In the first road trip of the season, the Bellingham Bells lost game one against the Kamloops NorthPaws at Norbrock Stadium 3-2.

The Northpaws struck first against the Bells starter Lathan Haywood with a pair of doubles by Jaden Bitter and Mathew Olivares in the first inning.

The Bells tied the game at 1-1 in the third inning when Jorge Olivera blooped a base hit into right field and Trent Mallonee, who was at second base, went home due to the defense playing the force out at second. Mallonee was barely safe at home after Kamloops catcher Jerry Nix dropped the ball on the tag.Two scoreless frames followed thanks to Bells pitchers Haywood and Nick Lewis who made his season debut from Washington State University.

Haywood, out of Edmonds College, performed well in his Bells debut. In four innings he allowed four hits and one earned run while striking out five NorthPaws.

A two run bottom of the sixth gave the NorthPaws a 3-2 lead after Matt Molina struggled commanding the strike zone with some walks and wild pitches.

One more run was put up by the Bells in the eighth inning where the team made a costly mistake.

With Jason Shedlock on second and Olivera at first, Jacob Mejia put the ball in play when an error by NorthPaws first baseman Anthony Manuel allowed Shedlock to score from second with the ball trailing into right field. 

In the same play, Olivera got caught between home and third. As he ran back to third Mejia, who was at third, ran back towards second base. The NorthPaws turned a double play, tagging out both runners and ending a potentially dangerous eighth inning for the Bells.

The score of 3-2 would hold and Lucas Smith got the save for the NorthPaws in the ninth. The winning pitcher was Joey Rico and Molina picked up his first loss of the 2024 season.

The Bells were led by Shedlock’s 2 for 4 day and Olivera’s 2 for 3 performance with one RBI and his second stolen base of the year.

Game two of the three games at Kamloops is tomorrow, June 5, at 6:35 p.m. You can watch the Bells all season on the West Coast League streaming site.

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