Wahoos Fall To Jumbo Shrimp, Head To Playoffs
September 1, 2017
For the first time in three seasons, the Pensacola Blue Wahoos are not the Southern Division champions.
The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp ended Pensacola’s reign by overcoming the Blue Wahoos, 5-2, with three runs in the eighth inning at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville.
Pensacola, which had its three game winning streak snapped, won the Southern League crown in the first half. The Blue Wahoos won a Southern League-record four straight halves. The only other team to do that was the Tennessee Smokies between the 2009 and 2011 seasons.
Pensacola and Jacksonville, not only finish the regular season schedule against each other, but will face each other in the Southern Division League playoffs that begin Sept. 6 and 7 at Blue Wahoos Stadium.
The Blue Wahoos fell to 31-35 in the second half, while the second half champion Jumbo Shrimp improved to 38-28.
Blue Wahoos left fielder Gabriel Guerrero hit a deep sacrifice fly to right field in the fifth inning that scored shortstop Blake Trahan to tie the game, 2-2, with the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp.
But the Jumbo Shrimp went ahead, 3-2, when left fielder Austin Dean hit a ground ball single up the middle to score first baseman Taylor Ard, who Pensacola reliever Alex Powers hit with a pitch to lead off the eighth inning.
Jacksonville right fielder John Norwood then his fourth triple of the season to right field that drove in both center fielder Braxton Lee and Dean for a 5-2 lead.
In his last regular season start, Pensacola starting pitcher Deck McGuire was going for his career-high 10th win of the season for the seventh time. But after working six innings, McGuire left the game tied 2-2. The 6-foot-6 righty allowed two runs on three hits, no walks and struck out 11, which tied his career high with Triple-A Oklahoma City Dodgers in 2015.
It was an excellent regular season for the minor league veteran, who was selected to the Southern League All-Star game.
The former first round pick in 2010 by the Toronto Blue Jays finished the regular season 9-9 with a 2.79 ERA. He led the Southern League with 168 innings pitched and 170 strikeouts, which are also both franchise records. He had a WHIP of 1.10 and held opponents to a .208 batting average.
Jacksonville reliever Miguel Del Pozo ended up earning his first Double-A victory (1-0) in his fourth appearance for Jacksonville, throwing 1.2 scoreless innings and striking out two.
The Jumbo Shrimp had c0me back and tied Pensacola, 1-1, in the bottom of the first inning when third baseman David Vidal smacked a single that scored Lee. The Jumbo Shrimp then went ahead, 2-1, when John Norwood crushed a solo homer, his 19th of the year, in the fourth inning.
The Blue Wahoos scored first in the first inning when first baseman Gavin LaValley singled in second baseman Shed Long to put Pensacola ahead, 1-0.
Wahoos Sweep Doubleheader Against Mississippi Braves
August 31, 2017
Pensacola Blue Wahoos catcher Joe Hudson hit a slow roller toward Mississippi Braves second baseman Travis Demeritte who fielded the ball on the infield grass, but threw the ball wide past the first baseman Jonathan Morales.
The result — a walk-off error — scoring center fielder Jonathan Reynoso from third base to give Pensacola a, 6-5, victory in the second game of the doubleheader Wednesday in front of 4,789 at Blue Wahoos Stadium.
Pensacola won the first game, 4-3, to sweep the Braves and capture the series, 3-2. It snapped a streak of two series losses at home.
Hudson, not exactly known for his speed, said he closed his eyes and ran as fast as he could once he made contact.
“I really got a hold of that one,” Hudson said jokingly of the Blue Wahoos sixth walk-off win this season. “You can hit four liners in a game and not get a hit and hit one off the end of the bat and get a game winner. That’s baseball.”
Pensacola manager Pat Kelly also teased Hudson about the game-winner in the 10th inning that improved the Blue Wahoos’ record in extra-inning games to 3-6.
“It’s the Wahoo Way,” Kelly said. “He put the ball in play and obviously his speed is what got it.”
