The Bellingham Bells are headed to the North Division Championship.

The Bells beat the Edmonton Riverhawks 5-1 in last night’s decisive Game Three at Joe Martin Field to advance to the West Coast League semifinals where they’ll face the Wenatchee AppleSox.

All-Star catcher Connor Smith knocked in the first run of last night’s game with an RBI double to start a 2-run second inning.

The Bells and Riverhawks each scored another run as Bellingham held a tight 3-1 lead heading into the eight.

But Trent Mallonee hit an RBI double and Jason Shedlock reached on a fielder’s choice to score another run and the Bells pulled away.

All-Star starter Josh Flaugher got the win for tossing five innings of two-hit ball.

The Bells’ bullpen did their job from there with four scoreless innings to secure the win.

They’re traveling to Wenatchee for tomorrow’s single-elimination game against the first-half North Division champion AppleSox.

On the other side of the bracket, the 7x defending WCL champion Corvallis Knights are hosting the Portland Pickles in the South Division Championship.

Both of tomorrow’s games start at 6:35.

Bells fans can watch live on the West Coast League’s streaming site.

 

The Mariners are back tonight for the start of their nine-game road trip.

The M’s are in Detroit for a rematch of last week’s disappointing series against the Tigers.

The Tigers took two out of three and it took a walk-off hit by Mitch Haniger to avoid the sweep.

It comes as Houston’s win over Tampa Bay yesterday put them a half-game ahead of Seattle for first place in the AL West.

The Mariners will look to get back in pole position tonight in a battle of young star pitchers.

George Kirby is facing AL Cy Young frontrunner Tarik Skubal in a rematch of last week’s 6-2 loss.

Coverage begins at 2:30 and first pitch is at 3:40 on KPUG.

 

The Seattle Sounders beat Mexico City-based Pumas UNAM 4-0 last night in the Leagues Cup Round of 16.

Sounders forward Jordan Morris scored twice and Seattle advanced to the quarterfinals in the midseason tournament that pits the MLS against the Mexican league, Liga MX.

There, they’ll face the winner of tonight’s LAFC vs San Jose match.

The Sounders’ quarterfinal game will take place on Saturday.

 

USA Gymnastics officials say an arbitration panel won’t reconsider a decision asking Olympic gymnast and Vancouver, WA native Jordan Chiles to return the bronze medal she was awarded in the floor exercise at the Paris Olympics. 

The panel voided an on-floor appeal from Chiles’ coach that vaulted her to third, saying the appeal came four seconds beyond the one-minute time limit for scoring inquiries. 

USA Gymnastics disputes the timing though, saying in a statement Sunday that the agency submitted video evidence that showed Team USA coach Cecile Landi first appealed 13 seconds before the deadline.