NANAIMO, B.C. — Four runs in the fourth proved to be the difference.
The Nanaimo NightOwls used a burst of runs at Serauxmen Stadium on Friday night in the game’s fourth inning to earn a 6-3 win over the visiting Bellingham Bells.
The NightOwls improved to 9-7 in the second half, very much in the running for the second half North Division title with eight home games and three road games remaining. Overall, Nanaimo is 21-22 and also very much in the middle of the chase for the final two playoff spots, wild card berths.
The story of the pitching was outstanding relief work from Lawson Minshew, Grant Jakobson and Li Sih-te — and particularly Jakobson, who pitched out of a no-out, two-on jam in the sixth inning, and struck out four in his two innings of work.
Ryan Inouye pitched a perfect inning for his fourth of the season, punctuating the game with a strikeout.
Wylie Waters and Alessandro Volpe were both 2-4, helping an offense that took advantage of first-and-third double steals to score a couple of runs. Working nine walks and five hit-by-pitch in addition to the combined six hits gave the NightOwls the baserunners needed to drive in runs. The walks overcame the 12 times that NightOwls batters struck out.
The NightOwls have their last weekend home series of the season with this three-game set with Bellingham, with games Saturday night (6:35pm) and Sunday afternoon (1pm). Great crowd on Friday with an official turnout of 1,293.
Nanaimo is then home to the Port Angeles Lefties on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights, before a trip to Wenatchee next weekend for three games.
The final home series before hopeful playoffs starts on the holiday with the Edmonton Riverhawks visiting on Monday, August 5, with the series ending Tuesday and Wednesday — all 6:35pm starts.