Pensacola trailed Mississippi, 5-4, heading into the bottom of the 10th. Right fielder Gabriel Guerrero hit a one-out double down the right field line. With two outs, Reynoso lined a single to center field, scoring Guerrero to tie the game, 5-5.
Reynoso also had the clutch, game-winning hit in the first game Wednesday as a pinch hitter in the sixth inning. The 24-year-old, hitting .286, singled to right field with two outs to drive in first baseman Gavin LaValley, who led off the inning with a double off the top of the yellow bumper pad in left-center field.
“He’s been really clutch since coming up,” said Kelly of Reynoso who came up from High-A Daytona Tortugas on Aug. 5. “He has a knack for putting the ball in play and finding holes.”
In the second game, Blue Wahoos second baseman Arismendy Alcantara tripled to right field when the ball scooted by Mississippi’s Connor Joe, allowing LaValley to score and tie the game, 4-4, in the fifth inning.
Mississippi took the lead, 4-3, in the fifth inning when catcher Joseph Odom crushed a solo homer to left field, his first for the Braves this season.
Pensacola Blue Wahoos first baseman Reydel Medina launched a two-out, three-run homer to left field in the fourth inning with Guerrero and Reynoso.on base to tie the game, 3-3.
Leading Mississippi at the plate was Austin Riley who hit a solo homer in both of Wednesday’s games to increase his total to eight on the season.
Mississippi hit four homers total including one by the Braves Game 2 starting pitcher Wes Parsons who ripped his first career homer to left field with two outs in the fourth inning for a 3-0 lead. Mobbed by his teammates in the dugout, Parsons is now 3-18 with two RBIs this year.
Other first game highlights included Pensacola taking a 3-1 lead in the second inning when Alcantara lined a two-out, bases-loaded doubled into the left center gap, driving in right fielder Aristides Aquino, catcher Chad Tromp and pitcher Jesus Reyes.
Additionally, Pensacola closer Tanner Rainey picked up his second save in two days for the Blue Wahoos. In his last three relief appearances, the 24-year-old, whose fastball reaches triple digits, has struck out nine of the 11 outs. For the Blue Wahoos he has 25 strikeouts in 15 innings over 12 appearances with a 1.80 ERA.
The Blue Wahoos, who improved to 31-34, are guaranteed to play in the Southern League South Division playoffs after winning the first half. They play their last five-game series of the regular season against first place Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, who they will likely play again Sept. 6 in the playoffs.
Kelly said he hopes that Cincinnati Reds top ranked prospect, third baseman Nick Senzel, is in the starting lineup soon after taking medication for an inner-ear infection.
Hudson, who has played in four consecutive minor league playoffs in the Reds farm system, said it’s odd playing Jacksonville in two-series in a row.
“We’ve always fallen short,” Hudson said. “We’d like to win one for (manager) Pat (Kelly) and for our city.”
Advance Tickets On Sale For Escambia Academy At Northview
August 30, 2017
The Northview Chiefs will host the Escambia Academy Cougars Friday night in Bratt, and presale tickets are available now.
Advance tickets are $5 for adults or students, $1 for elementary students and are available in the Northview office during school hours.
For more information, call Teresa Johnson at (850) 327-6627 ext. 225
NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
Northview Chiefs Name Players Of The Week
August 29, 2017
Northview High School has named players of the week from their 14-7 win over the J.U. Blacksher Bulldogs.
Trent Peebles (#25 above) was named Dominator of the Week. He broke six tackles and carried two defenders 14 yards on a game-clinching run.
(article continues below each photo)
Lance McLaughlin (#52 above) was named Defensive Player of the Week with 10 tackles, two tackles for a loss and one sack.
Aunterio Minor (#1 above) was named the Offensive Player of the Week with 17 rushes for 121 yards.
Hunter Spence (above) was named Special Teams Player of the Week with three punts and zero return yards.
Also, Hunter Breedlove was named the Scout Team Player of the Week.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Wahoos Earn 400th Franchise Win
August 29, 2017
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos appear to have found a new closer with seven games left in the regular season. It is right hander Tanner Rainey whose fastball often breaks 100 mph.
