The bats for Bellingham went silent on Saturday night as the team fell 3-1 to the Port Angeles Lefties.
The Bells’ bats didn’t come alive in the team’s first game back from the All-Star Break. Outside of Derek Marshall, Jr.’s 391-ft home run in the bottom of the ninth, the team scored no runs on just five hits. Marshall had two hits in the game, and Collin Burns, Guthrie Morrison, Jordan Vujovich, and Austin Kretchmar each added one. Bellingham had just two extra base hits. The quiet night was an outlier for the 2019 Bells, as they are sixth in the WCL with a .251 batting average. The team has also been exceptionally consistent with putting the ball in play, as they rank second in the WCL with just 284 team strikeouts on the season.
To punch their ticket to the 2019 WCL playoffs, Bellingham will need a late season surge. Currently last in the WCL North with a 3-9 second half record, the Bells will likely be relying on their overall record to gain them access to the postseason. The Victoria Harbourcats won the first half of the season to clinch a playoff spot, and they currently lead the WCL North in the second half as well. If they win both halves, the second playoff spot will be given to the team in the division with the highest overall record. Bellingham currently trails the Wenatchee Applesox by 0.5 games, as the Bells sit at 19-20 and the Applesox at 21-21. Wenatchee is also just one game behind the Harbourcats in the WCL North second half standings. Bellingham will be hosting Victoria in an important three-game series on August 2, 3, and 4.
