Strong Pitching, Timely Hitting Lead Blue Wahoos To 4-3 Win Over Mississippi

June 2, 2021

Devin Hairston joined the Blue Wahoos less than two weeks ago with a focused mission.

It has shown every game since.

Hairston again delivered in a clutch situation with a tie-breaking single in the eighth inning Tuesday night to lead the Blue Wahoos into a 4-3 victory against the Mississippi Braves in the series-opening game at Blue Wahoos Stadium.

The win was the Blue Wahoos (16-9) ninth in their past 11 games.

It included another sensational outing from starting pitcher Jake Eder, who has been one of the best in all levels of minor league baseball the first month of the season.

“It is just the process,” said Hairston, a sixth-round pick out of Louisville in 2017 by the Milwaukee Brewers and signed in January by the Miami Marlins as a free agent. “I have lot of intent behind the work I am doing and it seems to be working.

“So me and (Wahoos hitting coach) Scott Seabol formulate a game plan and try to execute it.”

That became the case when Hairston, who went 2-for-4 Tuesday, stepped to the plate with runners on first and second. He smashed a one-strike changeup into the right field gap, scoring Demetrius Sims with the eventual-game winning run.

In the ninth, Blue Wahoos closer Colton Hock earned his sixth save and the team’s sixth win in the last seven home games.

“My approach usually stays the same in those situations. It’s a big situation so I tried to calm down a little bit and I was really trying to put the ball in the outfield,” said Hairston, whose .341 batting average since joining the Blue Wahoos leads Double-A in that period.

“First pitch breaking ball, I took it pretty well. I thought they might come back with it, so I was able to put in the outfield and Sims did the rest.”

It was another late-inning rally for the Blue Wahoos, who have made this habit-forming.

“It doesn’t matter who is at the plate, I feel like top the bottom, anybody can get the job done at every given moment,” Hairston said. “We have lot of belief, not only in ourselves but in each other. Nobody has too much stress in the batter’s box can get the job done.

“Good hitting is contagious and I feel we have a lot of guys that are hitting the ball well.”

On the mound, Eder continued the kind of performance he’s shown this month. His only run allowed was an opposite-field homer by the M-Braves’ CJ Alexander in the third inning. It was only the second run Eder – a former Vanderbilt star reliever – has allowed as starter.

He finished with eight strikeouts and just one walk. He began the game with an 0.46 ERA that was second-best in all levels of the minor leagues.

Jose Mesa Jr. relieved Eder after he struck out the first two batters in the fifth inning. Mesa Jr. worked through the seventh and was followed by Dylan Bice, who earned his second win with a clean eighth inning.

“It takes a lot of stress off the hitters to know we might only need two or three runs over the course of a game to get a win,” said Hairston. “It is awesome to know when we get that run in the bottom of the eighth that we have someone who is going to come in top of the ninth to close the door.”

The Blue Wahoos’ got their first run on a second-inning single from Riley Mahan. They retook the lead in the fourth on Lorenzo Hampton’s blast into the water beyond left field. Hampton is the son of former Florida Gators and Miami Dolphins running back Lorenzo Hampton Sr.

After the M-Braves took the lead with a pair of unearned runs in the seventh, the Blue Wahoos tied the game in the bottom of the eighth on JJ Bleday’s RBI double. Bleday, the Marlins’ top pick in 2019, had two hits and a walk in his night at the plate with his former high school coach at Panama City Mosley in attendance.

The teams will continue their six-game series Wednesday with the first mid-week, school’s out fireworks show following the game.

by Bill Vilona, Blue Washoo senior writer.

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News, Sports, TOP sports