Nick Fortes Provides Walk-Off Blast In Ninth For The Blue Wahoos
June 16, 2021
His previous at-bats Tuesday night had left Blue Wahoos catcher Nick Fortes frustrated at himself.
One sweet swing in the ninth inning changed that feeling.
Fortes squared up on a 3-1 fastball and powered it over the left-center wall for a two-run, walk-off, home run that lifted the Blue Wahoos to a dramatic 5-4victory against the Montgomery Biscuits and wowed a bayfront stadium crowd staying around to see it happen.
It was the first time in his career Fortes ended a game with a home-run stroke.
“It is honestly kinda crazy,” said Fortes, who also drove in the Blue Wahoos second run on a fielder’s choice play. “You kinda black out for a little bit rounding the bases.
“I remember hitting first and a snap of the fingers I’m already at home greeting my teammates. It is a pretty cool feeling.”
This became the Blue Wahoos (22-15) third walk-off win in 19 home games. It continued the team’s success in one-run games. They are now 11-4 in that category after Tuesday’s series-opening win. The teams will continue a six-game set at Blue Wahoos Stadium through Sunday.
“It’s exciting. It makes for some really good baseball games,” Fortes said. “You can just tell the intensity picks a little bit once we get to the later innings.
“Obviously we would like to have those at-bats through the entire game, but it is really encouraging to see us not do so well early on, but then be able to lock it in, and put together good at bats later in the game and pull out some wins.”
While Blue Wahoos starting pitcher Jeff Lindgren gave up four runs in his five innings, he avoided worse damage in the second and fourth innings after yielding home runs.
The Biscuits (16-20), the Tampa Bay Rays Double-A affiliate, took a 3-0 lead in the second on shortstop Ford Proctor’s 3-run homer that kept carrying until clearing the left field wall.
Leadoff batter Garrett Whitney hit a solo home in the fifth. Three Blue Wahoos relievers produced shutout innings. Zach Wolf earned his first win by stranding Whitney at third base in the top of the ninth after he was hit by a pitch, advanced on a wild pitch, then moved to third on a groundout.
The Blue Wahoos got a pair of runs in the fourth on JJ Bleday’s double and Fortes’ one-out grounder. They got another in the eighth when Demetrius Sims hit into a double-play with runners on the corners.
In the eventful ninth, after Bleday grounded out, Jerar Encarnacion singled off Biscuits reliever Ivan Pelaez. Up stepped Fortes, who worked a 3-1 count and saw a 88-mph fastball that he left no doubt where it was heading after contact.
“It was a great feeling. My first three at-bats weren’t my best,” Fortes said. “Just really happy to go up there and put a good swing on one and send us home with a win.
“Honestly, we just had a feeling we were going to get ‘em in the ninth. A bunch of the guys were like, ‘Don’t worry about it, we’re going to get them.’
“From the seventh inning on we had some good at-bats. Everyone just had a feeling we were going to make some noise in the ninth.”
The Blue Wahoos had several roster moves prior to the game, led by the arrival of pitcher Edward Cabrera, the Miami Marlins No. 4 rated prospect by MLB Pipeline. The move provides the Blue Wahoos with three of Miami’s top four rated prospects in 2021.
Outfielder JJ Bleday (No. 2) and pitcher Max Meyer (No. 3) are the others.
by Bill Vilona, Blue Wahoos senior writer.
Register Now For Tate Cheerleaders’ Lil Aggies Summer Camp
June 15, 2021
The Tate High School Cheerleaders’ Lil Aggies Summer Camp is coming up the last week of the month, and now is the time to register.
The registration forms and payment are due by Wednesday, June 23. The camp will take place at Tate Monday, June 28 through Wednesday, June 30 from 8 a.m. until noon each day. The camp Tate Aggies cheerleaders will each atheletes the property stretch techniques, sideline cheers and chants, proper jump techniques and motion placement, as well as stunting and tumbling skill building. There will also be fun games, engaging activities, snacks and drinks.
For registration information, click or tap here.
NWE 8U Baseball Wins District Championship
June 13, 2021
The Northwest Escambia 8U Baseball All-Stars won the district championship Saturday with a 9-3 win over Flomaton. With the win, NWE advances to the state tournament in Theodore, Alabama on June 26. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Blue Wahoos Offense Sputters In 6-1 Loss At Chattanooga
June 13, 2021
The Blue Wahoos offense sputtered again for the Wahoos as they fell 6-1 to the Lookouts on Saturday night at AT&T Field.
