BELLINGHAM, WA — Monday, February 24, the Bellingham Bells announced the addition of four new players for the 2025 season. Two University of South Carolina Upstate batters, Wylie Waters and Cayden Wotipka and two Everett Community College pitchers, Chase Halvorson and Basil Hendrix.

Wylie Waters is a utility infielder from Vancouver B.C. who is in his junior season at USC Upstate. This is Waters’ first year with USC Upstate after playing for Bossier Parish Community College as a freshman and South Mountain Community College as a sophomore.

Waters has played for the Nanaimo NightOwls in the West Coast League for the last two summer seasons. Last season he was a WCL All Star and the game’s MVP after he reached base three times in the North’s win over the South All Stars.

Last WCL season, Waters displayed his pop at the plate, crushing eight home runs, which was second in the league. He also batted .308 at the plate and was second in the league for RBI with 44. 

The great 2024 hitting came after a successful sophomore season at South Mountain Community College, where he had a .404 batting average with a 1.105 OPS. This summer, Waters brings his right-handed swing to Joe Martin Field, a place where he hit a home run against the Bells last season. 

Cayden Wotipka will return to the West Coast League this summer after spending 2023 with the Walla Walla Sweets. Wotipka is a 6-foot-4 outfielder from Everett. This collegiate season is his first at USC Upstate as a junior after playing two seasons for Lower Columbia College.

Last season for LCC he batted .337 in 196 at-bats. His right-handed swing crushed 18 doubles, three triples and four home runs to help drive in 37 runs last season. As a result, he was selected to the ABCA Pacific Association All-Region First Team and the 2024 ABCA/Rawlings Pacific Association Division All-America Third Team.

Wotipka played last summer in the Northwoods League for the Battle Creek Battle Jacks. There he hit .275 and drove in 42 runs with the help of 12 doubles, two triples and four home runs. This summer he will become a Bellingham Bell and look to continue his summer league success that saw him bat .291 in 20 games as a Walla Walla Sweet.

The first pitcher from Everett Community College is Chase Halvorson, a 6-foot-2 right-handed pitcher from Mill Creek, Wash. Halvorson is a freshman at Everett Community College out of Henry M. Jackson High School.

As a senior in high school, Halvorson was a WESCO All-League Second-Team pitcher and as a junior he made the WESCO All-League First Team as a pitcher.

He was the 17th best pitcher in Washington according to Perfect Game after he racked up a few no-hitters for Henry M. Jackson High School.

Last summer, Halvorson played a brief stint with the DubSea Fish Sticks of the Pacific International League, the former league of the Bellingham Bells. There he pitched in three appearances with his debut being a three-inning gem where he struck out seven batters and gave up just two hits.

Halvorson is set to play in the West Coast League for the first time in his career as he becomes a Bellingham Bell this summer.

Basil Hendrix is a 6-foot-3 left-handed pitcher from Everett Community College. The freshman is playing in his first collegiate season out of O’Dea High School. 

Hendrix was First Team All-Metro League in 2023 and 2024 as a pitcher. He spent two high school summers playing in the Northwest Summer League where he developed into a strong left-handed pitcher.

This season at Everett Community College, Hendrix is off to a hot start, pitching 10 innings with 10 strikeouts and zero earned runs allowed.

This summer, the Woodinville native will travel north to play for the Bellingham Bells under the bullpen coached by Jim Clem for 2025.

The Bells season begins May 30 at Waters’ former team, the Nanaimo NightOwls, and will play their first game at Joe Martin Field on June 3 against the Kamloops NorthPaws. Tickets go on sale April 1.