Jackson Beats Pensacola Again

May 25, 2015

One of the reasons the Pensacola Blue Wahoos are two-games above .500 in May is that they never stop trying to score more runs.

It’s what first year manager Pat Kelly said he likes about his team that’s 19-25 and in fourth place in the Southern League South Division. The Blue Wahoos are now 13-11 in May, after starting April 6-14.

“The thing I really like about this team is the way we keep coming back,” Kelly said. “That’s something you didn’t see the first month.”

The Blue Wahoos fell a run short Sunday, 6-5, to the Jackson Generals in front of 4,502 at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium.

However, Pensacola came right back in the seventh to tie the game, 5-5, when catcher Kyle Skipworth hit a deep fly ball to right field to score first baseman Marquez Smith from third. Jackson scored its winning run in the eighth when center fielder Gabby Guerrero knocked a single to score third baseman Jody Lara.

One of the stars for Pensacola has been Seth Mejias-Brean, who is hitting .333 (16-48) the past 13 games after going 3-5 with an RBI and stolen base. He also turned a great double play flagging down a bad hop, stepping on third and whipping it to first.

“The toughest thing is keeping steady,” said Mejias-Brean, who’s now hitting .244 on the year. “You could be hitting the ball really well and still not get any hits. You could be hitting like crap and still go 3-for-3.”

Ryan Wright ended the Pensacola Blue Wahoos 0-22 hitless streak with the bases loaded when he singled sharply to center and scored both first baseman Ray Chang and shortstop Zach Vincej to put Pensacola up, 4-0, in the second inning. Although Pensacola had failed to produce a hit until Wright’s, it did have 10 RBIs before adding two more.

Wright has an eight game hitting streak, batting .314 (11-35). He has driven in five runs and doubled.

Kelly chafed when about the team’s batting average with the bases loaded, calling it an “overrated stat.”

“A lot of things don’t show up in the average,” he said, lobbying for a new statistic. “If you’re knocking in about 50-60 percent of runs with men on third, then you’re doing pretty good. Batting averages are evil anyway.”

Comments

One Response to “Jackson Beats Pensacola Again”

  1. RTR on May 26th, 2015 10:59 am

    Once again…this was a great game. I know minor league ball is about developing major league players, but it sure is nice to win some games. These guys are finally playing to their potential.