Wahoos Beat Suns
August 31, 2016
His teammates call him, “Mr. Clutch,” and Tuesday Pensacola Blue Wahoos minor league veteran Ray Chang lived up to the nickname.
Locked in a pitcher’s duel between Pensacola right-handed starter Sal Romano and Jacksonville Suns left-hander starter Matt Tomshaw, Chang hit a line drive single with the bases loaded and two outs in the sixth inning to drive in Blue Wahoos right fielder Sebastian Elizalde and center fielder Brandon Dixon to give his team a 2-0 lead.
Mr. Clutch is now 4-5 with a double and seven RBIs with the bases loaded for Pensacola this season.
Pensacola won its fifth in a row, beating Jacksonville, 5-2, Tuesday in front of 3,192 at Blue Wahoos Stadium. Pensacola is just 1,937 fans short of reaching 300,000 fans in each of its first five seasons with one more home game to play Wednesday.
No one was happier to have the 12-year-minor league veteran Chang back in the lineup than Pensacola manager Pat Kelly.
“How about that? He comes back and gets that big clutch hit,” Kelly said. “And then gets a double after that. He didn’t miss a beat. He comes with experience. He knows all the pressure is on the pitcher and not the hitter.”
Chang was playing in his second game Tuesday with the Blue Wahoos after getting transferred from Triple-A Louisville, where he had just gone 3-3. He was a defensive substitution Monday. Chang went 2-4 with a run scored and two RBIs and is hitting .274 for Pensacola.
“It was weird,” the 33-year-old Chang said. “I wasn’t 100 percent locked in the first two at bats. That situation automatically locks you in. I was just trying to get a pitch to hit.”
Romano was grateful for Chang coming through. Romano improved to 6-11 with a 3.42 ERA this season. In the second half of the season, the Cincinnati Reds No. 16 prospect has been dominant, going 5-4 with a 2.39 ERA.
He had a perfect game through 4.2 innings with four strikeouts when Jacksonville shortstop Peter Mooney hit a line drive to left field for the first Suns hit.
Romano has a career high 140 strike outs and now is tied for the Pensacola single-season franchise record. Three more strikeouts and, Romano, who boasts a 95 mph fastball, will reach 500 career strikeouts in five minor league seasons. Romano, who is second in the Southern League in strikeouts, previously had a high of 128 strikeouts in 2014 for the Low-A Dayton Dragons.
His final line in Tuesday’s game read: eight innings pitched, two hits, no runs, no walks and six strikeouts on 94 total pitches.
“I pitched off my fastball, which made all my other pitches look better,” Romano said. “I trust all my pitches. It’s been a fun half.”
Kelly liked that Romano wanted to go out and finish the game in the ninth inning after only giving up the singles to Mooney and second baseman Garrett Weber.
“That was fun to see,” Kelly said of Romano’s two hitter. “Boy, how far he has come since the start of the year. He wanted to go out for the ninth. We’ve raised all these five or six-inning pitchers who look to come out of the game. Here’s a guy who wants to end the game. That’s nice to see.”
After Chang’s single, Pensacola added two more runs to put the Blue Wahoos up, 4-0, when Blue Wahoos catcher Joe Hudson followed with a double into the left field corner. Both third baseman Taylor Sparks and Chang scored.
The Blue Wahoos, who have won four straight series, are 14-5 with six games left before the playoffs. Pensacola, which won the first half South Division title, are battling Mississippi Braves for the second half crown, too. The Blue Wahoos are a half game behind Mississippi, which is 35-28 and 69-63 overall. Pensacola is 35-29 in the second half and has its best overall record in franchise history at 76-58.
Romano is looking forward to the playoff run.
“This is a special team and a special run for us,” he said. “We go out there and try to win every single ball game and play hard. We’re going to be a hard team to beat. I’m really excited for it.”
Kelly added: “The next five days will be very interesting,” Kelly said.
Volleyball: PHS Downs Northview
August 30, 2016
The Northview High School varsity and junior varsity volleyball teams fell to Pensacola High School on Monday in Bratt.
The Northview Lady Chiefs will travel to Central on Tuesday for junior varsity at 5:00 and varsity at 6:00. The Chiefs will host Laurel Hill on Thursday, JV at 4:00, varsity at 5:00.
NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Wahoos Beat Jacksonville
August 30, 2016
Pensacola Blue Wahoos Barrett Astin threw in relief and as a starter in college with the Arkansas Razorbacks and in his four seasons in professional baseball.