Rainey earned his first Double-A save for the Blue Wahoos with his last three pitches all in triple digits as Pensacola snapped a four-game losing streak with a, 3-2, win Monday over the Mississippi Braves in front of 4,001 at Blue Wahoos Stadium.
The 24-year-old Rainey in his last two relief appearances has struck out seven of the eight outs and walked one. For the Blue Wahoos he has 23 strikeouts in 14 innings over 11 appearances with a 1.93 ERA.
The former West Alabama first baseman, who holds that school’s home run record with 19, also singled in his first professional at bat.
Pensacola manager Pat Kelly was asked after the game if Rainey, in his third professional season, would be the Blue Wahoo’s closer.
“I think so,” Kelly said. “I liked what I saw. That’s impressive. He throws the ball hard and can swing the bat.”
The game also marked Pensacola starter Austin Ross looking back in form in his fifth start since spending a month on the DL with tightness in his throwing shoulder. He was limited to 14.2 innings over four starts but Monday the 28-year-old right hander cut loose with 93 pitches in 5.2 innings. He gave up two runs on seven hits and two walks with no strikeouts.
Ross is now 8-0 with a Southern League-leading 1.89 ERA.
“I’ve never been shut down during the year,” Ross said. “It was frustrating but at the same time it was the right thing to do. I knew I would have a decent amount of pitches. I wish I had gone deeper (than 5.2 innings.)”
Kelly also liked having the old Ross back in the rotation, especially with the playoffs approaching Sept. 6.
“This is the first time since he’s come back that he looked like he was his old self,” Kelly said.
Ross’s eighth win on the season was also Pensacola’s 400th win since its inaugural season in 2012. The club has 426 losses, posting winning records in only its last two seasons.
The Blue Wahoos first victory in franchise history occurred on opening day April 5, 2012 when they defeated the Montgomery Biscuits, 3-1. Pensacola third baseman Henry Alejandro Rodriguez, who drove in all three Blue Wahoos runs, smashed a two-run home run in the eighth inning off Montgomery reliever Frank De Los Santos for the victory. Pensacola reliever Justin Freeman earned the win and closer Donnie Joseph picked up the save.
“That’s cool,” Ross said. “It’s always good to be a part of something like that, especially with a class organization like Pensacola.”
To make a bid for the Southern League championship, Kelly said he needs other players to return to health like second baseman Shed Long, who is expected to start Tuesday after playing his last game Aug. 3.
Also third baseman Nick Senzel, the Cincinnati Reds top prospect, left the game Thursday after one at bat because he felt dizzy but he has yet to be cleared to play. Senzel had 10 home runs, 34 RBIs and a .340 batting average in half a season in Double-A.
Mississippi catcher Alex Jackson hit a bomb, his third homer for the Braves, to left field in the second inning to give the Braves a 1-0 lead.
Pensacola went ahead, 2-1, in the fourth inning. The first run scored with the bases loaded and one out when shortstop Blake Trahan hit a chopper to Mississippi third baseman Connor Joe, who dropped the ball, allowing first baseman Gavin LaValley to score. LaValley led off the fourth with a double, crushing a fly ball over the head of Mississippi center fielder Keith Curcio.
The second run in the fourth inning scored when Pensacola starting pitcher Austin Ross came up with the bases loaded and knocked in his third RBI of his career when center fielder Jonathan Reynoso scored. Ross hit a chopper that Braves first baseman Joey Meneses dove and caught and threw to second to get Trahan at second base for the second out of the inning.
Pensacola left fielder Gabriel Guerrero scored in the fifth inning when Aristides Aquino grounded out into a double play with the bases loaded and no outs to go ahead, 3-1.
Mississippi came back in the sixth inning when Jackson singled up the middle to drive in shortstop Dylan Moore to trail Pensacola, 3-2.
That’s when the Blue Wahoos turned to their bullpen. Zack Weiss threw 1.2 scoreless innings and didn’t allow a hit with walking one and striking out two. Then Rainey finished up the game.
