Dessureault triples in Bellingham's win over Kamloops

Academy Baseball Canada alumni Yohann Dessureault (Trois-Rivières, Que.), left, of the Bellingham Bells and Robin Villeneuve (Gatineau, Que.) of the Kamloops Northpaws went head-to-head in West Coast play. Dessureault tripled, while Villeneuve reached base three times.

July 6, 2023

By Jacques Lanciault

JacquesLanciault.com

Two West Coast League teams with Quebec players on their roster faced off on Thursday.

The Bellingham Bells, with Yohann Dessureault, registered a 2-0 win over the Kamloops Northpaws, whose roster boasts Félix-Antoine Chénier-Rondeau, Robin Villeneuve and Alexis Gravel.

Dessureault (Trois-Rivières, Que.) had a strong game for the Bells. In the third inning, he walked and stole second for his seventh stolen base of the season. Two innings later, Dessureault recorded an RBI triple that pushed the Bells lead to 2-0.

He finished 1-for-3 with a walk, a stolen base and an RBI.

For the NorthPaws, the only Quebecer to take part in the game was Villeneuve (Gatineau, Que.), who went 1-for-2 with two walks.

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Bellingham also won the opener of the series, 5-1, with Dessureault leading the way.

In the second, the Quebec native hit a single and scored the first run of the game. The following frame, Dessureault, who plays for Stetson University Hatters, had an RBI single to give the Bells a 2-0 lead.

Dessureault then stole second base and scored his team’s fourth run. In total, the former ABC star finished 2-for-4 with two runs, a stolen base and an RBI.

Villeneuve had one walk in four appearances.

On the season, Dessureault is hitting .241 with three doubles, a triple, two homers and five RBIs in 11 games.

Gravel (Repentigny, Que.) has pitched 6 2/3 innings and owns a 1.35 ERA. Villeneuve is batting .276 with two doubles, a triple and eight RBIs. Chenier-Rondeau (Blainville, Que.) is batting .119 with a triple and four RBIs.