Burlington, IA – The O’Fallon Hoots have hit the baseball plenty in early June, but the squad was hoping to combo that effort with a good day on the mound. This combo worked for the Hoots on Friday night as they beat the Burlington Bees 8-5 at Community Field.
Hoots starter Drew Politte (Bradley University) won his start with a solid six innings of work, allowing just three hits in the process. By the time Politte exited the game, O’Fallon had already built a commanding 7-0 lead.
O’Fallon hit early and often, scoring two runs in both the first and second inning. First baseman Nick Bonczkowski hit Samuel Paule in with a single to right in the first inning and Brady Vessells scored when left fielder Griffin Brown walked. After his RBI single in the second, John Connor shit a solo home run to right center field in the fourth inning, which helped jumped the lead to 6-0. Jake McGhee hit NIU catcher Carson Ramos home in the fifth inning for the seventh Hoots run.
The Bees would not counter until the bottom of the seventh inning, when the home team put up four runs. The Bees did not record a hit in the inning but drew five walks and were hit by multiple pitches to create a rally against relievers Mason Lee and Noah Jones. After the rally, Hoots infielder Mathew Rauser singled home Carson Shear in the eighth inning, making the score 8-4. Burlington added one more run in the bottom of the eighth.
Burlington starter TJ Hauser was knocked out of the game after two innings. After, the Bees deployed four relievers. Burlington’s Tanner Reniartz, Troy Peltz and Milo Kelley created the three hits the Bees totaled in the game.
The Hoots (4-5) will stay in Burlington (4-6) Friday night and will play the Bees again at 6:35 p.m. on Saturday at Community Field.