The 24-year-old freely admits he prefers the bullpen but you wouldn’t know it from his 11 starts with Pensacola this season.
Astin started his third straight game for Pensacola and threw a season-high seven scoreless innings to lead the Blue Wahoos to its fourth consecutive win, 4-0, Monday over the Jacksonville Suns at Blue Wahoos Stadium.
The victory clinched the Blue Wahoos fourth straight series win and they are 13-5 heading down the stretch. It puts them just a half game behind the Mississippi Braves who are on a 3-10 slide, including a seven game losing streak, since the Atlanta Braves called up Mississippi shortstop Dansby Swanson on Aug. 17.
Pensacola, the first half Southern League South Division champion, is 34-29 in the second half and has its best overall record in franchise history at 75-58, while Mississippi is 34-28 and 68-63.
Astin said he feels comfortable in either role. Last year, he started all 14 games he pitched for Pensacola and 11 of the 16 games he played at High-A Daytona Tortugas to start the 2015 season. He was 8-9 overall with a 3.98 ERA.
“Really I’ve been starting and relieving my whole career,” said Astin, who reached the College World Series in 2012 as the Arkansas closer. “I prefer being a reliever. But right now this is what the (Cincinnati) Reds want.”
They may want more of right-handed starter Astin who ended up tossing seven innings, allowing five hits, no walks and striking out seven. He is the second Pensacola pitcher after Rookie Davis, who got called up to the Triple-A Louisville Bats, to win nine games (9-3) and Astin now has a 2.29 ERA and a WHIP under 1.00.
Pensacola manager Pat Kelly said he believes Astin has benefitted from returning to the Blue Wahoos this season. Astin was 1-4 in his last seven starts last year in Double-A for the first time with Pensacola and saw his ERA balloon from 3.48 to 5.63.
“He has shown confidence and been aggressive, coming right after the hitters,” Kelly said. “Repeating this league has been good for him.”
Astin agrees that a second year of seasoning has helped him develop as a pitcher. He throws a fastball, slider, curveball, changeup and cutter. Last night, he threw all of them over the plate throwing 59 of 84 pitches for strikes.
“I had five (Monday) tonight and threw them all for strikes, which helps a lot,” he said. “It gives me a lot of confidence getting ready for the playoffs. You want to go in clicking on all cylinders.”
Kelly said that Mississippi misses Swanson, who even though he was hitting .261, provided the leadership and defense the Braves needed.
“That’s a huge part of it,” said Kelly about Swanson’s promotion to Atlanta. “At this level one player, one batter can improve your lineup or really hurt it. He was only hitting in the .260s but he played solid steady defense for them.”
Jacksonville Suns pitcher Luis Castillo quickly showed his 99-mph fastball, striking out Pensacola second baseman and leadoff hitter Alex Blandino, in the first inning. Still, both Blandino and left fielder Phillip Ervin hit his main pitch out of the park just foul down the left field line.
Despite Castillo’s velocity in only his second start for Jacksonville, center fielder Brandon Dixon crushed a pitch into left-center over Suns left fielder Austin Dean’s head that drove in Ervin, who drew a walk, for a 1-0 Blue Wahoos lead.
Castillo was replaced after 3.2 innings giving up three runs on two hits and four walks, while striking out five. He earned the loss and now 0-1 with a 1.86 ERA. He had an impressive Double-A debut last week against the Chattanooga Lookouts, allowing one earned run in six innings.
Dixon led Pensacola at the plate, going 2-4, with his 22nd double of the season and driving in his 63rd RBI. He now has hit in nine straight games and is batting .462 (18-39) with one homer and nine RBIs.
Meanwhile, Pensacola right fielder Sebastian Elizalde had his hit streak end at 13 games, going 0-4 and striking out twice. He fell one game short of his career-high 14 game hitting streak for High-A Daytona last year.
Pensacola Blue Wahoos Rally To Top Jacksonville, 7-4
August 29, 2016
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos spotted the Jacksonville Suns four runs in the first inning Sunday at Blue Wahoos Stadium.
But after that, the Blue Wahoos bullpen combined on 8.1 innings of shutout ball to deliver a 7-4 victory over the Suns. With eight games left in the season, the Blue Wahoos have won three straight games and seven of its last 10.
Pensacola manager Pat Kelly said there was no panic in the dugout after digging themselves into a four-run hole.
