Pensacola Wahoos Snap Skid With 6-3 Win Over Suns
April 17, 2013
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos offense awakened from its nearly weeklong slumber by pounding their way past the Jackonsville Suns 6-3 on Tuesday night in front of 3,358 fans at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium.
Pensacola rallied from an early 2-0 deficit to score six runs in their first three at-bats. In the last of the first inning, Donald Lutz launched a laser over the right field wall for a two-run homer, scoring Brodie Greene who had singled earlier in the frame. The blast was Lutz’s fourth of the season, the most in the Southern League in the young 2013 campaign, and it knotted the game at two apiece.
The Wahoos added to their lead with a four-run third inning against Jacksonville starter James Leverton. With one out, Ryan LaMarre and Greene singled before scampering home on a two-run opposite-field double from Bryson Smith to give Pensacola a 4-2 lead. Lutz was then hit by a pitch and after a lineout and a pitching change, Devin Lohman dropped a double down the left field line to score Smith and Lutz to give the Wahoos a four-run advantage.
That was more than enough for Pensacola starter Josh Smith (1-2) who had his best start of the season by giving up two runs on six hits over five frames. Smith’s lone mistake was yielding a two-out, two-run single in the first to Mark Canha to give the Suns a brief 2-0 lead. Smith was also able to wiggle out of a bases-loaded jam in the fourth by forcing Chris Gutierrez to pop up in foul territory to the catcher.
Jacksonville scored a run in the ninth on a single from Daniel Pertusati and brought the tying run to the plate with one out, but Lee Hyde struck out Derek Dietrich and Curtis Partch came on to earn his third save of the year by punching out Chris Gutierrez.
Leverton (0-1) picked up the loss in his first start of the season after his first three appearances of the year came out of the bullpen. The southpaw went just 2.2 innings, allowing six runs (all earned) on six hits. Jordan Conley, Scott McGough and Rett Varner kept Pensacola at bay the rest of the contest, limiting the Wahoos to just three hits over the final 5.1 frames.
The series continues on Wednesday night as Tim Crabbe looks for his second win of the season for Pensacola against Jacksonville southpaw Adam Conley. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
Story by Kevin Burke
Pictured top: Donald Lutz smacked his league-leading fourth home run of the season on Tuesday night. Photo courtesy Emmele Photography for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Jacksonville Gets Extra Inning Win Over Blue Wahoos
April 16, 2013
Kyle Jensen launched a solo home run in the top of the 11th inning, accounting for the only run in the game as the Jacksonville Suns extending their winning streak to five games with a 1-0 win over the Pensacola Blue Wahoos on Monday night at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium in front of 4,018 fans.
Neither team mounted much of a rally through the first 10 innings of the contest, as both offenses continued their respective early-season struggles. Pensacola had only two runners reach third base the entire game with the best chance coming in the fourth. The Wahoos had runners on second and third with two outs for hot-hitting Tucker Barnhart, but starter Brian Flynn got Barnhart to ground out to end the threat.
Pensacola also had a runner thrown out at the plate to end the third inning as David Vidal was caught trying to score from second on an infield single from Ryan LaMarre.
Flynn, the Southern League’s strikeout leader entering the game, struck out just two over six innings but yielded only three base knocks. Edgar Olmos (1-0) earned the win for the Suns by tossing two innings of relief with two strikeouts. Michael Brady picked up his fourth save of the year with a perfect bottom of the 11th.
Jacksonville had a base runner in every inning except the eighth and 10th before finally scratching across a run on Jensen’s first round-tripper of the year. Chris Manno (0-1) took the loss for Pensacola as he gave up the run on three hits while striking out three in the 11th.
Blue Wahoos starter Daniel Renken went 5.2 innings in his second Double-A start, allowing five hits while striking out two and walking three. Renken continued a strong stretch of starting pitching for the Wahoos. Pensacola starters have given up just two runs in their last 27.2 innings pitched, an ERA of 0.65 over the last five games. However, the Wahoos are a combined 1-4 in their last five.
A big highlight of the evening was the presentation from Ballparks.com’s Joe Mock, awarding the Blue Wahoos their plaques for earning “Ballpark of the Year” last season from the website.
The five-game series continues on Tuesday night with Josh Smith taking the ball for the Wahoos against the Suns’ James Leverton. First pitch is set for 7:00 p.m. from Pensacola Bayfront Stadium. It’s Team Tuesday and select players will sign autographs on the concourse before the game.
