Pensacola Wahoos Drop Series Finale 4-2 To Mississippi Braves
July 28, 2013
Christian Bethancourt slapped a single through the right side in the last of the seventh inning, scoring the eventual game-winning run for the Mississippi Braves in a 4-2 win over the Pensacola Blue Wahoos on Saturday night at Trustmark Park. Mississippi took the series in the process, handing Pensacola its first loss in a rubber game this season.
The contest was scoreless headed to the fifth inning before Pensacola pushed a run across against Braves starter Ian Thomas. Travis Mattair led off the inning with a single before Ryan LaMarre reached on a sacrifice bunt as the catcher Bethancourt threw the ball into the stands. Ray Chang would then drive home Mattair with a groundout to make it 1-0.
Mississippi responded in the last of the sixth with a pair of runs against Pensacola starter Carlos Contreras. The first three Braves reached on two singles and a walk before Robby Hefflinger and Edward Salcedo lifted sacrifice flies to push Mississippi in front 2-1.
Pensacola came right back in the top of the seventh to tie the game in the seventh against Thomas on a pinch-hit sacrifice fly from Donald Lutz, scoring Ryan LaMarre, who had singled earlier in the inning. Thomas picked up his fifth win of the year with seven strong innings, allowing just two runs (one earned) on six hits with eight strikeouts.
Thomas was given the win thanks to the Braves rallying for a run in the last of the seventh. Facing Loek Van Mil, the Braves put runners on the corners with one out for Mycal Jones who grounded into a fielder’s choice with Christian Marrero being thrown out at the plate. Bethancourt picked up the tab, though, with a single to right to make it 3-2.
The Braves added an insurance tally in the eighth inning against Van Mil. Hefflinger doubled to right with one out and scored on a Jaime Pedroza single with two outs to give Mississippi a two-run advantage.
Van Mil took the loss, falling to 0-7. The right-hander allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits with a strikeout and two walks in two frames. Contreras was dealt a no-decision in his second start at Double-A, yielding two runs on five hits in 5.2 innings.
The Wahoos got the tying run to the plate in the top of the ninth inning, but Andrew Russell was able to retire the side to pick up his second save of the year.
Pensacola now returns home to resume the Bay-to-Bay series with a five-game series against the Mobile BayBears. Shaun Ellis (3-2, 4.02) will get the ball for the Wahoos against the BayBears’ Andrew Chafin (7-5, 2.81). First pitch from Pensacola Bayfront Stadium is scheduled for 4 p.m.
story by Kevin Burke
Wahoos Knock Off Braves
July 27, 2013
The Blue Wahoos offense erupted for five early runs and held on to knock off the Mississippi Braves 5-3 on Friday night at Trustmark Park. Pensacola’s victory forces a rubber game between the two squads on Saturday night.
Things started quickly for Pensacola. In the first inning, Chris Berset slashed a two-run, two-out double down the left field line to give the Wahoos a 2-0 lead. Travis Mattair then brought Berset home with a single up the middle to make it 3-0.
In the third inning, Pensacola strung together four straight two out singles, culminating in RBI base knocks from Berset and Mattair to open up a 5-0 lead. Berset and Mattair combined to go 4-for-6 with a run and five runs batted in.
All of the damage came off Mississippi starter Michael Lee who fell to 5-7 by allowing five runs on seven hits in five innings.
Meanwhile, Pensacola starter Josh Smith was cruising through four shutout innings before running into trouble in the fifth inning. The Braves loaded the bases against the Smith, who escaped the jam by allowing two runs on two sacrifice flies from Robby Hefflinger and Mycal Jones. Smith (8-8) went just five frames for Pensacola, allowing two runs on five hits with two strikeouts.
Drew Hayes entered in the sixth inning and gave up an RBI single to Jose Martinez to cut the lead to 5-3 before being replaced by Lee Hyde. The Wahoos southpaw got out of the inning unscathed and ended up extending his scoreless inning streak to 25 innings with 1.1 spotless frames.
Trevor Bell came on in the eighth inning and allowed just one hit while striking out to pick up the two-inning save. It was Bell’s seventh save of the year in as many opportunities.
The series wraps up with the rubber game on Saturday night at 6 p.m. Pensacola will look to improve on its 5-0 record in rubber games with Carlos Contreras (0-1, 6.75) on the mound against Mississippi’s Ian Thomas (4-6, 3.14)
story by Kevin Burke
Braves Beat Pensacola 1-0
July 26, 2013
Christian Marrero smoked a single just out of the reach of first baseman Mike Costanzo, scoring Mycal Jones to give the Mississippi Braves a 1-0, 10-inning win over the Pensacola Blue Wahoos on Thursday night at Trustmark Park.
