Eighth Inning Rally Isn’t Enough as Bells Fall to Fish Sticks 8-4
The Bellingham Bells scored all four of their runs in the eighth inning, but the late rally wasn’t enough to top the Dub Sea Fish Sticks, as they lost 8-4 Sunday night in Joe Martin Field. Fish Sticks starter Davis Franklin threw seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits and a walk to earn the win. The Sticks’ leadoff hitter, DJ Massey, went 3-5 with two runs and an RBI to head a powerful offense outing for Dub Sea.
Shane Spencer started things off for the Bells, throwing three innings of one-hit ball with six strikeouts in his sharp season debut with the team. The real trouble started when he was replaced in the fourth inning by Luis Aviles, who pitched his season debut with the Bells as well, returning from last season when he hit 2 HR’s in their postseason series against Yakima.
Fish Sticks’ left fielder Albert Jennings jacked a standing double to left field, then a single and a walk loaded the bases. Jaxon Fraser hit an RBI single to score Jennings for their first run, then a walk and a wild pitch by Aviles scored runs two and three for the Sticks.
Tyson Dias came in for Aviles in the fifth and surrendered two runs, one of them earned, over the next two innings. The Fish Sticks tacked one more run on in the eighth, after Jaxon Fraser hit a ground rule double and later scored on a sac fly to increase the lead to 6-0.
The Bells roared back in the bottom of the eighth, loading the bases with no outs for Kyle Parkman. Parkman got his third hit of the night, a single to score Touissaint Bythewood, then Cole Hage chopped a single to left to drive in Daniel Gernon. Christopher Campos drew a walk to score Gavin Schulz, then Elijah Hainline hit a sac fly to deep center, scoring Parkman from third for the Bells’ fourth run of the inning.
Despite trimming the lead to two, the Fish Sticks padded their lead by scoring two more to carry a four-run lead into the bottom of the ninth, where they went 1-2-3 through the Bells lineup to secure the win.
The Bells host the Redmond Dudes at 12:05 PM Monday afternoon for their special 4th of July game, before heading back into league play against the Edmond Riverhawks Tuesday.
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