Anthony Kodama hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Bellingham Bells a 6-5 win over the Northwest Star Nighthawks in a non-league matchup, July 10, at Joe Martin Field in Bellingham, Wash.

The Bells entered the ninth inning up 5-1 over the Nighthawks but a rally against Lane Simonsen would tie the game. After the Nighthawks put up four runs against Simonsen, Marques Brown would enter and escape the jam, leaving the bases loaded.

It would be up to the Bells to win the game tied 5-5 in the bottom of the ninth. Anthony Kodama was the leadoff batter and only needed one swing to walk it off at Joe Martin Field. This was the Bells fourth walk-off win at home this season.

“Everybody wants everybody else on the team to do their very best and from there it builds up and creates great moments like that to win ball games in tight situations,” Kodama said.

The game started with Nathan Van Beek who started his second game of the season for the Bells. Van Beek went five scoreless innings with six strikeouts to no walks. The Bells scored first with a run in the first inning after Trent Mallonee led off with a double and Gabe Henderson brought him home. The Bells added to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning with two runs first on a Jacob Mejia single that scored Mallonee and second a Logan Degroot single that scored Mejia.

Devyn Hernandez took over for the sixth and seventh innings and allowed one run in that time with four strikeouts to zero walks. The Bells scored again in the sixth inning to lead 4-0 thanks to three walks and a hit-by-pitch bringing a run in. With the one run scored against Hernandez in the seventh inning it was 4-1 for Nick Lewis who pitched a shutdown 1-2-3 eighth inning. In the bottom of the eighth, Gavin Long had a single and scored on an RBI from Conner Smith.

The Bells would have a 5-1 lead in the ninth and allowed the Nighthawks to tie it at 5-5. An action clock violation by Tyler Eisenhut resulted in a strikeout to end the top of the ninth and leave the bases loaded for the Nighthawks. Kodama played hero and walked it off in the ninth as he led off with a home run, his second home run of the season.

“I was able to see it early and turn and burn and thankfully it got over,” Kodama said. “I’m not your typical power hitter so it’s not often I get one where I know it’s going out… I looked over to the dugout and everyone was going nuts so that was a lot of fun.”

Offensively the Bells put up six runs on 16 hits as a team which were led by Anthony Kodama’s 3 for 4 night including the walk-off home run. Trent Mallonee excelled in the leadoff spot with a 3 for 4 night, a stolen base and two runs scored. Jacob Mejia had two hits and two RBIs. Gavin Long had three hits and a run scored. Gabe Henderson, Conner Smith and Logan Degroot all had a base hit with each of them tallying an RBI.

Tomorrow night the Bells and the Nighthawks go head-to-head again in a non-league contest at Joe Martin Field beginning at 6:35 p.m. on Thursday, July 11. Get your tickets at bellstickets.com to witness another phenomenal Bellingham Bells game this summer.

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