Imperfect 10: Doggy Paddlers squander nine-run lead, give up 27 runs in suffering 10th straight loss

BURLINGTON, Iowa — No lead is safe, as the Quincy Doggy Paddlers excruciatingly learned.

Highlighted by Brady Kindhart’s second inning grand slam, the Doggy Paddlers scored in each of the first four innings and led 12-3 heading into the bottom of the fourth Friday night against the Burlington Bees at Community Field.

That’s when the Bees unloaded.

Burlington scored seven times in the fourth, eight more runs in the fifth and finished off a 27-17 Prospect League victory in eight innings.

The Doggy Paddlers have lost 10 games in a row and have allowed 11 or more runs six times during the losing streak. That includes allowing 20 or more runs twice in the last five games.

Quincy didn’t play like a team on a losing streak in the first four at-bats.

A Kannon Kirk RBI double and a two-run single from Brayden Roberts staked the Doggy Paddlers to a 3-0 lead after the first inning. In the top of the second, an error and two walks loaded the bases with one out, which led to a pitching change for the Bees.

Kindhart greeted reliever Colton Clarahan by crushing a grand slam to left field for a 7-0 lead.

Quincy scored two runs in the third on Jimmy Koza’s home run and tacked on three more in the fourth, highlighted by a Koza RBI single.

Burlington’s seven run fourth inning began with an error and a walk and unraveled from there. The Bees’ inning included three walks, one hit batter, three wild pitches and just four hits. In the eight-run fifth inning, the Bees scored four consecutive runs with the bases loaded — two on walks, one on a hit batter and the last on a wild pitch.

The Bees had just three hits in the eight-run inning.

Overall, Burlington scored 27 runs on 18 hits with 12 walks and five hit batters.

Koza finished 3 for 3 with four RBIs and General Schofield went 3 for 5 with three runs scored and two RBIs for the Doggy Paddlers, who fell to 5-14 in the second half of the Prospect League season and are 14-28 overall.