Wahoos Beat Jackson
April 29, 2019
The Blue Wahoos captured their fifth series win in a row to start the season with a convincing 8-3 victory over the Jackson Generals Sunday afternoon at the Ballpark at Jackson.
Devin Smeltzer (W, 3-1) continued to impress as a starter with five shutout innings in which the southpaw yielded only four base runners across his five innings. The only time a runner reached scoring position was on a fly ball into right field that was mishandled by Jaylin Davis and resulted in a triple for Jackson’s Ben DeLuzio. Smeltzer made quick work of the next batter, Galli Cribbs, and escaped the fifth with the General still off the board.
Jackson starter Sam Lewis (L, 1-2) was cruising the game’s first four innings but labored in the fifth. After a pair of walks and a single, Luis Arraez hit what looked like a potential inning-ending double play to the shortstop Andy Young. However, Young misplayed it for his second error of the season, which resulted in the Wahoos taking a 1-0 lead. The Wahoos would capitalize on another mistake on a passed ball from Domini Miroglio in the same inning to double their advantage.
Pensacola added three more runs in the sixth inning thanks to four hits off Ryan Atkinson. When the dust settled, the Wahoos had sent eight men to the plate and led 5-0.
Adam Bray replaced Smeltzer in the sixth and provided quality relief despite a small hiccup in his first inning of work. After retiring the first two batters he faced, he walked Jamie Westbrook before surrendering a two-run home run to Daulton Varsho, which cut Jackson’s deficit down to 5-2.
Pensacola would put the game away in the eighth when they scored three more runs against former big leaguer Damien Magnifico. The former Milwaukee Brewer struggled mightily with his command, walking three batters in the eighth and allowing a two-run homer to Taylor Grzelakowski, which was his first career Double-A round-tripper. Caleb Hamilton finished the game with a pair of RBIs, and eight of the nine Wahoos in the lineup reached base safely at least once.
For the first time in franchise history, the Blue Wahoos have opened a season by winning each of the first five series out of the gate
Wahoos Earn Slim Win Over Generals
April 28, 2019
The Blue Wahoos hung on to defeat the Jackson Generals 4-3 Saturday night at the Ballpark at Jackson and have regained a two-game-to-one series advantage over the Arizona Diamondbacks Double-A affiliate.
For the second consecutive night the Blue Wahoos took the lead in the top of the first inning. After a leadoff single from Luis Arraez, Pensacola scored courtesy of a one-out single from Ernie De La Trinidad to give Pensacola a 1-0 lead. The Wahoos would double their advantage in the third inning when Caleb Hamilton smashed a solo home run off Generals starter Emilio Vargas for his second home run of the year.
Brusdar Graterol cruised through the first four innings of the game, holding the Generals to just three hits until he ran into some turbulence in the fifth. After retiring the first two batters quickly, Graterol plunked Jamie Westbrook for the second time in the game and allowed back-to-back doubles to Jeffrey Baez and Jazz Chisholm, which tied the game at 2-2.
However, the Wahoos had a counter-punch in the seventh inning when they scored twice off former big leaguer Lucas Luetge (L, 1-1). After a lead off walk and a single, Brian Navaretto laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Taylor Grzelakowski and Hamilton into scoring position with only one out. Arraez then laced a double off Luetge to give the Wahoos a 4-2 lead.
After a clean sixth inning from Ryan Mason (W, 1-0), Ramon Borrego turned the rest of the game over to Dusten Knight (S, 5). Knight’s only blemish came in the eighth inning, when he surrendered a leadoff home run to Jazz Chisholm, which cut Jackson’s deficit down to a single run. After that, Knight was untouchable, retiring the final six batters he faced to close out the win.
Pensacola will try to capture their fifth series win to start the year tomorrow afternoon when they send LHP Devin Smeltzer (2-1, 0.72) on the bump. He will be opposed by RHP Sam Lewis (1-1, 2.41). First pitch is scheduled for 2:05 p.m.
Northview Gets Senior Night Win Over Baker
April 27, 2019
Northview 9, Baker 0
The Northview Chiefs completed a two-game sweep over Baker 9-0 Friday night. Tuesday night, the Chiefs beat Baker 16-4.
After a scoreless first inning, the Chiefs took a 4-up lead in the bottom of the second Friday night before adding five in the third.