“It was early,” Kelly said. “We emphasized they didn’t have to make it up all at once. Mentally, the guys never felt they were out of the game.”
In fact, the Blue Wahoos cut the lead in half, 4-2, in the bottom of the first inning when left fielder Brandon Dixon smashed a fly ball into the left center gap to drive in Blue Wahoos second baseman Alex Blandino to make the score, 4-1. Pensacola shortstop Zach Vincej then delivered a single to center to score Dixon and put the Blue Wahoos right back in the game.
Vincej entered the game in a 4-29 slump but got on base all four times with two singles, a double and a walk Sunday, plus he scored and drove in a run.
Vincej said his swing had gotten “too big and too long” and he concentrated on having a quicker swing.
“The end of the year is the time to heat up,” said Vincej, who hit .370 in July. “Every single day we’re trying to compete. We still want to have pride in what we’re doing. We want to go into the playoffs with a hot streak.”
Pensacola pitcher Jackson Stephens uncharacteristically had his shortest outing of the season, lasting just 0.2 innings while giving up four runs on three hits and three walks.
But the Blue Wahoos bullpen came through after that. Pensacola reliever El’Hajj Muhamad pitched 3.2 scoreless innings, allowing four hits, one walk and striking out three. He was followed by 2.2 scoreless innings from Evan Mitchell, who earned the victory and is 3-1 on the year. Abel De Los Santos walked two and struck out two in one shutout inning and then Kyle McMyne earned his fifth save by pitching a scoreless ninth inning.
“I thought (Muhammad) did a tremendous job,” Kelly said. “Eight and a third scoreless innings. You can’t ask for more than that.”
Vincej said “El” fired up the offense with his performance.
“El came in and did a phenomenal job,” he said. “Everyone kind of got fired up after that. You want to put up runs for guys competing their butts off like that.”
Chad Wallach hit a two-out, two-run bomb over the left field fence in the fourth inning to tie the game, 4-4. All of Wallach’s seven homers this season have come at home in Blue Wahoos Stadium.
Three innings later in the seventh inning, Ronald Bueno scored the go ahead run, 5-4, when he smacked a pinch hit single up the middle, reached second on Pensacola second baseman Alex Blandino’s single to third and then scored from second base on a passed ball and throwing error by Jacksonville catcher Sharif Othman. Right fielder Sebastian Elizalde doubled in Blandino for a 6-4 lead.
Elizalde now has hit in 13 straight games, which is one game short of his 14-game streak last season with the High-A Daytona Tortugas. The 24-year-old is 22-52 or .423 during his current streak.
Derek Dietrich, who is doing a Major League rehab assignment for the Miami Marlins with Jacksonville, was 2-4 with a walk and scored the first run of the game for the Suns. In two games, he is 2-8.
The Mississippi Braves snapped its seven game losing streak with a 6-4 win over the Chattanooga Lookouts and improved its record in the second half to 34-27 in the South Division. It remains 1.5 games ahead of Pensacola, which won the South Division in the first half, and is now 33-29 in the second half.
“If we can win both halves that would be a pretty impressive thing to do,” Vincej said.
Wahoos Beat Jacksonville
August 28, 2016
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos won the first half of the Southern League South Division and now are in the hunt to win the second half, too.
The Blue Wahoos defeated Jacksonville, 5-3, thanks in part to a two-out, two-run homer by Brandon Dixon and pulled within 1.5 games of current frontrunner Mississippi Braves.
Mississippi lost its seventh game in a row and is 33-27 in the South Division and are 67-62 overall. Meanwhile, Pensacola is 32-29 in the second half and are having the club’s best season in its five-year history at 73-58 overall. Pensacola won five in a row starting Aug. 17 and are 12-5 since then.
The Blue Wahoos pulled out another victory Saturday when they scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning when Pensacola shortstop Zach Vincej hit a sacrifice fly to left field that allowed both center fielder Jeff Gelalich and left fielder Phillip Ervin to score when Jacksonville left fielder Austin Dean threw the ball to home off the mark. The two runs put the Blue Wahoos ahead, 5-3.
Pensacola closer Alejandro Chacin then entered the game in the ninth and saved his 26th game for the Blue Wahoos record, surpassing Zack Weiss, who had 25 for Pensacola last season.
Pensacola manager Pat Kelly, who was celebrating his 61st birthday, likes the way his team is playing, especially Chacin, who allowed two hits and struck out two in his one inning.
