Bees Drop Heartbreaker to Normal

Burlington, IA – The Burlington Bees (8-11) trailed by seven runs against the Normal CornBelters (12-9) going into the bottom of the sixth inning before scoring nine of the next 11 runs to tie the game and force extra innings.  Jake Weissenberger (Mount Mercy) of Burlington and Nick Krueger of Normal exchanged scoreless frames in the 10th. In the top of the 11th with a runner on third and two outs in a 9-9 game, a batter reached first on a throwing error off a dropped third strike to make to the score 10-9. Normal would add another run after a double and a wild pitch to extend the lead to 11-9. Burlington would go on to leave the bases loaded in the bottom of the 11th inning to drop the contest by a pair of runs. Tate Slagle (Iowa) started the game on the mound for the Bees. The righty surrendered three runs through five innings of work. He picked up a no-decision. Normal's offense would jump all over Burlington's bullpen in the sixth inning, scoring four runs. CornBelter starting pitcher Brodie Farrell delivered five shutout innings to begin the night and entered the sixth with Normal up 7-0. The Bees offense finally got going in the sixth as Lucas Krebs (Illinois) homered over the left field fence to bring his home run total to three and RBI tally to 19, as Normal's lead was trimmed to four. After allowing two runs in the top of the seventh inning, the Bees would storm back with six unanswered runs. Rowen Bergeron (LSU-Eunice) scored on an inside the park home run and Juan Fernandez (SCC) singled in Kolt Kurzman (Mount Mercy) to cut the lead to 9-5. In the eighth, Weissenberger escaped a bases loaded jam and then Adam Kudronowicz cut the lead in half with a two run double. Burlington would tie the game after an error that allowed Milo Kelley (Iowa) to score and a passed ball that brought in Matthew Simmons (Wabash Valley). The game went back and forth in extras, but Normal would pull out the victory to draw to within a half game of first place in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the Prospect League. Burlington's three game winning streak is over as they sit three and a half games out of first place with eight days left in the first half. They're back at home tomorrow against the Alton River Dragons with first pitch set for 6:30 pm at Community Field.