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The Bellingham Bells beat the Nanaimo NightOwls 4-3 Saturday, July 27, at Serauxmen Stadium in Nanaimo, British Columbia. Tyler Van Dyke earned his fourth win of the season in his sixth start while Nic Peterson earned his first save of 2024.

The Bells got off to an early 1-0 lead in the opening inning as an error by Ayden Hadley at first base allowed Gavin Long to score from second on an infield single by Roman Martin. Van Dyke on the mound would go five innings while giving up his first two earned runs of the season. Van Dyke walked one batter, gave up five hits and struck out three NightOwls.

In the top of the fifth inning the Bells were trailing 2-1. The bases became loaded for the Bells on a Trent Mallonee walk, a Gavin Long single and a Roman Martin walk. A passed ball led to Mallonee scoring and a sacrifice fly from Nate Kirkpatrick scored Long. Jacob Mejia then hit a single that took an awkward hop to get by second baseman Hsu He-Chieh. It was 4-2 after Van Dyke finished the bottom of that fifth inning scoreless, putting him in line for the win.

Nic Peterson would come in for the final four innings of this contest. He was not given any more runs and only allowed one run himself. Overall Peterson pitched four innings with four hits allowed, no walks and four strikeouts. The only run against him was on a sacrifice that scored Wylie Waters who had tripled to get to third base. 

Despite allowing nine hits the Bells limited their walks to just one and had the help of three defensive double plays to earn the win. The Bells totaled just six hits and were led by Gavin Long’s 2 for 5 performance along with a stolen base and two runs scored. The Utah Tech transfer is now batting .300 and has a hit in his last six games. Long is 5 for 10 with three runs scored in the two games at Nanaimo so far.

Mejia, who had a 1 for 4 night, tallied an RBI single in the fifth. Kirkpatrick went 1 for 3 with his only hit being a triple and he gained an RBI on a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning. Martin went 1 for 3 and scored a run. Gabe Henderson also had a base hit in a 1 for 4 night.

The Bells take on the NightOwls to determine the series winner at Nanaimo tomorrow at 1:05 p.m. A series win would go a long way for the Bells as they look to further their lead over the NightOwls and Lefties in the second half North Division standings. The Bells, at 10-7, are in first place for the second half standings. If the playoffs were to start today the Bells would secure the number two seed in the WCL Playoffs.

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