The Bellingham Bells couldn’t complete the series sweep as the Ridgefield Raptors beat the Bells 5-4 on Sunday, June 9, at Joe Martin Field in Bellingham, Wash.

Lathan Haywood in the start pitched four scoreless innings for the Bells. The right-handed pitcher out of Edmonds College struck out five batters while allowing only one hit. 

Out of the bullpen Callum Young would make his season debut in the fifth inning. Despite not allowing a hit, errors by shortstop Charlie Bates and second baseman Kaikea Harrison allowed the raptors to take the lead in the inning 1-0.

The Bells offense woke up in the bottom of the fifth inning as Gabe Henderson would lead off with a walk. Bret Housel singled and a sacrifice bunt from Jeremiah Robbins put runners on second and third base with Bates coming to the plate.

Bates crushed a three-run home run to right field to give the Bells a 3-1 lead. Trent Mallonee reached on a single and was moved to second on a Jacob Mejia groundout. Mallonee stole third base and was sent home by Harrison to secure a 4-1 lead heading to the sixth.

The lead would be surrendered in the top of the sixth when the Raptors got to CJ Bott who walked three and gave up one hit. Lynden High School’s Lane Simonsen made his WCL debut in relief of Bott. Simonsen would allow two runs to cross but all three runs in the frame were earned against Bott. Simonsen would finish two innings with four strikeouts in his Bells debut.

No scoring would be put up from the seventh to the ninth. Bells relief pitcher Everett Swaim pitched the eighth and ninth innings with two strikeouts and no hits allowed. At 4-4 the game would have to go to extra-innings.

In the top of the tenth inning the Raptors would score one run with an RBI single from Caden Stinson pinch hitting. Matt Molina would get the loss for his tenth inning run surrendered. The Bells would lose 5-4 after being unable to answer in the bottom of the tenth.

The Bells were led by Bates who went 3 for 5 with his first career home run as a Bell. The local prospect Simonsen made his much awaited season debut and wowed the local fans with his four strikeouts in two innings.

The Bells will be on the road for the next two series at Wenatchee and Kelowna taking on the AppleSox and Falcons. The team will be back in Bellingham for a three-game series at Joe Martin Field, June 18-20, against the Kamloops NorthPaws.

Watch the Bells on the road here and get your tickets at bellstickets.com.

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