The Blue Wahoos are guaranteed to be in the Southern League playoffs after winning the first half and are currently in fourth place at 29-34. The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp are in first at 35-28 in the Southern Division, six games ahead of Pensacola.
Bonus Gallery: Tribal Beat Band, NHS Cheerleaders
August 28, 2017
For a bonus photo gallery of the Northview High School cheerleaders and Tribal Beat Band from Friday night, click here.
For a photo gallery of football action as Northview beat Blacksher, click here.
For a game recap story, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Wahoos Lose Fourth Straight
August 28, 2017
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos lost a 2-1 lead with two outs and a 0-2 count in the ninth inning on Mississippi Braves shortstop Dylan Moore. Moore blasted a two-run double into the gap to right center to put his team on top, 3-2.
Mississippi went on to score four runs in the inning and win, 5-2, Sunday in front of 4,669 at Blue Wahoos Stadium. It was the Blue Wahoos fourth straight loss.
Manager Pat Kelly said the Blue Wahoos would probably have to win their last eight games to have the slightest chance of winning a Southern League record five straight halves.
“We have two outs and two strikes and a chance to win the game and we can’t finish,” Kelly said. “Those are disappointing losses.”
Blue Wahoos starting pitcher Keury Mella looked like he had broken the jinx and finally earned his first win this season at Blue Wahoos Stadium.
Mella looked dominant, tossing six scoreless innings, allowed just two hits, walked two and struck out seven Mississippi hitters.
Mella pitched to the minimum 12 batters through the first four innings, allowing just one hit. He loaded the bases with one out in the fifth inning but got Mississippi catcher Jonathan Morales to ground out into a double play to end the scoring threat. In the sixth, Mississippi again put runners at second and third with one out but Mella got a K and fly out to center field.
Coming into Sunday’s game, the 24-year-old Mella was 0-6 with a 5.16 ERA at home in 13 appearances. But over his last three starts, Mella has allowed just four earned runs in 18 innings for a 2.00 ERA and struck out 17. For the season, Mella is 3-10 with a 4.46 ERA.
Kelly said Mella has worked with Blue Wahoos pitching coach Danny Darwin on his delivery.
“He’s thrown good the last few games,” Kelly said. “He’s a lot more consistent. His slider is better and he’s throwing more strikes.”
But Mississippi went ahead, 3-2, on Moore’s two-run double off Pensacola closer Carlos Gonzalez. Braves third baseman Austin Riley then singled to right field to score Moore for a 4-2 lead. Riley scored on a Gonzalez wild pitch for the final margin of victory, 5-2.
Pensacola did take a 2-0 lead with both runs coming off Mike Soroka who is 11-8 with a 2.80 ERA for Mississippi.
Pensacola left fielder Gabriel Guerrero scored in the first inning of Sunday’s game on a single to center field by first baseman Gavin LaValley to take a 1-0 lead and to snap its streak of failing to score for 21 innings. The Blue Wahoos last scored against the Jackson Generals in the sixth inning Thursday.
It lost the first two games to the Mississippi Braves, 1-0, and, 5-0. The last time the Blue Wahoos were shutout in back-to-back games was in losses, 1-0, to both the Biloxi Shuckers and the Jackson Generals April 21 and 22 last season.
Pensacola scored its second run of the game in the sixth inning when shortstop Blake Trahan laid down a safety squeeze that scored center fielder Jonathan Reynoso from third to put the Blue Wahoos ahead, 2-0.
Trahan was 3-for-3 with one RBI in Sunday’s game and led off the ninth for the Blue Wahoos with a double into the left field corner. In two games against Mississippi, the shortstop is 5-7.
“To me that was a great accomplishment on the safety squeeze by Trahan,” Kelly said. “He’s swinging the bat good.”
Mississippi finally got on the scoreboard in the eighth inning when second baseman Travis Demeritte singled off Pensacola reliever Robert Stock to drive in Moore to pull the Braves within, 2-1. Moore led the Braves offense going 3-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBIs.
