Kyle Stowers took the game into his own hands, with a walk-off grand slam to help the Bells claim a 5-3 win over the Walla Walla Sweets Sunday afternoon. The win helped the Bells to stave off elimination in the first half playoff race.
With the bases loaded off of a pair of singles by Austin Pinorini and Austin Shenton and a walk from Max Flower, Kyle Stowers came up to the plate. He demolished a towering drive over the right field to the delight of the fans at Joe Martin Field.
Stowers has been playing extremely well in his time in Bellingham so far. The slam was his fourth home run already this year.
“I’m loving [playing in Bellingham], it’s been the time of my life getting to focus on baseball, and having fun with a bunch of good guys.”
The Bells took the early lead on a wild pitch that let Ernie Yake sprint home and slide across the plate head first. The Sweets took the lead in the fifth inning, and secured what appeared to be an insurance run in the top of the eighth to take a 3-1 lead before Stowers finished it.
Another bright spot for the Bells was the sharp pitching of Zach Pettway (1-0). Pettway had a solid outing, pitching five innings of two-run ball, giving up four hits while recording four strikeouts.
Chandler Greenfield and Trevor DeLaite each threw scoreless relief in the game today. Greenfield gave up just one hit over the sixth and seventh inning, and DeLaite shut down the ninth, facing the minimum and earning the win today.
The Bells will play next in Walla Walla tomorrow night, 7:05 p.m., beginning a long, three-series road trip.