NANAIMO, B.C. — One inning turned the tables — barely.
A three-run top of the fifth inning proved to be the difference on a beautiful Saturday night at historic Serauxmen Stadium, leading the Bellingham Bells to a hard-fought 4-3 road victory over the host Nanaimo NightOwls.
The Bells won despite managing just six hits off NightOwls pitching, with Nanaimo managing nine hits against the had-throwing Bellingham pitching staff.
A walk and eventually a bad-hop ground ball led to the three runs, which changed the score from a 2-1 Nanaimo lead to a 4-2 deficit. Caden Pearlman was strong in his start, followed by Kai Hanasaki, a very strong three innings from Jake Schumacher, and Paul Montgomery, with a scoreless inning to end it.
Errors in the top of the first inning led to the first Bellingham run, also a key moment in the game. Nanaimo made the game’s three errors.
Sammy Kahler was 2-4 with a double and a run, and Hsu He-Chieh was 2-4 with an RBI. The Nanaimo runs came in the second, third and sixth innings, in front of a crowd of 1301. Hoah Hata and Drew Rutter also had doubles for the NightOwls.
The NightOwls and Bells finish the series Sunday with a 1pm game at Serauxmen Stadium, with both teams in pursuit of a North Division playoff berth. The NightOwls are now 9-8 in the second half, two games back of Wenatchee, and sit 21-23 overall.