In another highly anticipated pitching matchup, neither starter turned in the performance many expected.
Jake Eder (L, 1-2) battled with his command early in his start and was tagged with a pair of runs in the first inning. Chattanooga would add another run in the second inning to make it 3-0. Eder finished the night with six innings pitched and allowed four runs (3ER) with two walks and five strikeouts. He tied his career-high with 88 pitches.
Eder—who entered today’s start with the lowest ERA in the Double-A South—now has an ERA of 1.26, which is the second-lowest in the league.
Chattanooga starter Nick Lodolo looked poised to turn a solid inning up until an injury derailed his outing. Lodolo had seven strikeouts 3.1 innings before a 2-1 slider to J.D. Osborne forced the former first round pick to exit the game due to injury.
After Lodolo left the game, the Lookouts used four different relievers to hold the Blue Wahoos to one run despite having 10 hits on the night. Pensacola went 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position and left 14 men on base.
Offensively, JJ Bleday led the way for the Wahoos tallying three hits on the night while Nick Fortes went 2-for-5. Pensacola avoided being shutout for the second night in a row courtesy of a sac fly to right field by Jerar Encarnacion in the top of the ninth inning.
The series concludes tomorrow afternoon before the Wahoos return home to Pensacola. LHP Brandon Leibrandt (1-3, 8.17) gets the green light for the Wahoos and he will be opposed by Randy Wynne (1-1, 6.14). First pitch is scheduled for 1:15 PM CT.
by Chris Garagiola, Pensacola Blue Wahoos
Lookouts Edge The Wahoos In A Pitching Showdown
June 12, 2021
Lookouts win 1-0 on Robinson’s solo home run
In a highly anticipated pitching showdown between two of baseball’s top prospects, the Lookouts edged past the Wahoos 1-0 on Friday night at AT&T Field.
Hunter Greene (W, 5-0), the league leader in wins and strikeouts (60) took the mound for the hosts against Wahoos ace Max Meyer. It was matchup that featured a second overall pick in 2017 (Greene) and a third overall pick (Meyer) in 2020.
The pitching matchup lived up the hype, as evidenced by the final score.
Meyer lasted only five innings on a night where his command at times tried to betray him. During his outing, Meyer yielded four walks and only struck out three, but escaped peril numerous times throughout his start.
In the bottom of the first, the Lookouts loaded the bases with only out. Meyer fell behind Brian Rey 3-0; however, Rey hit into an inning ending double play on a 3-0 fastball to end the threat. In the second inning the Lookouts had runners on first and second with two outs before Meyer induced a groundout to end the inning. Meyer ran into the same issue in the fourth, but stranded two more base runners when Leonardo Rivas ended the inning with a groundout Lazaro Alonso.
Despite the nine strikeouts from Greene, the Wahoos had chances to score against the Reds top pitching prospect.
In the top of the first inning, Jerar Encarnacion doubled to right and Nick Fortes walked to set up first and second with two outs. The inning came to an end when Greene struck out Alonso with a 101 mph fastball. In the fourth, the Wahoos opened the inning with back-to-back walks against Greene. Unfortunately for the Wahoos, the rally would go no further as the right-hander retired the next three Wahoos in a row to end the inning.
The only offense in the game came after Meyer departed the contest. Zach Wolf (L, 0-2) surrendered a solo home run to Chuck Robinson to put the Lookouts 1-0. That was the only hit the Wahoos bullpen allowed on Friday.
In the top of the ninth inning against another former first round pick, Pensacola got the tying run in scoring position against Nick Howard S, 3). After a walk to Riley Mahan, the Wahoos used Jhon Nunez as a pinch runner, who advanced to second on a wild pitch. The game came to end after Howard struck out Peyton Burdick to end the game.
Saturday night will feature another star-studded pitching matchup at AT&T Field. LHP Jake Eder (1-1, 0.61) will face LHP Nick Lodolo (2-0, 1.01). Eder has the second-lowest ERA in all of MiLB, and Lodolo was the seventh overall pick in 2019 out of TCU.
by Chris Garagiola, Pensacola Blue Wahoos
File photo.