Story by Kevin Burke
Pictured top: Daniel Renken tossed 5.2 innings for the Wahoos, but settled for a no-decision. Photo courtesy Emmele Photography for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Pensacola Ice Flyers Win President’s Cup
April 15, 2013
The Pensacola Ice Flyers won their first ever President’s Cup Sunday night, defeating the Huntsville Havoc 2-0 for the Southern Professional Hockey League championship. Pat Knowlton scored for the Ice Flyers and made it 1-0 early the game. And Bradley Cooper sealed the win, making it 2-0 Ice Flyers with just over seven minutes left in the second in front of 4,600 fans. Pictured: The Pensacola Ice Flyers won the President’s Cup Sunday night for the Southern Professional Hockey League championship. Photos courtesy Pensacola Bay Center for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Junior Ice Flyers Bring Home Tourney Wins Too
April 15, 2013
The Pensacola Ice Flyers may have brought home the President’s Cup and the Southern Professional Hockey League championship Sunday night, but they were not the only Ice Flyers to bring hockey championships back to their home ice at The Hangar and the Pensacola Bay Center.
The Pensacola Junior Ice Flyers Mite team also brought home several big tournament wins on the ice around the Southeast.
The Junior Ice Flyers win the Bob Gorman Freedom Memorial Tournament in Huntsville back in January, and they came in second in the Country and Western Showdown in Nashville back in March.
And at the recent Gulf Coast Meltdown Developmental Invitational in Biloxi, the younger Ice Flyers went 4-0 for the tournament on the strength of multiple players, including Liam Bryan of Cantonment (pictured inset) who scored 13 goals.
“There are multiple players who have scored or played great defense,” said Byran’s mom Jessica Bryan. “This is a great group of kids.”
Pictured: The Pensacola Junior Flyers Mite team in action. Photos courtesy Shaun Beal for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Cantonment Teams Take Top Prizes In Log-A-Load Bass Tournament
April 15, 2013
A couple of Cantonment teams took the top prizes in the 17th Log-A-Load for Kids benefit bass tournament held Saturday at Life Oak Landing near Stockton, Ala.
Eddie Milstead and Toney Clements, both of Cantonment, took the $3,000 first place prize with a five-fish weight of 15.70 pounds and a 5.01 lunker prize. The cousins won the tourney back i n 2011 when it was held on the Escambia River.
Brothers Sammy and Shane Garrett of Cantonment took second with a 14.3 pound total weight and a 4.71 lunker.
Log-A-Load Top Ten (5 fish total weight, lunker weight):
- Eddie Milstead and Toney Clements (15.70, 5.01)
- Sammy Garrett and Shane Garrett (14.3, 4.71)
- Adam Ross and Matt Thornton (13.87, 4.68)
- Johney Weaver and David Fisher (13.12, 3.96)
- Keith Marston and Logan Marston (12.83, 3.65).
- Shane Manley and Kevin Zellers (12.72, 4.29)
- Mark Dortch and Bradley Dortch (12.33, 3.42)
- Greg Sessions and Ken Sessions (12.27, 3.66)
- Mark Rose and Terry Davis (11.75, 4.16)
- Sterling Johnson and Tim Taylor (11.38, 2.98)
All proceeds from the event benefit Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital in Pensacola. Log-A-Load is sponsored by the Florida Forestry Association and the Florida Loggers Council.
Mobile Comes From Behind To Upend Pensacola 5-2
April 14, 2013
The Mobile BayBears scored five runs over their final three at-bats and knocked off the Pensacola Blue Wahoos 5-2 on Saturday night at Hank Aaron Stadium. With the win, Mobile clinched the series victory by winning three of the first four games in the five-game set.
Trailing 1-0 in the last of the sixth, the BayBears finally got to Pensacola starter Chad Rogers. Rossmel Perez led off the inning with a walk and stole second base to move into scoring position with two outs. Mike Freeman then drove him home with a solid single to left, knotting the game at one.
An inning later, Mobile took the lead for good with a two-run frame against reliever Loek Van Mil (0-1). Jon Griffin led off with a double, moved to third on a wild pitch and then scampered home on Van Mil’s second wild toss of the frame. David Nick then provided a solo shot for a 3-1 Mobile lead after seven. Van Mil pitched just one inning and gave up two runs on three hits for his first loss of the year.
The BayBears would add an extra two tallies in the eighth inning off reliever Chris Manno. Batting with the bases loaded, Griffin slammed his second double of the game, this time bringing home two runs to increase the Mobile advantage to 5-1.
Pensacola’s two runs came on two towering home runs. Travis Mattair led off the second inning with his second round-tripper of the year, which was the Wahoos’ only tally until Donald Lutz led off the ninth inning with a solo dinger to right to close to gap to 5-2. However, that was as close as Pensacola would get as Dan Cortes retired three of the next four hitters to give the BayBears the win.
Brett Lorin (2-0) picked up the win by pitching a scoreless seventh in relief of starter Anthony Meo, who made just the one mistake to Mattair over six solid innings in his second start at the Double-A level.
