Illinois Valley brought the infield in, but with Johnnie Ankenbruck at the plate Schatsiek’s wild pitch got past catcher Owen Anderson, allowing Fernandez to race home as the Bees celebrated.
“I kind of think that’s been our MO all season,” Oreskovich said. “We haven’t won a couple games that we probably should have, but we’ve been in them by coming back late. Stuff like that tends to turn one way or the other sooner or later. You start winning games like that, and then you expect to win them. That’s really important.”
The Bees tied the game in the ninth inning when Fernandez scored on a passed ball. Then, after the Pistol Shrimp scored two runs in the top of the 10th, Burlington matched that in the bottom of the inning when Peltz scored on Tanner Reinartz’s RBI single and Tate Slagle scored on a dropped popup by Illinois Valley shortstop Joey Ireland.
Burlington got out of the top of the 11th without surrendering a run. Third baseman Dalton Miller threw out Chase Roberts at the plate, and then with two on and two out Bees reliever Zach Troxel (3-0) got Ethan Silva to ground out to end the inning.
The Bees led 4-3 going into the sixth, but surrendered the lead when Silva singled in Drew Church and Tyler Reyburn scored on Ireland’s sacrifice fly.
The Bees have Monday off and will play at Quincy on Tuesday.
Photo: Juan Fernandez (5) gets a hug from Burlington Bees teammate Mitchell Cox after scoring the winning run in Sunday’s game against Illinois Valley. (Photo by Steve Cirinna)
Published
July 13, 2026
