For the second straight night, the Bells took a pitcher’s duel late into the Bellingham night. A hard-fought contest eventually led to a 4-2 victory after a three-run home run in the top of the tenth inning.
A leadoff double and a throwing error in the top of the tenth inning which and the following homer over the right-field wall overshadowed Austin Weiermiller and the Bells’ gem of a pitching performance.
Just like Monday night, Bellingham made a strong push to the finish line by putting the tying run on the bases.
Guthrie Morrison started the inning with a leadoff walk followed by a dusty Stroup single to right field. With two aboard, Ernie Yake hit a blooper that was lost in shallow center. The ball bounced out of the glove of Victoria’s second baseman Ryan Ober, but he was still able to throw Stroup out at second.
Connor Mack came through with a clutch one-out RBI single to keep the rally going. However, a groundout and a pop out to right ended the game of the sold-out crowd.
The day didn’t get off to the cleanest start as Taylor Davis had to work out of trouble in a 31-pitch first inning.
Davis would glide through the next two innings until finding himself in a bit of trouble in the top of the fourth. After giving up two consecutive first-pitch singles, the Gonzaga senior pitcher got the ground ball he desperately needed for the 6-4-3 double play.
The righty would end his scoreless day with a strikeout, on 71 pitches over four innings, allowing two hits, and striking out four.
Victoria would jump on the board first after a one-out single was stretched into much more with good baserunning. With the hit-and-run called, the HarbourCats avoided the double play. That would prove to be huge as Harrison Spohn would steal third base and later score on a ball that squirted away from Davis on the routine catcher-pitcher transfer.
Bellingham wouldn’t stay quiet for long as more bizarre baseball ensued. Landon Anderson came into the contest and struck out Grant Holman, but then hit the next three batters to load the bases. Guthrie Morrison would plate the Bellingham’s only run of the inning on a fly ball to center field, and the Bells were able to score without recording a single hit in the bottom of the fifth.
The Bells had another ample opportunity to put a run on the scoreboard in the bottom of the eighth inning. After a leadoff single from Dusty Stroup, Ernie Yake moved the speedy infielder into scoring position. However, the Bells could only move Stroup to third, leaving the go-ahead stranded at third.
In jeopardy of getting swept, the Bells will start the second half of their season in the series finale on the Fourth of July. Bellingham will be in search of timely hitting on the early 12:05 pm start on Independence Day.
