Box Score

BELLINGHAM — The Bellingham Bells fell 6-1 in the series opener against the Nanaimo NightOwls on Tuesday, June 9 at Joe Martin Field. The Bells were held to three hits and the NightOwls only needed two three-run innings to knock Bellingham down to 5-5 on the year.

Nanaimo scored three runs in the first inning against Bells starter Lathan Haywood after he allowed a walk, two hits and two hit-by-pitches. Tristan Schaefer led off the third inning with a single and advanced home with the help of two Nanaimo errors. 

Haywood had stellar second, third and fourth innings on the mound, but surrendered three runs in the fifth and exited his start after 4-1/3 innings. Braden Blackwell pitched the end of the fifth and nearly had a scoreless sixth, but Kenneth Johnson came in relief to secure the final out of the inning.

Johnson pitched the next two innings scoreless and worked around a Nanaimo leadoff double in the seventh. He sat the NightOwls down in order in the eighth and finished 2-1/3 scoreless innings with three strikeouts.

Silas Stenerson worked around a leadoff walk in the ninth inning to toss a scoreless frame. The Bells offense wasn’t able to score more than just the lone run in the third inning.

Bellingham left six runners on base in the loss after having three hits and four walks. The Bells hit into three double plays in an unlucky offensive night.

Bo Shinkle played at Joe Martin Field for the first time as a Bell and had one of the three hits with a stolen base. Bryce Johnson had the Bells other hit along with Schaefer’s that led to a run. Ty Rusko drew three walks after being moved up to second in the order.

The Bells look to even the three-game series with the NightOwls tomorrow, June 10, with a 6:35 p.m. first pitch. Watch the game from home on the new Bellingham Bells YouTube live stream or come out to the park by purchasing tickets at bellstickets.com.