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Wahoos Beat Mississippi On #TeamBarrow Night At The Ballpark
July 18, 2017
Pensacola Blue Wahoos Josh VanMeter and Shed Long both belted pitches from Atlanta Braves top pitching prospect, Kolby Allard, out of Blue Wahoos Stadium to left field.
It was #TeamBarrow night for the Wahoos to benefit the Barrow family. The Barrows recently experienced the loss two family members to cancer — mother Joanna Barrow died on January 30 and son Zachary Barrow passed away on February 8. Monday night at the Wahoo’s game, Holly Weaver performed the national anthem, while first pitches were tossed by Ryne Barrow, Kevin Barrow and Lauren McCall. The Wahoos also presented a $1,000 donation to Byrneville Elementary School.
The long balls in the second inning Monday ignited the Blue Wahoos lineup that scored five runs or more for the first time in nine games to beat the Mississippi Braves, 5-2, in front of 4,363 on its home field. Pensacola also hit two homers in a game for the first time in 10 games.
In a series that has featured two 2-0 games, a 2-1 game and a 4-3 game, the live bats were welcomed by Pensacola manager Pat Kelly and nail-biting Blue Wahoos fans. The Blue Wahoos earned 10 hits and six walks.
“Those two lefties (VanMeter and Long) were the key,” Kelly said. “Long and VanMeter did a great job taking Allard the other way and were very successful.”
Left fielder VanMeter and second baseman Long, who are both left handed hitters, launched homers to the opposite field to put Pensacola ahead, 2-0.
VanMeter, who was 3-3 with a double, walk, run and two RBIs, has four home runs this season and leads Pensacola with 38 RBIs. He also had his 22nd multi-hit game this year.
Long, who has struggled at the plate hitting .162, has two home runs with Pensacola and 15 on the year counting his stint with the High-A Daytona Tortugas. Long recorded his first multi-hit game with Pensacola, going 3-3 with a double, walk, two runs and one RBI for seven on the season.
“He’s seeing better pitching every night,” Kelly said about Long’s slow start at the plate. “As much as you don’t want to admit it, they’re pretty good. I think it humbled him a little bit.”
Long said it humbled him enough to seek out Hall of Fame shortstop Barry Larkin and star outfielder Eric Davis to help him this past week to start swinging the bat again like he was when he was in Daytona. He said their advice was invaluable.
“They’re a big part of my life, especially in baseball,” Long said. “It doesn’t get better than those guys. I was doing the same thing in Daytona and I’m starting to get that feeling back. That’s an awesome feeling. I just need to keep it going.”
Pensacola shortstop Blake Trahan scored on a two-out wild pitch by Allard and VanMeter hit a bullet to right field that drove in Blue Wahoos first baseman Gavin LaValley to put Pensacola ahead, 4-0, after three innings.
Mississippi got a home run of its own when third baseman Austin Riley smacked his first Double-A homer for his first RBI on a solo shot to right center in the fourth inning to trail Pensacola, 4-1.
Pensacola got the run back to go ahead, 5-1, when pitcher Jose Lopez hit a slow roller to second base that allowed Long, who doubled to left center, to score from third base. It was the first professional RBI for Lopez.
Making his seventh start, the 23-year-old Lopez pitched his third straight solid outing, working six innings, giving up two hits, including Riley’s homer, walked one and struck out two. He improved to 4-1 with a 3.19 ERA.
“He was great,” Kelly said. “He’s throwing strikes and going after hitters.”
The right-handed Lopez pitched eight scoreless innings in his July 6 start and one run in seven innings in his July 11 start, while striking out a career-high 11. Over his last three starts, he has allowed two runs on eight hits and three walks in 21 innings and struck out 20. He has a 0.86 ERA and WHIP of 0.52 and limited opposing hitters to a .121 average against him.
Meanwhile, Allard, the 14th overall pick in the 2015 Major League Baseball draft by Atlanta and the organization’s No. 3 ranked prospect, dropped to 5-8 with a 3.31 ERA. The 19-year-old is 0-3 against Pensacola and has struggled in his last two starts giving up nine runs, eight earned, on 17 hits in 10 innings.
Pensacola third baseman Nick Senzel’s hitting streak ended at 16 games Monday when he went 0-5. He tied Jackson General’s second baseman Kevin Medrano for the longest hitting streak in the Southern League this season.
Meanwhile, Pensacola is 31-18 at home this season and 13-12 in the second half to regain first place in the Southern League South Division over the Mobile BayBears. The South Division first half champions improved to 53-42 overall.
Photos by Barrett McClean/Blue Wahoos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
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