(PORT ANGELES)–The Bellingham Bells opened the second half of the 2017 West Coast League Season with a 5-2 victory over the Port Angeles Lefties at Civic Field Friday night.
The Bells (17-11, 1-0) trailed 1-0 heading to the top of the fourth. In the fourth inning, the first five men to bat would all reach base, with Austin Pinorini scoring on a wild pitch to tie the game at one, Kyle Stowers driving Austin Shenton in on an infield RBI single, and Dean Lawson capping the rally with a two RBI single to put the Bells in front 4-1 after three and a half innings. Ernie Yake would complete the Bellingham scoring in the fifth, sliding across home to score on a wild pitch.
The five runs would be all the run support the Bells pitching staff would need on the night. Tyler Radcliffe (1-0) was masterful, allowing just one run on two hits while fanning six in six strong innings on the hill. Zach Grech tossed two frames out of the Bells bullpen, surrenedering a single run while Luke Manuel earned his second save as a Bell, working a 1-2-3 ninth inning and striking out two of the three batters he faced.
Andrew Zmuda (1-2) earned the loss for the Lefties, giving up 4 runs in 4 innings on the hiill. Port Angeles dropped to 12-21 overall, 2-4 in the second half, while the Bells improved to 17-11 overall and 1-0 in the second half.
Bellingham returns to action tomorrow night against the Lefties in Port Angeles at Civic Field. Game time is set for 6:35, while the Bells pregame show begins with Tom Prizeman at 6:05 on 930 AM KBAI and online at: https://network1sports.com/station/kbai.
(Bells/KPUG staff)