The Bells knocked off the Bend Elks by a final score of 6-3 on Wednesday at Joe Martin Field. The series is now tied 1-1, with the final game tomorrow at 6:35 pm.

In his first start and second game as a Bell, 1B Luis Aviles made his mark with a grand slam in the bottom of the 5th inning. C Ezra Samperi, 2B Ty Saunders and RF Grayson Sterling each reached on walks, which brought up Aviles with two outs and the bases loaded. He took two sliders off the plate, and promptly unloaded on a 91 MPH fastball, hitting it 371 feet off the left field wall with an exit velocity of 107 MPH. He finished the game going 2-5 with 2 RBI and a run scored, and is batting .429 (3-7) after his first two games.

The first two runs for the Bells came in to score off the bat of DH Charlie Saum in a second inning that saw three errors. With two outs, SS Riley Parker and 3B AJ Davis each reached on infield errors. Saum scored them both on a fly ball that was dropped by the right fielder and was ruled a double. The next batter, Samperi, also reached on an error, but was unable to score.

Trevin Hope (1-2) earned his first win of the summer. He pitched cleanly, striking out six batters over 5.0 innings. He allowed one earned run in the form of an RBI single in the 3rd, but only allowed three hits and two walks. Kenji Pallares (1.1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K) made his third appearance of the summer. Aaron Barokas relieved him with two runners on in the 7th. He had a scary moment when C Ezra Samperi tried to throw out the runner stealing second, and the throw down hit Barokas in the head. Barokas was able to return to the game and finished the inning. Greg Blackman (2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K) pitched two perfect innings to earn the six-out save.

The Bells will be back in action tomorrow night for the series finale against the Bend Elks, and it is $2 hot dog night. After that, Bellingham has one game against the Redmond Dudes, and two against the Cascade Collegiate League. You can get your tickets now at www.bellstickets.com.