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Blue Wahoos Continue Hitting Struggles, Fall To Smokies In Series Opener
May 22, 2024
written by Bill Vilona
The Blue Wahoos spent the past week in Montgomery unable to find steady production at the plate.
Their return home Tuesday didn’t bring good fortune, either.
Five pitchers combined on a shutout as the Tennessee Smokies took a 3-0 victory Tuesday night, thus keeping a crowd of 3,845 with few moments of cheer.
The game on a “Doggone Tuesday” began a six-game homestand against the Smokies, the Chicago Cubs affiliate, making their only appearance this season at Blue Wahoos Stadium.
The crowd included a group of 287 mothers and their sons from Elberta (Ala.) Elementary School who attended the game on a “Mother-Sons Date Night.”
It was also a night where ticket holders could bring their beloved dogs to attend the game.
The Blue Wahoos (22-18) had six hits, four of those singles. They were only able to get the leadoff batter on base twice in the game. The second time occurred when Jacob Berry led off the ninth with a line-drive single. But Smokies reliever Frankie Scalzo Jr, their fourth used in the game, retired the final three batters in order to gain his fifth save.
The Smokies (23-17) boast 12 of the Chicago Cubs’ Top 30 prospects, including three of the top four batters in their lineup Tuesday night.
This game also marked a return of both teams’ last meeting in Pensacola when the Smokies clinched the Southern League title to end a drought of 45 years without an outright championship. The Blue Wahoos won the league title at Tennessee in 2022 in their 10th anniversary season.
Just as they struggled in Montgomery, scoring only 13 runs in the six-game series against the Biscuits, the Blue Wahoos couldn’t generate base runners for a big inning.
Nathan Martorella had a first-inning double with one out and Joe Mack drew a two-out walk, but that became the only time Smokies starter Chris Kachmar allowed two baserunners until the sixth inning. Bennett Hostetler led off that inning with a single and Jacob Marsee followed with a one-out, perfectly-placed, bunt single.
But reliever Blake Weiman entered and induced a pair of ground balls to end the threat. Trey Supak followed with two scoreless innings to earn his first win.
The teams will play the second game of the series on Wednesday – the first mid-week Fireworks Wednesday – with area schools now out for the summer.
GAME NOTABLES
— The group from Elberta Elementary followed the school’s participation in one of the Blue Wahoos’ two Education Day games.
“We had a connection with the school and they mentioned they do a mother-son event every year at their school or somewhere else,” said Steven Unser, a Blue Wahoos group sales executive. “Their assistant principal reached out and said they would like to do that event here.”
“They originally planned to buy 150 tickets, because they said that is usually the show rate for this kind of event. But the day they had the cutoff, 285 tickets were sold. Because of it being one price day on Tuesday, they also were able to each receive a hot dog, chips and a drink.”
— The Foley (Ala.) High School Choir performed the National Anthem.
WANT TO GO?
WHO: Tennessee Smokies vs. Blue Wahoos
WHEN: Wednesday, 6:05 p.m.
WHERE: Blue Wahoos Stadium
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