Jones set up the inning with a leadoff single before stealing second and advancing to third on a wild pitch by Jamie Walczak. Edward Salcedo and Braeden Schlehuber were then walked intentionally to load the bases with nobody out. Walczak struck out Barrett Kleinknecht for the first out but Marrero snuck the liner past Costanzo to win it for Mississippi. Walczak took his first loss of the season by allowing a run on two hits in just 0.1 innings.
The walk-off dampened one of the best starts in franchise history turned in by Tim Crabbe. The right-hander shutout Mississippi over nine frames, limiting the Braves to just five hits with three strikeouts and a walk. Crabbe needed just 98 pitches to get through nine innings, not allowing a single Brave past second base. It was the first time in franchise history that a Wahoos hurler had completed nine innings.
Mitch Atkins was equally as dominant for Mississippi, firing seven shutout innings for the Braves. Atkins struck out nine Wahoos against just one walk while allowing five hits. Pensacola’s biggest threat against him came in the fifth with Yorman Rodriguez on third base and one out. Tucker Barnhart chopped a ball to first where Barrett Kleinknecht fielded and fired home to nab Rodriguez, keeping the game scoreless.
Pensacola faced a similar fate in the eighth inning against reliever Pat Egan. Devin Lohman led off the frame with a double, moved to third on a groundout, but was stranded after Egan induced a pop out and groundout, the latter of which was a bang-bang play in which Donald Lutz was called out at first base.
Egan improved to 6-1 on the season with three scoreless innings out of the bullpen, striking out one and allowing two hits.
The Braves have now taken two of the first three games in the series and look for the series victory on Friday night at 7 p.m. Josh Smith (7-8, 3.87) takes the ball for Pensacola against Mississippi’s Michael Lee (5-6, 3.96).
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Brain Cancer Claims West Florida’s Tristan Laurent
July 25, 2013
West Florida High School Jaguar Tristan Laurent passed away Wednesday at home. He was just 15.
Laurent battled a malignant brain tumor for just over a year. As a freshman last year, he played a portion of the 2013 season on the West Florida High School Jaguar freshman team. He was unable to complete the season due to his health.
He was honored by the Pensacola Blue Wahoos back in April, spending the day practicing with the Wahoos players. During a “Home Run for Life” during the night’s Blue Wahoos game, every player from both teams greeted Laurent during his lap on the field and he also received a bat signed by the entire Blue Wahoos team.
Funeral services for Tristan Laurent are not yet complete.
Pensacola Blue Wahoos Knock Off The Mississippi Braves 5-2
July 25, 2013
Bolstered by a dominant start from Daniel Renken, the Pensacola Blue Wahoos knocked off the Mississippi Braves 5-2 on Wednesday night at Trustmark Park. The win evened the five-game series at one game apiece.
Renken entered Wednesday having fired five consecutive quality starts sandwiched around a relief appearance and continued his strong performance with six shutout frames. The right-hander had bits of trouble in the fourth and fifth innings while twirling his gem. In the fourth, two batters reached on two Pensacola errors, but Renken induced two pop-ups to get out of the jam. In the fifth, the Braves loaded the bases on two walks and a single but Robby Hefflinger grounded out to thwart the threat.
The right-hander’s team-leading 12th quality start featured four strikeouts and two walks with just two hits allowed. Renken improved to 4-7 with the win.
The Wahoos provided early offensive support for Renken with a pair of runs in the second inning off Mississippi starter Gus Schlosser. Tucker Barnhart led off the inning with a single and scored on a double by Travis Mattair. Ryan LaMarre then singled up the middle to score Mattair and make it 2-0. Schlosser (6-3) worked just four innings, allowing the two runs on four hits.
Pensacola added to its lead in the fifth inning on a two-out double by Mike Costanzo, who finished the night going 3-for-5 with two doubles and an RBI.
The Wahoos added extra insurance in the eighth inning against Ronan Pacheco, which proved to be rather important. The first two hitters reached on walks in the inning before Mattair laced a single up the middle to make it 4-0. Two batters later, Ray Chang made it 5-0 with an RBI groundout.
Mississippi made things interesting in the last of the ninth against Josh Ravin. Christian Bethancourt slashed a two-run single to right field to draw the Braves back to within three. Tommy La Stella, representing the tying run with two outs in the ninth, flew out to the warning track in dead center field to end the contest.
