Bellingham wins American Legion Wood Bat Classic crown

Bellingham Post 7 defeated the Spokane Expos 8-5 on Sunday at A.K. Jackson Field to win the American Legion Wood Bat Classic.

Bellingham had 10 hits and took advantage of four Expos errors to score six unearned runs and win the senior division.

Bellingham had a pair of three-run innings before adding two more in the seventh. The Expos, who had eight hits, rallied for three runs in the final inning before coming up short.

Alex Bowdish had a two-run triple for the Expos. Jordan Rathbone added two hits. Wyatt Setian went the distance for Spokane.

Jordan Wittenberg led Bellingham with three hits and Ernie Yake added two. Noah Rawls took the win.

The Expos reached the championship game with an 8-0 victory in five innings over the Spokane Bandits as Jared Smith pitched a one-hitter, striking out six. Bowdish, Rathbone, Jack Machtolf and Austin Lee had two hits each.

The Expos went 6-1 in the tournament, reaching 30 victories this season against just four losses.

Bellingham edged the Idaho Bandits 9-8 in Sunday’s other semifinal to reach the title game of the four-day tournament that drew 94 teams over three divisions.

Bellingham had reached the final of last year’s tournament where it lost to the Spokane Northstars 11-5.