The Bellingham Bells beat the Edmonton Riverhawks 6-1 at RE/MAX Field in Edmonton, Alberta. Nate Kirkpatrick crushed his first home run as a Bellingham Bells and Peter Storjohann earned his first win of the season in his first start of 2024. The Bells are now two games back against the North Division leaders, the Wenatchee AppleSox, and will take on the Sox in three games this weekend beginning tomorrow at 5:35 p.m. at Joe Martin Field in Bellingham, Wash.

The Bells are now 15-9 overall and tied for second place in the North Division with the Edmonton Riverhawks. The final three games of the first half will be played against the first place Wenatchee AppleSox to potentially determine who gets to clinch their spot in the WCL playoffs that take place in mid-August.

Tonight’s scoring started in the first inning where Kirkpatrick hit a solo home run. The Bells would make it a 5-0 lead in the fourth inning thanks to an error by Jakob Poturnak that aided in three unearned runs scoring. The Bells scored on an RBI single from Anthony Kodama that scored Conner Smith. Trent Mallonee doubled to put two in scoring position and Gabe Henderson walked to load the bases. Kodama scored from third base on a wild pitch and Roman Martin brought Mallonee and Henderson in on a two RBI triple. 

One run was surrendered by the starter Storjohann in the bottom of the fifth inning. Storjohann finished five innings with four hits and one walk allowed with four strikeouts. Nick Lewis was the first out of the bullpen in the sixth inning and he was granted another run of cushion when Logan Degroot led off the top of the sixth inning with a triple and a Mallonee groundout would bring him home. The Bells exited the sixth up 6-1.

Matt Molina took the ball for a scoreless seventh inning and Callum Young finished the final two innings with no hits allowed and three strikeouts. The staff allowed four hits with five walks and seven strikeouts.

The Bells were led offensively by Martin’s 3 for 5 performance with two RBI. Degroot went 2 for 4 at the plate and scored a run. Kodama had a 1 for 3 night with an RBI. Mallonee had two RBI while going 1 for 4. Kirkpatrick was 1 for 5 with a solo home run and has a hit in 11 straight games. The leadoff man, Gabe Henderson, picked up another hit going 1 for 4 and is on a small six game hitting streak and has raised his average to .253. The Bells totaled nine hits on offense and picked up a series win at Edmonton.

Get your tickets now for the three-game series against the Wenatchee AppleSox this weekend at bellstickets.com. Earlier this season the Bells lost a three-game series to the AppleSox two games to one. This series could determine the North Division first half winner with the AppleSox and Bells playing their final three games of their first 27 games in 2024. The winner of the first half for the North and South Divisions will receive an automatic playoff berth. Last season the Bells received this early berth with a first half record of 20-7. All eyes will be on Edmonton’s series against the Port Angeles Lefties to see if they will remain in the race to first place as well. We will see you at the ballpark to close out the first half of this 2024 WCL season this weekend.

Tonight’s game recap is presented by Everstrong Physical Therapy and Performance.