The West Coast League announced post-season awards on Tuesday, honoring the Bellingham Bells with two prestigious honors: the Team Sportsmanship award and the WCL Executive of the Year award.
A vote of WCL field managers selected the Bells as the Jim Dietz Team Sportsmanship Award winner, an award given to the West Coast League team who best exemplifies a high level of sportsmanship and the spirit of the game on and off the field. 2021 will mark the third time in four seasons that the Bells have won the Team Sportsmanship Award.
“We are honored to be selected to receive the “Jim Dietz Team Sportsmanship Award” and grateful to our fellow West Coast League teams for this honor,” Bells head coach Adam Geaslen said. “We know how we play the game, interact with each other, and the atmosphere we hope to provide for our opponents, fans, and community are what is remembered long after we leave the field. We hope to continue to provide an experience that allows everyone to appreciate and enjoy the game as much as we do.”
Bells general manager Stephanie Morrell was selected by a vote of the WCL Board of Directors as the league’s 2021 Executive of the Year, given to a league executive who has made strong contributions both to the league and their team. Morrell has been the general manager of the Bellingham Bells since 2016, and recently finished her eighth season with the team.
“I am honored to be recognized by the West Coast League,” Morrell said. “It is truly a pleasure to work alongside so many wonderful and talented people, both here in Bellingham and at the league level. 2021 was a season with many curveballs, and one of the many reasons we were able to achieve success here in Bellingham was wonderful collaboration and support from many talented people across the league.”
The West Coast League also honored the Corvallis Knights’ Travis Bazzana as the league’s top prospect. Bazzana, an incoming freshman infielder at Oregon State University, was also named Player of the Year for the WCL.
Corvallis skipper Brooke Knight was named Coach of the Year after leading the Knights to their fifth consecutive WCL title.