The Bellingham Bells defeated the Cascade Collegiate League Showcase Team 5-3 Saturday night in Joe Martin Field behind five lights-out innings from starter Cody Delvecchio. Delvecchio (1-1) was perfect through five, with no hits or walks allowed and four strikeouts.
Elijah Hainline drew a leadoff walk for the Bells in the first inning, then stole second base before reaching third on a single by Josh Trujillo. CCL starter, and former Bell, Noah Meffert then sent a wild throw over the head of their first baseman that sent Hainline home for the first run of the game.
In the fifth, Hainline hammered a standing double to right-center field, then scored his second run of the game on a wild pitch. Later, Jack Van Remortel hit a single to score Trujillo, then scored himself on another wild pitch to increase their lead to 4-0.
CCL answered back in the sixth, loading the bases for first baseman Evan Overnars, who hit a two-run RBI single to put them back in the game. In the seventh, Josh Trujillo made a spot-on throw to home plate from center field to catch the runner tagging up from third, saving the Bells a significant run.
CCL scored again in the eighth, when left fielder Ben Schulte hit a triple off the top of the left field wall and later scored on a groundout by Jackson Lind to narrow the Bells’ lead to one run. Schulte finished 2-4 with a run for the Showcase Team.
Location continued to be a struggle for CCL pitchers late into the game, as pinch-runner Jared Bujanda scored on yet another wild pitch to put the Bells up 5-3 in the bottom of the eighth. Reliever Nate Clow secured the win in the ninth, completing two innings with two hits and one run allowed to earn the save. CCL burned through pitchers over the course of the game, using a different one in each inning for a total of eight.
The Bells host the Dub Sea Fish Sticks Sunday night at Joe Martin Field in the third of their four game non-league stretch at home.