The Bellingham Bells defeated the Wenatchee Applesox by a final score of 6-4 on Tuesday night at Joe Martin Field. Bellingham out-hit Wenatchee 9-3 and had one error to their two.

RHP Joey Dixon (4.0 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 6 BB, 5 K) started the game off strong, striking out two in the 1st and forcing a 1-2-3 2nd. He ran in to some trouble in the 3rd, where he walked the bases loaded and allowed the Applesox to score the first run on an RBI double play. He bounced back with a 1-2-3 4th.

After falling behind in the top of the 3rd, Bellingham jumped on top in the bottom on an RBI double from C Bennett Lee. The RBIs were the Tulane sophomore’s first as a Bell in his first game. Also making their Bells debut was OF Nick McLain, brother of 2018 Bell Matt McLain.

The AppleSox took the lead back in the top of the 5th inning. Dixon walked the bases loaded for a second time, and with no outs he was relieved by Ryan Sanders (3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 0 K). With the bases loaded, Sanders walked in two runs and a third scored on a double play to give Wenatchee a 4-2 lead. Bellingham bounced right back in the bottom of the 5th, with Nick McLain scoring Malakhi Knight on an RBI double and Cole Hinkelman scoring McLain on an RBI double of his own.

Malakhi Knight gave the Bells the lead for good in the bottom of the 6th on a 415-ft rocket of a home run that he sent over the center field wall, his first of the summer. He added another run in the 8th, scoring Luis Aviles on an RBI double. On the game, Knight went 3-4 with 2 runs, 2 RBI and a stolen base, earning him Player of the Game honors. Daniel Gernon went 2-4 with a double, the only other Bell with multiple hits.

Aaron Barokas (2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 K) took the mound in the 8th and dominated the Wenatchee batters to earn his first save of the summer. He also lowered his ERA to 0.93, good for second on the team behind Kai Francis (0.71). Neither pitcher has enough innings per game to qualify for the WCL leaderboard, but Eric Chavarria currently leads the WCL with his 1.03 ERA.

The Bells will be back in action tomorrow night for game two against the Wenatchee AppleSox. First pitch is set for 6:35 PM, and you can get tickets now at www.bellstickets.com.