Wahoos Take Down Lookouts In Rain-Shortened Opener
June 9, 2021
The Blue Wahoos offense exploded in the first inning scoring seven times against Lookouts starter Matt Pidich (L, 0-3) en route to a 9-3 win on Tuesday.
The onslaught began right from the get-go, as each of the first four batters for the Wahoos reached base safely. Peyton Burdick and Jerar Encarnacion both had base hits before JJ Bleday walked to load the bases with nobody out. Nick Fortes then came to the plate and laced a two-run double to center to put the Wahoos ahead 2-0. That was just the beginning, as Pidich was removed with two outs in the first after Burdick recorded his second base hit of the inning.
By the time the top of the first came to a close, the Wahoos had seven runs on six hits.
Brandon Leibrandt (W, 1-3) was never under any serious pressure from the Lookouts despite the hosts scoring one run in the first and second inning. Leibrandt finished the night pitched a season-best 5.1 innings and striking out four as the left-hander earned his first win of the season.
After an RBI base hit from Mariel Bautista off Wahoos reliever Zach Wolf, the Lookouts would score no more runs for the rest of the night.
In the top of the eighth inning, Burdick came to the plate as the rain came pouring down. JC Keys clipped with a fastball that appeared to slip out of his hands, which prompted the umpires to suspend play due to rain. After the mandatory thirty-minute delay, the game was called for the Wahoos.
Tomorrow the series continues as RHP Jeff Lindgren (2-2, 3.38) takes the mound for Pensacola against LHP Connor Curlis (1-2, 6.14)
Catch High School All-Star Baseball and Softball Games Wednesday, And Here Are The Rosters
June 8, 2021
Pensacola Sports’ high school all-star baseball and softball games are Wednesday.
The game will feature seniors from Escambia County on the west softball and baseball teams, and seniors from Santa Rosa and Okaloosa counties on the east teams.
Tickets are $10 or $5 for students and can be purchased online at pensacolasports.org/hsasbaseball. The softball game will begin at 6 p.m. while the baseball game will begin at 6:30 p.m. Both are at Pensacola State College.
NorthEscambia.com photo.
Wahoos Fall In Series Finale With Mississippi
June 7, 2021
Jake Eder was dialed in Sunday during a masterful second outing this week for the Blue Wahoos.
“Honestly, I was locked in and it was kind of a blur,” he said after the game.
The former Vanderbilt star reliever tossed five perfect innings in his sixth professional start, facing the minimum 15 batters while recording eight strikeouts. Unfortunately for him, the Blue Wahoos bullpen followed with a rare lapse and it resulted in a 4-3 loss against the Mississippi Braves.
The teams split their six-game series at Blue Wahoos Stadium that was highlighted by quality pitching. Eder helped provide the Blue Wahoos a 4-3 win five days earlier in the series-opener when he worked 4.2 innings, allowing one run with eight strikeouts.
“The only thing we changed is that we didn’t throw a bullpen in between, but other than that everything was the same,” said Eder, a fourth round pick by the Miami Marlins in 2020, after making two starts in the same series.
When Eder left after five innings Sunday, he looked like a pitcher seeking to rapidly wrap up a game before rain clouds opened.
The Wahoos had a 1-0 lead. Eder had not allowed a ball out of the infield in his 63-pitch day. It was as great of performance as one might imagine.
“Guys were asking me some specific things after I came out and I was like, ‘I don’t know man, I don’t really remember.’ I was just locked in, and in a good rhythm,” said Eder, who has an 0.73 earned run average in 30 innings pitched – the second best ERA in all levels of Minor League Baseball.
“I evaluate right after I come out of the game every time, then take what I learn from it and put it backyard and move on to the next one pretty swiftly,” said Eder.
“The only thing I am thinking about is inning 31 (his next start).”
The weekend ended with Miami Marlins general manager Kim Ng watching two of Miami’s most touted prospects shine on the mound in Pensacola.
Saturday night, the Marlins’ No. 1 draft pick in 2020, Max Meyer, dazzled his way to a third win as the Blue Wahoos won 4-1 in front of sellout crowd with Ng watching from the press box.
“I think I saw her (Saturday) but it didn’t change anything as far as going into (Sunday),” Eder said. “For me, it is like stretching a rubber band and piece them to get one right after the other.
“Once one is over it’s on to the next one.”
The next one will happen later this upcoming week when the Blue Wahoos travel to face the Chattanooga Lookouts — the Cincinnati Reds affiliate – who boast two top pitching prospects of their own.
