The Bellingham Bells collected 11 hits in a 9-6 win against the Victoria HarborCats Tuesday night in Victoria. Elijah Hainline went 1-1 with four walks and a home run in his return to the starting lineup. Blake Conrad chipped in with three hits, going 10-20 through his first five league games with the Bells.
Hainline jump-started the game with a leadoff homer in the first inning, then the Bells exploded with five runs in the fifth inning. Kyle Parkman hit an RBI single to score Cody Russell, then Jace Phelan drew a bases-loaded walk to score Hainline. Another walk by Willis Cresswell scored Parkman, and a 2-run single by Evan Overmars scored Conrad and Phelan to cap the fifth inning off at 6-4 in favor of the Bells.
Victoria scored two more in the sixth to tie the game at six, but the Bells responded with three runs in the seventh inning to secure the game. Hudson Shupe (0-2) took the loss in allowing four runs towards the end of the game, and Wesley Moore (1-1) picked up his first win of the season with the Bells, giving up two runs in four innings of relief.
Bellingham improves to 24-12 overall, and 5-5 throughout the second half of the season. The HarbourCats fall to 18-22 with the loss, sitting at 7-7 in the second half. The Bells will rematch the Cats Wednesday evening with Austyn Coleman on the mound, hoping to secure his league-best fourth win of the season.