Bells Rally Back to Ding Pippins, 6-5

For the past three games, the Yakima Valley Pippins and Bellingham Bells have squared off like heavyweights.

But Bellingham answered the bell Thursday night, coming back from an early 5-0 deficit to defeat the hometown Pippins, 6-5.

The Pippins lit up the scoreboard in the second inning with Laz Villa's RBI double. Shawn Wardian's RBI single was next, followed by a two-run RBI double from Mitch Skaggs.

Bellingham responded in the third inning, when Lou Della Fera got the scoring machine started with an RBI single. The Bells got back-to-back doubles from Dustin Breshears and Scott Heath to drive in three more runs to pull within 5-4 of the Pippins.

Dustin Breshears and Scott Heath were not finished delivering runs, however. Breshears added one RBI in the seventh inning and Scott Heath finished the scoring in the ninth with another RBI to bring it to 6-5 Bells.

The Pippins threatened to tie up the game, but the closest they got was getting Nick Kerns to third base before Shawn Wardian grounded out to end the game.

With the loss, Yakima slipped to 22-17, one game ahead of the Wenatchee AppleSox in the East Division of the West Coast League.

The Pippins now travel to British Columbia for a Friday-night fight with the last-place Kelowna Falcons. First pitch is at 6:35 p.m. and pregame is at 6:25 p.m. on 1460 ESPN Yakima.