Sunday’s game and the crowd energy changed when the M-Braves touched up the Blue Wahoos first reliever, Jose Mesa Jr. for three runs in the sixth inning, then got an unearned run off Andrew Bellatti in the eighth. That one proved decisive.
Mesa began the inning by walking leadoff batter Drew Lugbauer, then giving up the first hit when Jalen Miller singled. After Mesa tossed a wild pitch to move both runners, Riley Unroe’s ground out tied the game. Mesa then gave up a triple and a double, followed by a hit batter, before being pulled.
The Blue Wahoos tied the game in the seventh on a RBI single from Bubba Hollins and slow rolling groundout by Devin Hairston.
In the ninth, the Blue Wahoos had two on, none out, after a pair of walks. They had runners on second and third after a wild pitch. But M-Braves closer Brandon White struck out Hairston and got Peyton Burdick to ground out to end the game.
Burdick hit a solo home run into the wind in the first inning.
by Bill Vilona, Blue Wahoos senior writer
Meyer, Bleday Lead Blue Wahoos Past Mississippi
June 6, 2021
Max Meyer dazzled as usual. JJ Bleday wowed again.
Peyton Burdick returned to recent form.
And the Blue Wahoos won again.
Three of the team’s most acclaimed players were part of an impressive display in a 4-1 victory Saturday night against the Mississippi Braves, delighting an overflow crowd at Blue Wahoos Stadium before post-game fireworks lit the bayfront sky.
“It’s a fun team,” said Meyer, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2020 Major League Baseball draft by the Miami Marlins, after allowing just three hits in six innings for his longest start in pro ball.
“Even if you are up or down, we’re still going to play how we play,” said Meyer, who improved his record to 3-1 and lowered his earned run average to 1.86. “All these guys are rooting for each other.”
Amid a game played in just two hours, 15 minutes — this may have been the Blue Wahoos best overall home game experience this season.
And that’s saying a lot.
The spectators including Miami Marlins general manager Kim Ng, the first woman in history to serve as general manager of a team in any of the big four North American sports – MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL.
She watched the Blue Wahoos up-close for the first time and saw a team that has combined stellar pitching, sound defense and timely hits into an 18-11 record.
“The leadership on this team has been great,” said Bleday, whose two-out, two-run homer in the sixth inning broke a tie game. “If one guy doesn’t get the job done he hands it off the next dude and he is able to get it done and get it started.
“Our pitchers and relievers have just done a tremendous job of keeping us in the game.”
That played out again Saturday with Meyer dueling with Mississippi Braves’ righthander Jose Rodriguez, signed as a free agent by the Atlanta Braves on April 21.
Meyer matched his pro career high Saturday with nine strikeouts, yielded just one walk and threw 60 strikes in his 82 pitches.
The only dent in a stellar pitching line was a home run off a 93-mph fastball by Greyson Jenista to lead off the third inning.
After that, Meyer retired the next six batters he faced. He finished his outing by striking out the side in the sixth inning.
“That one home run, I went down and in, and I was trying to go down and up a little bit,” Meyer said. “He put a good swing on it and stuff like that happens.
“I went around the whole order. I mixed up how I threw to guys every at bat, so I feel like I was keeping them off balance a little bit.”
Meyer, the former University of Minnesota star, kept the capacity crowd (5,038) enthralled by how fast he works and how often he records outs. It was the first time he started on a Saturday night home game.
“Honestly, when I’m pitching I don’t really notice how big the crowd is. I am just dialed in,” Meyer said. “It’s just me and the catcher, but a little more adrenalin and it’s always fun pitching to a packed crowd.”
With the game tied 1-1, Bleday bombed a changeup from Rodriguez into the crowd of kids sitting on the grass berm beyond the right field wall. Total distance was 393 feet.
His two-run homer was his third home run this season, second in three days. All three have been in this ballpark. He scored Burdick, who led off the inning with a triple.
“It felt great, because I missed the changeups in the previous two at-bats,” said Bleday, the Marlins’ No. 1 pick in 2019 out of Vanderbilt and former Panama City Mosley High star.
“I was right on ‘em, but I was just a tick early pulling off a bit and getting a little antsy with it,” Bleday said. “But he came back and he hung one middle away and I put a good swing on it.”
