Longest Game in Team History Sees Hawks Go Down 2-3 to Bells
2025-06-07
The Riverhawks battled for 18 innings before the Bells pulled ahead
Box ScoreBy Larry Read
EDMONTON-
A historical night on many fronts at RE/MAX Field, the Edmonton Green Onion Cakes made their West Coast League alternate identity debut in theit rlongest ever game. The Green Onion Cakes/Riverhawks fell 3-2 to the Bellingham Bells shortly before it became Sunday. It was the first loss of the season for the franchise in a game which went 18 innings and four hours and 42 minutes. Those marks were the longest in team history.
There were 4,110 fans on hand to witness these feats.The defeat dropped Edmonton’s record to 4-1. Bellingham moves to 5-3.
The Riverhawks didn’t take long to get on the scoreboard. #16 Kyle Yip singled in the first inning and scored from second off the bat of the red hot#35 Trent Lenihan. Lenihan and Yip played NAIA ball this year at the University of British Columbia. Lenihan has been red hot since returning to Edmonton. In his first three games, Lenihan has a homer and five runs batted in. He wound up 2-7 in the ball game.Bellingham tied it at one in the top of the fourth. # 21 Nate Kirkpatrick doubled to left field and scored when the next man up, # 32 Cayden Wotipka unleashed a double. Wotipka was 1-5 with an RBI on the night.
The Riverhawks regained the lead in the bottom of that inning. Designated hitter # 48 Max Stagg led off a four-hit inning with a double off the left field wall. He scored when # 36 Mitchell Middlemiss sacrificed with a long drive to centerfield. Later in that inning, the homeboys had the bases loaded but couldn’t get any more across. Middlemiss was 1-6 with a run batted in on the night.The Bells pulled even in the seventh. Riverhawks reliever #7 Hayden Morrison loaded the bases with two singles and a walk. Kirkpatrick scored from third to make it 1-1 as #1 Bobby Pierce Jr. sacrificed to right field. Morrison loaded the bases again before being replaced by #2 Austin Egan with two outs. Egan promptly forced #3 Alex Fernandes to ground back to him to end the inning.The winning run came in the top of the 18th. #38 Cameron Gillespie walked with one out and scored on a double from Pierce Jr. Pierce Jr was 1-7 with two runs batted in.
The winning run came off losing pitcher # 27 Mitchell Heinrich. He was one of nine Edmonton pitchers in the contest. Heinrich went an inning giving up two hits and striking out one. #12 Chihiro Soto picked up the win. He went five innings, giving up three walks, two hits and striking out one. He was one of four Bells pitchers.
This was Sasky Night (Flat out Fun). The Riverhawks were paying homage to the province of Saskatchewan, both its current and past residents. The Bells and Riverhawks wrap up the series on Sunday (June 8). It’s a 1:05 PM MDT opening pitch for Paws in the Park and a bobblehead giveaway presented by Homes Alive Pets. The 2025 Riverhawk bobbleheads are a proud presentation of Booster Juice. The Riverhawks are slated to start #26 Zac Roden. The righthander is from Edmonton.
Head over to tickets.gohawks.ca to grab yourself a seat. Follow along with the game at @RiverhawksGames on X and keep up with everything happening with the Hawks on Instagram, Facebook, @EdmRiverhawks, and TikTok. See all the latest news at riverhawksbaseball.com.
EXTRA INNINGS: The Green Onion Cakes are a tribute to one of Edmonton’s most beloved and iconic foods. The jerseys were designed by local artist Mike Lundy.For trivia fans. The past ‘alternate identity’ jerseys were the Talus Balls in 2023 and the Silver City Dragons in 2024.