Recap
The Zee-Bees defeat the Bulldogs at the Battle at Bowen
Zion-Benton Township 4, Waukegan 3
Waukegan, IL — In dramatic fashion under the lights at Bowen Park, the Zee-Bees defeated the Waukegan Bulldogs 4-3 to sweep the conference series.
Everything started with the first pitch of the ballgame as Dominic Diliberti roped a line drive single to left. Sean Sarzaba came in to courtesy run for the catcher and AJ Neargarder walked. Rafael "Junior" Villalobos singled to right field, driving in Sarzaba and moving Neargarder to third. Mason Diaz came in to courtesy run for Villalobos. After a strike out, Mason Diaz advanced to second on an errant pick-off throw to first base, scoring Neargarder.
Waukegan struck back in the bottom of the 3rd starting with a one-out walk, which scored on an RBI single. However, Dominic Diliberti ended the threat by throwing out a base-runner on an attempted steal.
The Bees struck again in the top of the 6th with a one-out single by "Junior" Villalobos. Mason Diaz again came in to courtesy run for the pitcher of record. He would advance to second on a passed ball and scored when Andrew Carlson reached on an error by the first baseman. Carlson would advance to second on an errant throw home by the pitcher. Malachi Baartz then came up and scored Carlson with a line-drive double to left.
The Bulldogs would not go lightly, scoring one run in the 6th and plating another in the 7th. After a Bulldogs double, the tying and winning runs were on second and third with the Bulldogs leading hitter coming up. He was intentionally walked to load the bases with one out. The Bulldogs attempted to suicide squeeze the tying run in, however, Mitchell made a solid play, getting the runner out at home. He then bore down to get the save and the final out, a pop-out to shortstop AJ Neargarder!
Rafael "Junior" Villalobos got the win on the mound for the Zee-Bees, allowing no earned runs and striking out 8.
The Bees return to action on Monday to face the Stevenson Patriots.