“The players have confidence behind him,” Kelly said. “There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that he was going to finish that one out.”
Pensacola jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when Dixon smashed a two-out, two run homer to left field. Dixon, who last hit one out of the park on Aug. 2, now has a team-leading 15 homers and 61 RBIs. He has a seven game hit streak and is batting .469 (15-32) with one homer and seven RBIs.
Dixon, who has 28 hits in August compared to 31 in June and July combined, said he turned things around working with Cincinnati Reds instructor Hall of Fame shortstop Barry Larkin on being more consistent and driving the ball.
“I’m just driving the ball more and trying to make more consistent contact,” said the 24-year-old Dixon, who played for the Arizona Wildcats in college. “You get hot sometimes and sometimes things just don’t go your way.”
Ervin generated a run in the sixth inning. He leadoff with a hit by a pitch, stole second for his 34th steal of the year, move to third on a ground out by Vincej and beat a diving Jacksonville catcher Cam Maron to home plate for a 3-0 lead.
“He had Billy Hamilton in him there,” Kelly said about the Cincinnati Reds base thief. “He got a great break to the plate. It was outstanding.”
After allowing 10 runs in eight innings in his last two starts, Pensacola starter Tyler Mahle returned to his pitching form when he came up with the Blue Wahoos mid-season.
Mahle had retired 12 batters in a row before Jacksonville right fielder Alex Glenn smashed a two-run, line drive home run with no outs to pull within, 3-2, of Pensacola. The 21-year-old Mahle tossed 6.1 innings, gave up two hits, two runs, three walks and struck out seven.
Jacksonville’s Glenn, who is hitting .296 this season, has four homers and 12 RBIs in his last 11 games.
High School Football Finals
August 27, 2016
Here are final scores from around the area:
Crestview 70, Northview 0
Flomaton 42, Jay 7
Tate 42, Biloxi 22
Pine Forest 33, Pensacola 12
Washington 25, Milton 13
Gulf Breeze 38, Choctaw 29
Pace 35, Fort Walton Beach 7
Navarre 41, Catholic 13
Baker 30, Holmes County 14
West Florida 28, Escambia 27 (Thurs pm)
Escambia County (Atmore) 24, Wilcox Central 16
Opp 30, T.R. Miller 20
Tallassee (AL) 26, W.S. Neal 21
Escambia Academy (off week)
Tate Tops Biloxi (With Photo Gallery)
August 27, 2016
The Tate High School Aggies hit the road Friday night for their season opener to hand Biloxi High School a 44-22 loss.
The Aggies were first on the board with 8:12 on the clock in the first, and added another touchdown with 1:07 in the first to end the quarter with a 14-0 advantage. Tate scored again early in the second for comfortable 21-0 lead, but Biloxi scored in the second and again early in the third to make it 21-14.
Tate answered with 9:48 to go in the fourth to make it 28-14; however, the Indians scored again and had two point conversion for a 28-22 score.
The Aggies scored again twice in the fourth quarter for the 44-22 final.
The Tate Aggies (1-0) will be at home in Pete Gindl Stadium next Friday night as they host the West Florida Jaguars.
For more photos from Biloxi, click here.
Photos by Jennifer Repine for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Crestview Beats Northview (With Photo Gallery)
August 27, 2016
Playing up multiple classes proved to be difficult for the the 1A Northview Chiefs Friday night as they lost 70-0 on the road to the 6A Crestview Bulldogs.
Crestview jumped out to a 7-0 lead with 9:54 to go in the first quarter. And they scored again in the first with 7:22 to go, again in the first with 3:53 on the clock and ended the first quarter with a 28-0 lead. And while the first quarter was ugly, it only got uglier from there for the Northview Chiefs.
By halftime, the Chiefs were down 49-0.
Crestview cruised a little slower as the clock ran faster on the Mercy Rule in the second half. In the third Crestview had just two touchdowns and one in the forth for the 70-0 final.
Northview will be looking for a much better outcome next Friday night as the Escambia Academy Cougars head south from Canoe, AL, to take on the Chiefs in Bratt.
For a photo gallery, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Gary Amerson, click to enlarge.
Wahoos Take Home Series Over Mobile With 3-2 Win
August 27, 2016
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos bats sprung back to life at just the right time in the bottom of the ninth inning.
After scoring one run on three hits in the first inning, Pensacola got just one more hit and trailed, 2-1, in their last at bat of the game.
