By JOHN BOHNENKAMP
Foti Rigopoulos was the leadoff hitter and the center fielder in the Burlington Bees’ season opener on May 26.
Two months later, he has become a key bullpen arm for the Bees heading into the final week of the regular season.
Rigopoulos was the winning pitcher in Sunday’s 10-4 win over the Quincy Doggy Paddlers at Community Field, retiring every hitter he faced in the final 3 ⅓ innings.
The Bees (30-22 overall, 19-8 second half) won for the 13th time in their last 14 games, opening up a two-game lead over Clinton for the second-half playoff spot in the Prospect League’s Northwest Division with four games to play.
Pitching was part of the plan all along for Rigopoulos, who sat out this season with Illinois as a freshman before coming to the Bees for the summer.
“We talked about, I don’t know, maybe 2 ½, three weeks ago, getting him on the mound a little more because (Illinois’ coaching staff) wanted him to get innings,” Bees manager Owen Oreskovich said. “We had a ton of pitchers early on, and we were in a lot of games that weren’t close, so it was kind of hard to get him out there.”
“It’s been a really cool experience,” Rigopoulos said. “Kind of getting every part of every aspect of summer ball, and it’s been really fun coming out of the bullpen so far.”
Rigopoulos (1-0) made his first appearance for the Bees in a 4-0 loss to Clinton on July 5, when he struck out all three hitters he faced. He has made four appearances as a pitcher, with a 2.84 earned run average and an 0.63 WHIP. He has struck out 10 in 6 ⅓ innings.
“His change-up is one of the best I’ve seen,” Oreskovich said.
Rigopoulos, who was a two-time first-team all-state player at Wahlert Catholic High School in Dubuque, learned the pitch from Anthony Ruden, one of his coaches who worked with him during his high-school career.
“I didn’t really have confidence with it at all,” Rigopoulos said. “And then he told me to just start throwing it, I’ve got nothing to lose. My junior year, I just caught a really good feel for it and stuck with it ever since.”
The plan was for Rigopoulos to pitch in Sunday’s game, but what Oreskovich didn’t plan on was starting pitcher Braden Vanderheydt and reliever Ty Mikkelsen being affected by the heat. The game was played during an excessive heat warning from the National Weather Service, with the game-time temperature at 92 degrees with a heat index of 111 degrees.
Vanderheydt made it through 3 ⅔ innings, but was visited on the mound by Oreskovich and a trainer during Bruce Trzpis’ at-bat in the fourth inning. Vanderheydt struck out Trzpis, but gave up singles to Dean Staudacher and Juan Concepcion and was taken out of the game by Oreskovich.
Mikkelsen got a similar visit in the sixth inning after giving up a single to Concepcion. He came out after a wild pitch with Nick Griffith at the plate one batter later.
“That was tough, and I’m not saying tough from the standpoint of the team — it was tough to see somebody like that with how hot it is,” Oreskovich said. “I’m glad they’re all right. They got cooled down, we got water in them. I’m glad that they’re OK. At that point, I was more worried about them than the game.”
“It was pretty hot out there,” Rigopoulos said. “I was coming into the clubhouse after every inning I was out there to get cooled off.”
Rigopoulos came in after Mikkelsen left, getting Griffith on an infield popout to end the sixth. He then retired the side in order in the final three innings, striking out four.
“Go right at guys, give them my best, and see what their best is,” Rigopoulos said. “That’s my mindset.”
The Bees had three innings in which they scored runs without a hit — one in the second, two in the sixth and three in the eighth. Four Quincy pitchers combined to walk 15 Bees.
“Guys were looking for the pitches to hit, and when they didn’t get them they laid off, and it was good to see that we were patient up there,” Oreskovich said.
Photo: Foti Rigopoulos retired all 10 batters he faced to pick up the win in the Bees’ 10-4 victory over Quincy on Sunday. (Photo by Steve Cirinna)