The Chiefs stand at 14-4 overall, a perfect 8-0 in the district. They have one regular season game remaining Monday at Pensacola High School.
Also Friday night, the Chiefs honored seniors Jacob Bryant, Seth Killam, Tanner Levins, Alex McMinn, Jackson Moore, Billy Rolin, Nick Venable and Taylor Wilson during Senior Night.
For game action and Senior Night photos, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Escambia Tops Tate; Pine Forest Beats Pace
April 27, 2019
Escambia 1, Tate 0
The Tate Aggies fell to the Escambia Gators 1-0 Friday night.
Cole Fryman went six innings for Tate, allowing one run on six hits, walking one and striking out 10. Fryman led the Aggies at the plate, going 2-2 with a double. Jadon Fryman was 1-3 for the Aggies.
Tate 11, Escambia 0
The JV Tate Aggies shut out Escambia 11-0 Friday afternoon. On Wednesday, the JV Aggies beat Escambia 9-0.
Pine Forest 7, Pace 0
The Pine Forest Eagles shut out Pace 7-0 Friday night.
Tekoah Roby took the win for Pine Forest, giving up no runs on three hits, walking one and striking out nine in seven innings.
Roby sent 3-4 at the plate with a homer. Jason Roberts was 1-5 with a homerun. Timmy Williams and Nolan Rigby had two hits each for Pine Forest.
File photo.
Jackson Beats The Pensacola Blue Wahoos
April 27, 2019
Since returning from the injured list following a quad strain, Jaylin Davis has been nearly unstoppable at the plate, raising his average on the season from .259 to .351, second best in the Southern League, with a torrid 13-30 stretch over the past seven games. After knocking three hits last night, including a go-ahead three-run home run in the tenth inning, Davis picked up where he’d left off in tonight’s game against the Jackson Generals, becoming the first Blue Wahoo to have four hits in a a game since Gabriel Guerrero did over a year ago in April 2018.
Unfortunately for Pensacola, Davis’ big night wasn’t enough to propel them to victory in a 12-7 loss to the Generals.
The Blue Wahoos continued their streak of early scoring, scoring first for the 17th time this season with two runs in the first and an additional run in the second inning. In the first, Tanner English drilled a one-out triple and came in to score on a double from Davis. Travis Blankenhorn, in his first Double-A at-bat, singled home Davis.
In the second, Mitchell Kranson extended Pensacola’s lead by singling home Drew Maggi, who had doubled.
The lead wasn’t safe, as Jackson scored three times in the home half of the third. After cruising through the first two innings and striking out four consecutive hitters, including K’ing the side in the second inning, Jorge Alcala ran into trouble in the third.
He walked the lead off batter in the inning and the allowed a double to Ryan Grotjohn. A balk brought home the first runner and an RBI single by Galli Cribbs Jr. cut Pensacola’s lead to 3-2. After a walk, Jamie Westbrook hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game.
The wheels came off for Alcala in the fourth, as he allowed the first four batters in the inning to reach base before being replaced by Tyler Jay. All four of Alcala’s runners scored in the inning, leaving him with a final line of 3.0 innings pitched, six hits, seven runs (six earned), three walks, and four strikeouts.
Jay threw 2.0 innings of relief, allowing two runs on one hit and two walks while Jackson took a 9-3 lead.
The Blue Wahoos offense didn’t quit despite the deficit. Drew Maggi reached on a hit by pitch in the sixth, moved to second on a wild pitch, and scored on a single by Luis Arraez.
An inning later, the Wahoos added another run, using a lead off double by Davis and RBI ground out by Caleb Hamilton to cut Jackson’s lead to 9-5.
The Wahoos scored twice in the eighth to make the ballgame tight. Arraez walked and English doubled to lead off the inning. A Kranson ground out scored Arraez and Davis plated English with a single, making it 9-7.
Jackson used three hits, two walks, and a fielding error to score three times in the home half of the eighth off reliever Sam Clay. and put the game out of reach, sailing to a 12-9 win with former Twins farmhand Michael Kohn’s league-leading fifth save of the season.
The loss drops Pensacola’s record to 15-7 while Jackson improves to 12-8 as the two team’s prepare for game three of their five-game series Saturday evening.
