NANAIMO, B.C. — For the second time in a week, the Nanaimo NightOwls were one pitch away from an impressive victory — that slipped away.
A flare that just fell in, in front of the centre fielder, and an error led to a tough 7-5 loss on Sunday afternoon at historic Serauxmen Stadium, with the Bellingham Bells scoring three times in the ninth inning in front of a boisterous crowd of 1,315.
The NightOwls had scored a clutch run on a great piece of baserunning by Ryder Florence in the bottom of the eighth to break a 4-4 tie. But credit the Bells with battling back from a 4-0 deficit, the product of two runs by the NightOwls in each of the third and fourth innings.
The NightOwls managed eight hits, as every starter except one had a base knock. Each team made one error, and Bellingham posted 10 hits. NightOwls hitters struck out a combined 11 times.
Aidan Boice had a good start, going five innings and putting the NightOwls in position for a win. Richtter Castillo and Cole Carmichael held the fort from there, and Issac Araiza had a strong eighth inning and had two outs and two strikes in the ninth before the soft base hit to the outfield dropped in.
The result hurts in the standings as the NightOwls drop to 9-9 in the second half and 21-24 overall, sitting just outside of a North Division playoff spot but very much in the discussion.
The NightOwls get the evening to put it behind them and be ready for the second-to-last home series, with the Port Angeles Lefties arriving Monday for a three-game series that continues Tuesday and Wednesday evenings as well — all three games have 6:35pm starts, with the gates opening at 5:30pm and full concessions on site.
After that three-gamer, the NightOwls make their final regular season road trip to Wenatchee to face the AppleSox on Friday and Saturday nights, and Sunday afternoon.
The regular season concludes on August 5-6-7 with a home series against the Edmonton Riverhawks.
