Blue Wahoos Fall Just Short In Season Opening Extra Innings Thriller

April 9, 2022

On an Opening Night that began with the Double-A debut of 18-year-old Eury Pérez, the Pensacola Blue Wahoos came just shy of a dramatic victory in an 11-inning, 13-11 loss to the Biloxi Shuckers on Friday night.

After squandering a pair of early leads, the Blue Wahoos rallied to tie the game in the eighth, ninth and 10th innings before Victor Victor Mesa’s bid for a walk-off grand slam in the 11th was caught at the left-center wall to end the back-and-forth affair.

Pensacola jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second against Biloxi starter Justin Bullock, with back-to-back homers from Griffin Conine and Paul McIntosh followed by an RBI double from Luis Aviles Jr. Conine, who was second in all of Minor League Baseball with 36 home runs in 2021, picked up right where he left off with a 396-foot blast that one-hopped into Pensacola Bay. McIntosh’s homer came in his first Double-A at-bat, and began a 3-for-4 night that finished just a triple shy of the cycle.

Pérez impressed with 5 strikeouts over 4.1 innings, leaving with two runners on base and a 4-1 lead after throwing 78 pitches. The Shuckers scored both inherited runners as Will Stewart struggled with his command, forcing home a run on a bases-loaded walk and tying the game 4-4 on a Joey Wiemer two-run single.

The Blue Wahoos briefly reclaimed the lead in the fifth on a sacrifice fly from Ray-Patrick Didder, but Biloxi tied things up again in the sixth on a Tristan Lutz solo home run. Freddy Zamora hit a three-run double against Stewart in the seventh to give the Shuckers their first lead, and scored on a Robert Garcia wild pitch to stretch the Biloxi advantage to 9-5.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Blue Wahoos charged back with Aviles’ second RBI double of the night and a game-tying three-run home run from Hayden Cantrelle. Acquired from the Brewers via trade just a day earlier, Cantrelle finished his Marlins organizational debut 3-for-6 with four RBI.

Biloxi once again claimed a lead in the ninth against Colton Hock, turning an Ashton McGee leadoff double into a 10-9 advantage thanks to a sacrifice fly from Lutz. Once again, the Blue Wahoos managed to tie the game 10-10 in the ninth on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly from Cobie Fletcher-Vance and force extra innings.

In the top of the 10th, Anthony Maldonado (L, 0-1) allowed Biloxi’s placed runner to score on a Garrett Mitchell RBI single. Trailing 11-10, the Blue Wahoos got another clutch hit from Cantrelle as the second baseman laced an RBI double down the right field line to tie the game 11-11. With the potential winning run on second base, Biloxi reliever Arnaldo Hernandez (W, 1-0) struck out Jerar Encarnacion and Conine to preserve the tie and send the game to the 11th.

In the 11th, Maldonado allowed a two-run home run to Felix Valerio that proved to be the difference in the ballgame. Pensacola loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the inning thanks to a pair of walks from Hernandez, but Aviles Jr. struck out swinging and Mesa’s would-be walk-off grand slam settled into Lutz’s glove on the warning track for the final out.

The Blue Wahoos and Shuckers return to action on Saturday night as they continue their three-game series at Blue Wahoos Stadium.

by Daniel Venn, Pensacola Blue Wahoos

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