Rogers picked up a no-decision despite one-hitting Mobile through five frames. The right-hander ended up allowing a run on two hits over six innings and was saddled with a no-decision.
The Wahoos and BayBears wrap up their five-game series on Sunday at 2:05 p.m. Ryan Dennick (1-0, 3.60) will get the start for Pensacola against Mobile’s Bradin Hagens (1-0, 1.29).
Story By Kevin Burke
NHS Beats Baker, Earns No. 2 Seed In District Tourney
April 13, 2013
The Northview Chiefs shut out Baker 6-0 Friday night.
With the win, the Chiefs, at 8-2 in the district, secured the No. 2 seed at the district tournament beginning April 22 at Baker.
For the Chiefs, Kevin Vaughan threw seven innings, allow four hits, with striking out 18 with no walks. He was 2-4 at the plat with an RBI. Chad Smith was 2-4, with two runs; Chasen Freeman went 3-4 with a run and a double; Brannon Freeman was 1 -4, with a run and triple; Winston Riley went 1-3, with a run and one RBI; Daulton Tullis was 1-3 with a run; and David Burkett went 1- with two RBI and a double.
The Chiefs will round out their regular season with a couple of non-district games next week, hosting Escambia Academy on Monday and Flomaton on Tuesday. First pitch is 6 p.m. for both games.
NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
The ARGOS Take First In Destin Tournament
April 12, 2013
The 11-year old travel ball team “The ARGOS” took home first place in the recent USSSA tournament held in Destin. The team went undefeated in the two-day tournament. Team members are (top row, L-R) Trevor Norton, Cameron Bailey, TJ McCants, Chase Barcus, Sam Shackle, (bottom row) Cole Mullins, John Pinette, Jacob Bryant, Christian Munoz and Nathan Brewton. Coaches are Mike Norton, Levy Bryant and Matt Faust. Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
BayBears Beat The Wahoos
April 11, 2013
The Mobile BayBears scored in four of their first five at-bats en route to a dominating 10-2 victory over the Pensacola Blue Wahoos on Wednesday night at Hank Aaron Stadium.
Mobile roughed up Pensacola starter Josh Smith (0-2) for six runs in two innings. Five of the first six batters reached for the BayBears in the first inning with RBI’s coming from Jon Griffin and Brent Clevlen and another run scoring on an error. It was a similar script an inning later as, again, five of the first six reached and Mobile scored three more runs. Griffin and Clevlen provided RBI’s in the frame and ended up driving in a pair apiece.
The BayBears added a pair of runs in both the fourth and fifth innings to salt the game away. Eight of the nine starters for Mobile recorded at least one base knock in the 16-hit onslaught.
Pensacola’s two runs came on a fourth-inning two-run homer from Brodie Greene, his first of the season. Greene extended his hitting streak to nine games dating back to last season in the process.
The Wahoos had great chances to get back into the game in the third and fourth frames. In the third, Pensacola loaded the bases with two outs, but Travis Mattair grounded into a fielder’s choice. In the next inning, the Wahoos had the bags packed for Donald Lutz, but he struck out swinging to end the threat.
Alexis Lara (1-0) picked up the victory in relief of starter David Holmberg for Mobile. Lara entered in the fifth inning and retired all nine batters he faced. Holmberg was limited to four innings due to a high pitch count and gave up two runs on six hits, walking three and striking out a trio of Wahoos.
The series continues on Thursday with a 7:05 p.m. first pitch from Hank Aaron Stadium. Tim Crabbe (0-0, 1.80 ERA) will get the start for Pensacola against Mobile’s Zeke Spruill (0-1, 3.00).
Story by Kevin Burke
Pictured top: Brodie Greene extended his hitting streak to nine games with a fourth-inning home run. Christopher Nelson photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Northviews Earns Softball, Baseball Wins; Honors Senior Girls
April 10, 2013
Northview’s baseball and softball program picked up wins Tuesday.
In softball action, the Northview Lady Chiefs beat visiting Escambia Academy from Canoe, Ala., 9-4. The Lady Chiefs also honored their senior players on senior night (see below).
For a game action photo gallery, click here.
For a senior night photo gallery, click here.
In baseball action, the Northview Chiefs beat Freeport on the road 12-1 in a game called in the fifth due to the mercy rule.
Pictured top: Ariel Holland slides safely into home Monday in Bratt. Pictured below: Shaquanna Jones relieved Misty Doran on the mound for the Lady Chiefs. Pictured below: Northview senior softball players (L-R) Ashton Gibbs, Ashley Mooney, Ariel Holland, Shaquanna Jones, Samantha Johnson, Morgan Payne, Shelley Mothershed and Misty Doran. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
