Bees Sting Doggy Paddlers in Season Opener
BURLINGTON, IA — The Quincy Doggy Paddlers dropped their inaugural game of the season Monday night, falling 12-5 to the Burlington Bees.
The Paddlers showed early promise, putting up back-to-back runs in the second inning. But a four-run fourth from Burlington seemed to take the wind out of Quincy’s sails.
Freshman Cody Shaffer of Ursa, Illinois, got the start for Quincy, while the Bees turned to Western Illinois sophomore Jackson Rodgers on the mound.
A quiet first inning still gave Shaffer a chance to flash the leather, making a diving play to first to record a groundout. Burlington also threatened early, getting a triple from junior Kooper Schulte.
The top of the second opened with a walk to freshman Matthew Thompson, who advanced on a wild pitch. Sophomore General Schofield followed with an RBI double to record the first hit and RBI in franchise history. Junior catcher Jake Merda added an RBI single to center, giving the Dogs a 2-0 lead.
The Bees responded in the bottom half. A pair of singles set runners in scoring position, and an error allowed freshman Conor Fitzpatrick to score. Still, the Paddlers limited the damage and looked to tack on more in the third.
Wandel Campana led off with a walk and a steal. A fly out moved him to third, and Thompson came through again with an RBI single to make it 3-1 Quincy.
But the early offense may have stirred the hornet’s nest.
A hit-by-pitch put Ryan Swareck on base, and Schulte tied the game with a two-run homer.
In the fourth, Schofield and Merda both singled to start the inning, but Burlington’s defense held. On offense, the Bees made their move.
Noah Company singled, stole second, and reached third on a wild pitch. Swareck drove him in with an RBI single to center, giving Burlington its first lead.
With two outs, the Paddlers turned to freshman lefty Noah Wilder. Schulte drove in another run with a single, and senior Keanu Spenser followed with a two-run homer. Burlington led 7-3 after four innings.
Quincy was held scoreless in the fifth and returned to the field looking to stop the bleeding.
A walk and a hit-by-pitch set the table for another Burlington rally. Junior Anthony Sorrentino came in to pitch, but Schulte continued his monster night with a two-run single to make it 9-3.
Burlington made its second pitching change, going from Raul Gil to sophomore Parker Lewin, who held Quincy scoreless again.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Bees loaded the bases on two walks and a single. A hit-by-pitch scored a run, prompting another change on the mound. Culver-Stockton’s Jared Marty came in and allowed an RBI single to Company but escaped the inning without further damage.
Down 11-3, the Paddlers found life in the top of the seventh.
Walks and steals from junior Jimmy Koza and Campana put runners in scoring position. Sophomore Krew Bond hit a sacrifice fly to score Koza, cutting the deficit to 11-4.
In the bottom half, Schulte completed the cycle with a leadoff double. Junior Griffen Bushnell added an RBI single to give the Bees a 12-4 lead.
The Paddlers added one more in the eighth. A pair of walks set the table, and Koza singled to score Schofield, making it 12-5. But Quincy couldn’t mount a ninth-inning rally and dropped its season opener.
Post Game
After the game, field manager Brad Gyorkos shared his thoughts.
“Yeah, definitely. First day out, right, I mean in Burlington they threw really well and we got behind there early, and it was tough for us to get back into it. But we played fine. I think we need to throw more strikes and get some big hits in some big spots but I think we’re going to be okay.”
On the fourth inning and the late push:
“Yeah like I said, I think we had some good opportunities to score some runs and we played really good baseball there towards the end. The middle part of the game we lost, so we gotta find ways to throw more strikes and just be more competitive.”
Gyorkos also praised Schofield, who went 3-for-4 on the night:
“Yeah he’s gonna be good for us. Defensively we need to clean some stuff up and obviously first day out and that is what it is but yeah. I was happy with his at-bats and hopefully it can continue the rest of the week.”
Looking ahead to Quincy’s first-ever home game:
“Can’t wait, it’s gonna be really fun hopefully, people are here and they’re ready to go. But it’ll be a nice day.”
The Burlington Bees improve to 1-0 and begin a four-game road trip, starting with a two-game set in Normal, Illinois, against the CornBelters.
The Quincy Doggy Paddlers fall to 0-1 and will return home to face the Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp on Wednesday, May 29. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CST.
BEES KEY STATS
Parker Lewin – W (1-0): 2.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 3 K
Kooper Schulte – 5-for-5, 2B, 3B, HR, 5 RBI
Griffen Bushnell – 2-for-3, 1 RBI, 1 R, 2 BB
DOGGY PADDLERS KEY STATS
Cody Shaffer – L (0-1): 3.2 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
Jared Marty – 3.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 4 K
General Schofield – 3-for-4, 2B, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB
