The Bellingham Bells are a collegiate summer baseball team in the West Coast League. The team is composed of college baseball players from teams around the U.S.
History
2023
On August 25, 2022, former Bells coach Jim Clem was announced as the team manager for the 2023 season.
Former Bell Matt McLain made his debut for the Cincinnati Reds on May 15.
On June 19, Jack Erdman was honored by the league as one of the two selected players of the week. Erdman was on the mound for five innings against the Kelowna Falcons allowing no runs, ten strikeouts, and only two base hits.
With their 7-5 comeback win against the Kamloops NorthPaws on July 6, the Bells have clinched their second consecutive First Half Title and third consecutive playoff spot.
Four former Bells were selected in the 2023 MLB Draft. The Detroit Tigers drafted 2021 Bell of the Year Bennett Lee while the Houston Astros drafted Joey Dixon. Will Simpson and Diego Barrera were picked up by the Oakland Athletics. Will McGillis who went undrafted signed with the Los Angeles Angels.
The Bells improved on their 32-20 record from the previous season finishing 35-18, but they struggled in the second half and finished third in the North after winning the First Half with a 20–7 record. Ryan Beitel finished with five wins on the mound while Daniel Paret threw 43 strikeouts. The Bells saw 58,220 total fans for an average of 2,156 per game.
The Bells swept the Falcons in the division series but fell on the road against the HarbourCats 6-7 after leading 5-0. Coleman Schmidt and Daryl Ruiz each hit one home run while Andrew Valdez brought in four runs. Sheldon Egger and Ryan Beitel finished the postseason with one win on the mound. Beitel also threw seven strikeouts and finished with an ERA of 0.00 alongside Trevor Moore. Despite only hosting one home playoff game (game 2 of the division series), the Bells finished third in attendance for the playoffs with 2,612 total fans attending.
On September 21, 2023, the team announced Jim Clem would retire from his role as head coach after twelve seasons with the team Bob Ralston was announced as the new manager on October 19th.
2022
The 2022 Bells finished first in the WCL North division with 33 wins and 20 losses. Pitcher and "Bell of the Year" Trevin Hope led the league with an ERA of 2.64 while Ryan Beitel threw a 3.57 ERA and won five games on the mound. The Bells saw 62,979 total fans for an average of 1,968 per game, third overall in the league.
The Bells went undefeated in the division playoffs. They swept the HarbourCats in the semifinal and defeated the AppleSox in the final. The Bells fell to the Corvallis Knights in the WCL Title game 5-0. This was the Bells first championship appearance since 2016.
After the season, Hope was named WCL Pitcher of the Year. Christopher Campos who played for the Bells in the first half of the season was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers. Former Bell Seth Martinez won the World Series that fall as part of the Houston Astros.
2021
The Bells introduced new branding prior to the start of the season. The color scheme was updated with Northwest Green being removed.
The West Coast League and Bells returned for the 2021 season after COVID-19 shut down the league the previous season. The Bells finished second in the North Division with a 24–24 record. The Bells made it back to the postseason but fell in the division series to the Pippins 1-2. The Bells finished third in league attendance with 51,248 total tickets sold for an average of 1,464 fans per game.
2020
The 2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2019
The 2019 season proved to be an up and down campaign for the team. The Bells came within one game of winning the first half WCL north crown to put them in the playoffs, losing a heartbreaker to WCL North champion Victoria in the final game of the first half. The team's first half performance produced 5 all stars with Guthrie Morrison OF (Gonzaga), Jack Machtolf OF (Gonzaga), Troy Viola 3B (San Jose St), Jimmy Chatfield RP (Yale), and Nick Proctor SP (Cal - Berkeley) all representing the squad. Troy was also invited to participate in the home run derby and ended up leading the team with 8 homers on the year. The second half saw many new faces on a Bells squad that fought hard, but in the end was not able to make the WCL playoffs. Nick Proctor was a member the All WCL first team, while Jimmy Chatfield was named to the All WCL second team. The community in Bellingham rallied around the Bells, packing Joe Martin with 50,344 fans in 28 games for an average of almost 1,800 fans a game.