BELLINGHAM, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – Rominic Quiban hit a walk off single in the 10th inning to give the Bellingham Bells a 4-3 win over the Wenatchee AppleSox in a decisive Game 3 of the opening round of the West Coast League Playoffs on Sunday, Aug. 10.
The two teams had gone to 13 innings just the night before, but it was the Bells who pulled it out this time, as catcher Blake Balsz barely beat out the tag at home in what was seen by the AppleSox as a very controversial call. Many after the game compared the play to one earlier in the night, when Nate Kirkpatrick’s game-winning run was tagged out at home in the ninth inning in another very close call.
“As soon as I reached first I just looked back,” Quiban said. “It was kind of deja-vu from the first play at home, but I’m glad it went our way this time and it was a nice win for the team, it was fun celebrating with them.”
Wenatchee drew first blood in the top of the fourth, when a walk and an error by Bells starter Carter Herrera put runners on first and second. A bunt advanced them to second and third before a balk call against Herrera put the AppleSox up 1-0. Boos rained down from Bells fans following the call, but the Sox followed with an RBI single to up their lead to 2-0.
Balsz finally broke the Bells’ offensive drought in the seventh inning when he slapped a single to right field and Quiban followed with a walk to put two on with two out, but Rob Jacobsen grounded out to second base to strand both and end the seventh.
Bellingham got even during a key eighth inning when Noah Figuered hit a leadoff double and Brock Sell drove him home with a double of his own to get the Bells on the board. Sell advanced to third on a bunt by Aidan Aguayo and went on to score off a wild pitch to tie the game 2-2 heading into the ninth.
The AppleSox loaded the bases in the top of the ninth before Bells reliever Miles Chandler hit his second batter of the inning to give Wenatchee a 3-2 lead. Sell went on to make a running catch in center field to bring it to the bottom of the ninth.
Balsz led the Bells off with a single and Nate Kirkpatrick hammered a double off the left field wall before Quiban scored Balsz off a sacrifice fly to tie the game. Jacobsen sent a single up the middle, but Kirkpatrick’s game-winning run was tagged out at home plate. After that, Figuered drew a walk and Sell got hit in the back to load the bases with two outs and Aiden Aguayo up to the plate with a roaring Bells crowd behind him. Aguayo worked it to a full count, but popped up the payoff pitch to shallow left field to send the game to extras.
Balsz got hit by a pitch in the 10th inning and Kirkpatrick nailed a single up the middle to put two on with two out. Quiban went on to hit the game winner up the middle to score Balsz from second to keep the Bells’ season alive.
“His slide at the plate was one of those swim-moves as it’s called,” head coach Ed Knaggs said. “From my vantage point it looked like he was safe, but obviously the AppleSox thought different.”
It was a storybook last game of the year at Joe Martin Field for the Bells in Knaggs’ first season as skipper.
“It seemed like that momentum [Wenatchee] took last night, we weren’t able to get it back in this game for a long time and it was getting a little tough,” Knaggs said. “I was kind of thinking ‘Oh shoot, what am I going to say to these guys about the season when we don’t get this game,’ because it wasn’t looking real good for a while.”
“To see [the players] get to enjoy that moment, you don’t get a lot of those, you just don’t, so happy for them to be able to experience that together.”
The Bells now move on to face the Edmonton Riverhawks in the single-game North Divisional Championship on Tuesday, Aug. 12. The Riverhawks will host since they owned the best regular season record in the North, edging the Bells out by a single game. The winner will move on to face the winner of Portland-Corvallis in the WCL Championship.
You can listen to Tuesday’s game against Edmonton live at on the Bells’ website or watch live on the WCL’s streaming site.
