The Bellingham Bells defeated the first-place Yakima Valley Pippins on Friday night at Joe Martin Field by a score of 7-6.
After losing the previous night to the Cowlitz Black Bears in a game that featured five lead changes, Bellingham walked the tightrope again but came out victorious in a game that saw two ties and four lead changes. Starter Matthew Heckel (4.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 K) allowed a run in the top of the first inning off of an error, but the Bells jumped ahead in the bottom of the fourth on a pair of errors that scored Jake Terao and Jordan Vujovich. Marcos Cuenca (0.2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 K) walked the bases loaded and then walked in a run in the top of the fifth, but Bellingham grew their lead as Danny Martin scored on a wild pitch and Terao scored his second run off of a Guthrie Morrison double.
The Bells had trouble defensively in the top of the seventh, as the Pippins scored four runs off of four Bellingham errors, but Vujovich put the Bells ahead for good with a 2 RBI double in the bottom of the inning. Jimmy Chatfield (1-0) earned the win out of the bullpen by turning in a strong performance (2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 5 K) – while throwing a blistering 93.7 MPH fastball.