The Braves and Wahoos will square off in the middle game of the five-game set on Thursday night at Trustmark Park. Tim Crabbe (4-7, 3.63) gets the call for Pensacola against Mississippi’s Mitch Atkins (2-1, 2.90). First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m.
story by Kevin Burke
Northview Twirler Abbott Receives Multiple Awards, Bowl Game Invites
July 23, 2013
Kaitlyn Abbott, a featured twirler for the Northview High School Tribal Beat band, received several awards at a Marching Auxiliaries camp held at the University of South Alabama.
She was presented with the Superior Marching Auxiliaries Camp Award, the Outstanding Soloist Award, the All-Star Performer Award, the Marching Auxiliaries Honor Award, and received personal invitations to perform at the Capital One Bowl and the Cotton Bowl.
Earlier this summer, Abbott received the Best Majorette Bodywork Award during the Troy University Sound of the South Band Camp.
Molino’s Gindl Makes History With Walk-Off Homer For The Brewers (With Video)
July 22, 2013
Molino’s Caleb Gindl made history Sunday for the Milwaukee Brewers as he became the first in franchise history to hit a walk-off for his first MLB homer.
Gindl went 2-for-5 on Sunday, including a sweep-clinching home run in the 13th inning that gave the Brewers a 1-0 win over the Marlins at Miller Park.
It was Gindl’s first Major League home run, so he was not surprised to get the traditional cold shoulder. In this case, that meant his teammates hustling up the clubhouse tunnel rather than onto the field to offer high-fives. (Video at the bottom of the page.)
“I kind of knew that was going to happen,” Gindl said. “I saw [Jean Segura] at home plate, and I was like, ‘I guess the rest of them are in the tunnel.’ I was running up there to find them.
“That’s the highlight of my career.”
Gindl, a natural right fielder who is capable of playing all three spots, had endured some lowlights in a previous stint with the Brewers. He made costly errors in back-to-back games, including a June 27 drop that contributed to four unearned runs in a 7-2 Brewers loss, then was optioned back to Triple-A Nashville the next day after getting some encouraging words from manager Ron Roenicke.
“He told me he knows I can play the outfield, that the first time up here is always different — which it is,” Gindl said. “‘I think you play with a lot of nerves,’ he told me, ‘Hey, go back down there and do what you’re supposed to do, and you’ll be back.’”
Gindl responded by playing clean defense and batting .421 with seven extra-base hits in Nashville’s first 10 games in July. He brought that hot bat into Sunday’s start against Miami.
“He really squared up four baseballs,” Roenicke said. “Good at-bats all day, and we didn’t have a whole lot of those, so it was nice to see him swing well.”
He also played a mistake-free game in the outfield in place of Ryan Braun, who was used only as a pinch-hitter.
“When those things happen and you make one error, you think about it, like, ‘Oh my God, don’t let it happen again,’” Gindl said before Sunday’s game. “Then when it happens again, you go, ‘Oh, no,’ and it’s the kind of thing that sticks with you a little bit. That’s not me. I’m not used to making errors at all, especially in the outfield on popups. … It’s nice to get another opportunity. I’m not going to play so timid this time. I’m going to play wide-open.”
Gindl’s bat has been his best asset since the Brewers’ made him a fifth-round Draft pick in 2007. He is a .293 hitter with 81 home runs in seven Minor League seasons, but Sunday marked a first.
“Never in my life have I ever hit a walk-off homer,” Gindl said. “That was the first, and it was unreal running the base. It was pretty special.”
The homer ended the Majors’ longest scoreless game since Boston won, 1-0, in 16 innings at Tampa Bay on July 17, 2011, according to Stats, Inc.
Gindl never expected to be the one to do it.
“Not at all,” Gindl said. “Not a chance. I thought Braun or Rickie [Weeks] or somebody like that, but not me. Me and Jerry [Narron, the Brewers' bench coach] actually just talked about it, and he said, ‘Don’t try to hit a homer. Hit a double.’ That was my approach. When I hit it, I thought it had a chance, but I thought it was going to go foul, actually. It snuck in there for me.”
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Courtesy MLB/Milwaukee Brewers.
Hunstville Beats Wahoos 10-5
July 21, 2013
Jason Rogers smashed three home runs and drove home another run with a single as part of a six-RBI night in the Huntsville Stars’ 10-5 win over the Pensacola Blue Wahoos on Saturday night in front of the 21st capacity crowd of the season at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium.
Rogers started the scoring with a two-run homer in the top half of the fourth inning against Pensacola starter Tim Crabbe. It was part of a four-run frame for the Stars who got an RBI triple from Adam Weisenburger and an RBI single from Eric Patterson to build a 4-0 lead. Crabbe was taken out of the game after four frames. He allowed four runs on six hits with five strikeouts.
