Bees End 2023 Season On High Note

The Salt Lake Bees ended the 2023 campaign with a 6-5 win over the Sacramento River Cats on Sunday afternoon.

Salt Lake batters took advantage of early walks to score four runs in the first inning coming on a Zach Humphreys two-RBI double, Preston Palmeiro sacrifice fly and Jared Oliva RBI single. Sacramento came back to tie the game in the fifth, but the Bees quickly responded with a Livan Soto home run in the bottom of the fifth and then added another tally on a Christian Molfetta single in the sixth.

The game was the 4,181st and final baseball broadcast for the legendary “Voice of the Bees” Steve Klauke who is retiring following the season. The Soto home run was the 4,156th time Klauke was able to use his signature “It’s up there, it’s out there and it’s gone!” home run call and the 2,081st Salt Lake win punctuated with “Handshakes and hi-fives all around!”

The Bees finished the season with a 70-79 overall record including a 45-30 record at Smith’s Ballpark, coming just one win shy of the franchise record for home victories. Jordyn Adams stole his 44^th base of the season, extending his Salt Lake franchise record and becoming the first Salt Lake player to lead the Pacific Coast League in stolen bases in franchise history. The Bees also finished with the league’s batting average champion in Michael Stefanic who finished with a .365 average. Stefanic also led the league and established a new franchise-high with a .463 on-base percentage. Trey Cabbage finished tied for the league-lead with 30 home runs on the year.

The Bees will start the 2024 season on Friday, March 29 at Sacramento with the team returning home to Smith’s Ballpark on Tuesday, April 2.