The Blue Wahoos got their first run on Demetrius Sims’ RBI single to score catcher Nick Fortes. In their first four hits, the Blue Wahoos went double, single, triple, home run, for a team cycle.
Burdick, who went 2-for-4 after a hitless start in the series, added insurance with his RBI single in the eighth inning.
“The leadership on this team has been great,” Bleday said. “If one guy doesn’t get the job done he hands it off the next dude and he is able to get it done and get it started. Our pitchers and relievers have just done a tremendous job of keeping us in the game.”
The series and homestand will conclude Sunday with a 4:05 game. Following the game, the Blue Wahoos will have Monday off before taking a road trip to Chattanooga, Tenn. to face the Chattanooga Lookouts – the Cincinnati Reds Double-A affiliate.
by Bill Vilona, Blue Wahoos senior writer
Stewart And Steady Hitting Lead Blue Wahoos To 4-1 Friday Win
June 5, 2021
The Blue Wahoos completed the first month of their season Friday night in the same way it started.
Strong starting pitching. Flawless performance by the bullpen. Mixed together with a couple big swings and defensive plays.
The summation was another win, this one a 4-1 victory against the Mississippi Braves that evened the series (2-2) and gave a capacity crowd (5,038) at Blue Wahoos Stadium a familiar look.
“It has been apparent all year that our pitching has been dominant — from the starters to the bullpen — and I think that’s been the main thing that has kept us in every single game,” said Blue Wahoos catcher Nick Fortes, who went 2-for-4 with a triple and made the game’s biggest defensive play with a perfect throw to catch the M-Braves’ Riley Unroe stealing third in the third inning.
“We kinda started out a little slow at the beginning of the year with the bats,” Fortes said. “But I feel that everybody is starting to hit their stride a little bit and making things move a little bit more crisply out there.”
The Blue Wahoos (17-11) began their season — and new affiliation with the Miami Marlins — on May 4 with a win against the M-Braves.
Since then, it’s been a consistent element with the pitching staff in each win. Friday was lefthander Will Stewart’s turn to shine.
The 23-year-old, Huntsville, Alabama native worked six innings and threw a season-high 92 pitches with six strikeouts, one walk and one run allowed.
“Honestly, it all started with my mindset,” said Stewart, who earned his first win as a Blue Wahoos starting pitcher. “I think earlier in the month, I came out and there was a lot of doubt in my mind.
“I didn’t have as much confidence as I do now. It took me really finding a routine and getting into what works for me instead of trying to emulate things here and things there.”
Reliever Tyler Stevens followed by striking out four of the six batters he faced. Colton Hock followed in the ninth by earning his seventh save to become the Double-A South leader.
The Blue Wahoos lead the Double-A South in team pitching (3.39 ERA) and in team relief.
After dropping back-to-back mid-week games to the M-Braves, the Blue Wahoos flipped the script Friday. They got a first-inning lead when Peyton Burdick worked a walk, Jerar Encarnacion followed with a single and JJ Bleday continued his hot bat with an RBI single.
In the fifth inning, Encarnacion blasted a two-run homer into the right field berm off a fastball from M-Braves’ reliever Chris Nunn. This one exited at 101 mph off his bat and the ball seemed to further accelerate as it was leaving the ballpark.
The Blue Wahoos added another run in the sixth inning after Fortes led off with a single and scored on Tristan Pompey’s single.
The game’s key moment occurred after Stewart yielded three singles to start the third inning. With a run in, Unroe got a jump to steal third. But Fortes’ throw was perfect to have Blue Wahoos’ third baseman Demetrius Sims apply the tag a split-second before Unroe’s headfirst slide reached base.
“Oh my gosh, if we don’t throw that guy out there, they’ve got runners on first and third with one out and I am notoriously getting in that situation,” Stewart said. “For (Fortes) to take that away and me not have to deal with that, you can’t ask for anything more.
“It was big. I think if we don’t have that throwout there, I probably don’t go six innings.”
Instead it worked out well for him.
The first 2,000 fans entering the ballpark Friday night received a power-blue beach mat, courtesy of game sponsor, Wind Creek Casino and Hotel in Atmore, Ala.
The final two games of this series are Saturday and Sunday with the Blue Wahoos throwing their top two pitchers, Max Meyer and Jake Eder, for the first time on a weekend.
by Bill Vilona, Blue Wahoos senior writer