However, in the last of the fourth, the Wahoos countered with four runs of their own against Huntsville starter Taylor Jungmann. With runners on second and third and one out, Devin Lohman reached on an infield single to score a run while another run scored on a throwing error by the pitcher Jungmann to make it 4-2. Corey Wimberly doubled home Lohman two batters later to make 4-3 before Wimberly scored on an RBI single from Yorman Rodriguez, knotting the game at four. Rodriguez finished the night going 4-for-5 with a triple and an RBI. It was the first time this season a Wahoo has recorded four hits in a game.
Rogers broke the tie in the sixth inning with a solo homer and added an insurance tally with a two-out single in the seventh to give the Stars a 6-4 lead. Both hits came against Loek Van Mil who fell to 0-6 by allowing two runs on seven hits in three innings.
In the ninth, Rogers provided the exclamation point to his night with another two-run shot to left, capping a four-run frame for Huntsville and opening up a 10-4 cushion. Rogers went 4-for-5 with the three homers and six RBI, both career-highs. The three blasts were his first since May 27.
Pensacola scored a run in the last of the ninth inning when Tucker Barnhart singled home Donald Lutz to make it 10-5. Barnhart went 2-for-3 with an RBI to extend his hitting streak to eight games.
David Goforth picked up the win for Huntsville to improve to 4-1. In relief of Jungmann, Goforth fired three scoreless frames with two strikeouts. Jungmann didn’t last past the fourth inning for Huntsville, as he gave up four runs on seven hits and took a no-decision.
Pensacola will look to salvage the final two games of the series starting on Sunday at 4 p.m. Josh Smith (7-8, 3.72) will start for the Wahoos while Ariel Pena (5-7, 3.47) gets the call for the Stars.
story by Kevin Burke
Wahoos Fall Flat In Series Opener
July 19, 2013
The Huntsville Stars scored in their first at-bat, providing all the offense on the night in a 1-0 win over the Pensacola Blue Wahoos on Thursday night in front of the 19th sellout crowd of the season at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium.
Chadwin Stang started the game off with a double for the Stars and moved to third on a sac bunt by Nick Shaw. Two batters later, Brock Kjeldgaard lifted a sacrifice fly into foul territory in left field to score the game’s only run.
Pensacola had numerous opportunities in the contest, smacking eight base knocks, but couldn’t push across any runs. The Wahoos stranded 11 runners, including the bases loaded in the fourth inning. In the second inning, Pensacola had runners at second and third and one out but Chris Berset lined out sharply to second base before Daniel Renken grounded out. Renken batted with the bags packed and two outs in the fourth and struck out.
Despite the shutout, Travis Mattair continued his torrid pace with a 3-for-4 performance with two doubles. In his current seven-game hitting streak, Mattiar is 14-for-23, a .609 average.
Renken (3-7) took the tough luck loss despite tossing his fifth quality start in a row. The right-hander allowed a run on three hits with four strikeouts and four walks in six innings.
Drew Gagnon (2-5) snapped a five-game losing streak with his best start in Double-A. Gagnon shutout Pensacola over 6.2 innings, scattering eight hits with three strikeouts and two walks. Greg Holle picked up his ninth save of the year by pitching around a one-out walk in the ninth inning.
The series continues on Friday night at 7 p.m. Carlos Contreras will make his Double-A debut with Pensacola after being called up from High-A Bakersfield over the All-Star Break. Huntsville will counter with Brooks Hall (0-3, 6.31).
story by Kevin Burke
Storm 10U Majors Place 2nd In Global World Series
July 18, 2013
The Pensacola Storm 10U Majors baseball team placed second in the recent USSSA Global World Series Tournament in Orange Beach.
After two days of tournament action, the Pensacola Storm was 4-0 with a No 1. seed as one of the top eight teams in the 35-team tourney. The Storm beat the Texas Punishers 5-2 but then lost to the Arkansas Express Jaggers. They cam beack and battled hard for a 4-2 win over the Germantown Giants from Tennessee. After a lengthy rain delay, they went on to beat the Twin City Outlaws of Texas 11-5 and 14-1. The Pensacola Storm then lost the championship game to the Arkansas Express Jaggers.
The Pensacola Storm finished the season with a 48-15 overall USSSA record and an impressive eight first place and four second place standings out of 15 USSSA tournaments.
Pictured: (front, L-R) Jackson Penton, Tanner Rouchon, Aaron Noack, Josh Turner, Trenton Norton, Jordan Jarman, (back) Jordan Peacock, Jordan McCants, Hunter Pierson, Ian Ladieu, Damarius McGhee and Coleman Dorsett. Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.