Box Score

BELLINGHAM — A 17-4 blowout win sent the Bellingham Bells to the West Coast League North Division Championship Game and ended the Nanaimo NightOwls season on Sunday, Aug. 9 at Joe Martin Field. The Bells will face the Wenatchee AppleSox on Tuesday in Wenatchee with a win sending the Bells to the WCL Championship that would be hosted at Joe Martin Field.

Bellingham’s blowout started with an early deficit. Nanaimo tagged Caleb Sebek in the second inning for one run in the top of the second. The Bells responded with a three-run bottom of the inning on an RBI knock from KG Hattori, an RBI ground out by Tyler Peshke and an error by the NightOwls defense.

Peshke sparked another three-run frame for the Bells in the third on a two-run double. A Rashad Hayes ground out made it 6-1 with the Bells winning entering the fourth. Sebek finished three innings with four walks and one hit allowed and he struck out five.

Gavin Hasche pitched the next two innings out of the Bellingham bullpen. After Nate Johnson and Matt Churchill drew walks in the fourth, Rominic Quiban crushed a three-run home run to blow the game open at 9-1 heading into the fifth.

Nanaimo tagged Hasche for one run in the fifth, ending the right-hander’s two innings with one run against him on two hits and one walk. Hasche went on to earn the win as he struck out four batters.

Peshke scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the fifth and Johnson swatted in another run to make it 11-2 entering the sixth. The NightOwls scored two runs in the sixth against Cal Young. Frank Willius faced the minimum in the seventh with the help of one strikeout. Thrasher Steed went 1-2-3 in the eighth as he struck out one.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Bells had six hits to score six runs. Dillon Moss singled to score a run. Peshke hit another double to score a run. Ty Rusko singled in two runs off the bench. Austin Basch tripled for a run to score and Bryce Johnson made it 17-4 with an RBI knock.

Ryder Dingsdale capped the win with a perfect ninth inning and sent the Bells to the next round of the playoffs. Offensively Quiban led the Bells going 3-for-5 with three runs, three RBI and a three-run home run. Peshke tallied four RBI with two doubles and scored twice. Moss scored three runs and sent one in on two hits. Nate Johnson had two hits and two runs scored as Bellingham totaled 13 hits in the blowout.

The Bells now face the AppleSox in Wenatchee on Tuesday, Aug. 11 with the winner advancing to the West Coast League Championship on Thursday, Aug. 13. Bellingham would host the Thursday night game if they advance to the final. Follow your Bells on the road as they try to defend their 2025 championship!