But with two outs Blue Wahoos left fielder Phillip Ervin blistered a ground ball down the third base line to drive in Jeff Gelalich with the second run of the ninth inning for a 3-2 victory Friday over the Mobile BayBears in front of 4,299 fans at Blue Wahoos Stadium. Pensacola extended its franchise record to 11 walk-offs this season.
Pensacola tied the game, 2-2, when Pensacola center fielder Jeff Gelalich hit a grounder to second base that forced out Blue Wahoos catcher Joe Hudson at second for the second out. But Gelalich hustled to first and beat the throw and allowed Taylor Sparks to score the tying run.
With two out, it was Pensacola second baseman Alex Blandino, who extended the inning with a bloop single to left field, allowing Ervin to be the hero Friday.
“I was just trying to keep it going and give us a chance,” Blandino said. “We battled back today and all year we’ve shown resilience, which is a lot of fun for the fans and a lot of fun for us.”
The victory was a big one for Pensacola with just 10 games left in the season. Not only did they win the series to improve to 11-2 in series at home this season, but they remained just three games behind Southern League South Division leader Mississippi Braves, which has lost 10 of its last 14 games.
The Braves are 33-25, while Pensacola, the first half champions, are 31-29. The BayBears dropped to 30-29.
“That’s the way we played all year,” said Pensacola manager Pat Kelly. “We’re very gritty down to the last out and we’ve gotten clutch hits.”
Going into the end of the season, all of the players at the top of the Pensacola order are on a tear.
Blandino, the leadoff hitter, is hitting .316 in August after struggling all year. Ervin is hitting .294 over the last 10 games with a homer and three RBIs. No. 3 hitter and right fielder Sebastian Elizalde has a 12-game hit streak and is hitting .442 (23-52). Center fielder Brandon Dixon, hitting in the cleanup spot, has his own six game hit streak and is batting .459 in the last 10 games with six RBIs. And finally shortstop Zach Vincej has been one of the hottest hitters in the Southern League in the second half, hitting .370 in July and .285 since the All-Star break.
“We’re solid one through five every day,” Kelly said. “We have to just keep playing and giving someone a day off every day.”
Blandino said the team is taking a positive approach to the final two series of the season.
“We’re already in the playoffs but it definitely would have been a blow to lost that game and lose that series.”
Pensacola scored first when Vincej stepped to the plate with the bases loaded in the bottom of the first inning and lifted a fly ball to short right field. But the speedy Ervin snuck past the catcher and threw his left hand back to touch home plate for the 1-0 Blue Wahoos lead.
John Omahen made his first start for Mobile since June 30 after spending July and August with Triple-A Reno. He gave up three hits and a run in the first and then retired 11 of the next 12 through the fourth inning and did not give up another hit or run.
The BayBears righty worked five innings and did walk three batters and strike out five in his outing.
The Mobile bullpen then kept Pensacola off the bases until the ninth.
Meanwhile, Nick Travieso worked five innings, too, as Pensacola’s starting pitcher. He gave up two runs in the fifth inning that put Mobile ahead, 2-1, when BayBears shortstop Domingo Leyba clobbered a two-run homer into the Hill-Kelly Dodge Hill also bringing home center fielder Evan Marzilli who leadoff with a walk. Travieso ended up giving two hits, four walks and striking out four.
The homer by Leyba gave Mobile its 100th home run of the season, which leads the Southern League.
Thursday Night Football Scores; Friday Night Lights Schedule
August 26, 2016
Here’s a look at Thursday night football scores and Friday night’s football schedule.
For live updates from select games tonight, follow @northescambia on Twitter, or like the NorthEscambia.com Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/northescambia/.
And if you have football photos from any of the games, email news@northescambia.com on send on the social media pages above.
THURSDAY NIGHT
West Florida 28, Escambia 27
Baker 20, Northview 6 (JV)
Jay 34, Ernest Ward Middle School 8
FRIDAY NIGHT:
Northview at Crestview, 7 p.m.
Flomaton at Jay, 7 p.m.
Tate at Biloxi, 7 p.m.
Pensacola at Pine Forest, 7:30 p.m.
Milton at Washington, 7:30 p.m.
Escambia County (Atmore) at Wilcox Central, 7 p.m.
Escambia Academy (off week)
Opp at T.R. Miller
W.S. Neal at Tallassee (AL)
File photo.