Tate Aggie Freshmen Finish Season Undefeated
April 26, 2019
The Tate Aggie Freshmen finished their season undefeated at 13-0-1. The team had a .378 team batting average and a team ERA of a 1.95. Pictured are (bottom row, L-R) Manager Dawson Guy, Tucker Griffin, Wiley Griffin, Chase Lombardo, Brent Vinson, Cam Larocca, Dagan Guy, Paul Whitson, (top row, L-R) Head Coach Robb Whitfield, Jaxson Stafford, Caleb Murph, Waren Henke, Kirk Mosley, Saxon Hill, Luke Gandy, Conner Wright, Josiah Glodfelter, Assistant Coach Brett Weeks. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Lady Aggies Celebrate Senior Night With Win Over Gulf Shores
April 25, 2019
The Tate High Lady Aggies celebrate Senior Night Wednesday as they beat Gulf Shores 5-1. There are three seniors on this year’s team- Shelby McClean, Amber DeCoux and Gabby Locke.
Abbie Burks pitched the win for the Tate, allowing six hits and one run with striking out seven in seven innings. Hannah Halfacre led the Aggies at the plate with two hits.
Pictured top: Tate Lady Aggie seniors (L-R) Shelby McClean, Amber DeCoux and Gabby Locke. Pictured below: Tate Lady Aggie Senior Night. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Tate Aggies Fall To Escambia
April 25, 2019
The Tate Aggies fell to Escambia 4-3 Wednesday night.
Mason Land, Hunter McLean, Mcdowell, Bryant Orr, Cole Fryman and Chase Tolbert each had a hit for Tate.
Darrien McDowell went five innings, giving up four runs on two hits while striking out six. Jace Dunsford tossed two innings out of the bullpen.
Photos by Crystal Tolbert for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Grzelakowski Delivers Walk-Off Winner In 1-0 Wahoos Victory Over Mobile
April 25, 2019
Taylor Grzelakowski entered tonight’s game scuffling through a 3-for-30 stretch at the plate and left the hero, delivering a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth to break a 0-0 tie and give the Blue Wahoos a 1-0 win over the Mobile BayBears.
For the second straight night, both team’s received excellent starting pitching. Griffin Jax took the ball for the Wahoos, entering the game with the best ERA in the league, and left with an even lower ERA. He threw 5.1 shutout innings, allowing just three hits while striking out four and walking none, lowering his 0.54 ERA to 0.41.
Mobile countered with Adrian De Horta, who was even better, throwing 5.0 one-hit innings and striking out seven.
For all that has been written about the Blue Wahoos starting rotation’s success this season, their bullpen has been equally good, entering play tonight with a 1.59 ERA. Lefty Jovani Moran was the first out of the pen, relieving Jax with a runner on in the sixth. He threw 2.2 scoreless innings, striking out five.
With tonight’s performance, Moran now holds a 17.1 K/9 ratio, having struck out 19 batters in 10.0 innings.
Dusten Knight took over in the ninth inning and worked into and out of a jam, allowing a lead off single and walking a batter before stranding both runners.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Wahoos offense finally scored for the first time in two days. Caleb Hamilton led off the inning by drawing a walk from BayBears reliever Patrick Sandoval. Ernie De La Trinidad dropped down a sacrifice bunt to move Hamilton to second. After a ground out for the second out, Grzelakowski stepped to the plate and pulled a ground ball single past a diving Jahmai Jones at second base, scoring Hamilton from second and giving the Blue Wahoos their first walk-off win of the season.
The win improves the Blue Wahoos’ record to 14-6 on the year, the best record in the Southern League. Pensacola will pack their bags and head to Jackson to take on the Generals (11-7) tomorrow in a match up of the first place team in the North and South Divisions.
Coin Toss: Jay Gets Top Seed In District Softball Tourney, Northview Second
April 24, 2019
The Jay Royals claimed the top seed in the upcoming district tournament Tuesday by winning a coin toss with Northview. The Chiefs are second seed.
The district tournament schedule is:
Game 1 – Monday, April 29
#5 Chipley vs. #4 Baker, 6 p.m. at Baker
Game 2 – Tuesday, April 30
#3 Freeport vs. #2 Northview, 5 p.m. at Jay
Game 3 – Tuesday, April 30
Winner of Game 1 vs. Jay, 7 p.m. at Jay
Game 4 – Thursday, May 2
Game 2 Winner vs. Game 3 Winner, 7 p.m. at Jay
Pictured: Northview at Jay on March 12. NorthEscambia.com photos.