Pensacola won the first half guaranteeing the team a spot in the Southern Division playoffs. It was a Southern League record fourth straight half title, tying them with the Tennessee Smokies, which did it between 2009 and 2011.
In the second half, the Blue Wahoos are sitting in fourth place at 28-34 with eight games left this season. The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp lost to Biloxi 10-5 Sunday and are 35-27 in the Southern Division and in first place, seven games ahead of Pensacola.
Photos courtesy Barrett McClean Photography/Blue Wahoos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Northview Beats Blacksher
August 26, 2017
The Northview Chiefs opened their 2017 regular season at home with a 14-7 win over the J.U. Blacksher Bulldogs.
“It was a hard fought physical game. Two physical football teams, two disciplined football teams, two hard-nosed football teams,” Northview head coach Dereck Marshman said. “It really came down to we just had a six minute ball possession drive. Defense played lights out, offense was just a step or two away from really blowing this thing out. We had a touchdown on a string and it was out of his hands and they picked it off and returned it and that’s what they scored on. We had two hard-nosed football teams, two physical football teams, two young football teams that fought to the end.”
For a photo gallery, click here.
Marshman said he was mostly pleased with Northview’s performance Friday night in Bratt.
“I think (we need to improve on) just execution of little things, like I said we dropped a pass, we ran wrong a couple of times, but overall we’ve just got to continue improving each week on all our positions.”
After a back and forth battle the teams remained scoreless until the second quarter when the Chiefs scored on a four-yard run from Seth Killam. With a 2-point conversion pass to Tim Bush, Northview was up 8-0 heading into half time.
Then with 3:33 to go in the third quarter, Killiam was in from 33 yards out to make it 14-0. Blacksher answered with a touchdown for a 14-7 score. The Chiefs ended the game with a drive that lasted just over six minutes to end the game.
Next week at 7:00, the Northview Chiefs will host the Escambia Academy Cougars from just up the road in Canoe, AL.
“Next week is going to be a big game, Marshman said. “I haven’t really thought about it yet. They run a good program over there. It’s going to be challenging. They have great skilled athletes so we will have to see how we respond to that.”
For a photo gallery, click here. Cheerleader and band photos will be published by Monday.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Tate Aggies Roll Over Choctaw
August 26, 2017
The Tate Aggies beat Choctaw on the road Friday night, 49-21.
Choctaw took an early 7-0 lead with a touchdown on their opening drive. But the Aggies answered quickly with a touchdown from Shermari Jones to make it 7-7.
Junior quarterback Hunter Riggan found Alex Jones with a touchdown pass from near midfield, 14-7 Aggies. After another TD for a 21-7 score, Riggan was in on a QB-keeper for a 28-7 Aggie advantage. Tate advanced to 35-7 with a touchdown pass to senior Alex Young.
Up 42-21 at the half, Tate pulled most starters out in the second half as they went on to earn a solid 49-21 win.
Riggan had 252 offensive yards in the first half with 71 rushing for two touchdowns and 181 yards in the air for two more touchdowns.
The Aggies (1-0) will take on West Florida next Friday night at 7:00 at the Jaguars’ home turf at Woodham Middle School.
High School Football Scores
August 26, 2017
Here are area high school football scores:
Thursday, August 24
West Florida 42 Escambia 20
Friday, August 25
FLORIDA
Northview 14 J.U. Blacksher 7 [Read more...]
Tate 49 Choctaw 21 [Read more...]
Flomaton 36 Jay 7
Pine Forest 41, Pensacola 0
Washington 46, Milton 25
Navarre 56, Catholic 35
Gulf Breeze 36, Pascagoula 0
Fort Walton Beach 31, Pace 27
ALABAMA
Flomaton 36 Jay 7
B.C. Rain (Mobile) 34 Escambia County (Atmore) 18
Escambia Academy 42 Resurrection Catholic 21
TR Miller 41 Washington County 0
WS Neal 21 South Choctaw 6
NorthEscambia.com file photo.