Furious Wahoos Comeback Falls Short in 7-6 Loss To Montgomery Biscuits

June 20, 2025

written by Bill Vilona


Jake Buxton waited nearly two years for his pitching return with the Blue Wahoos.

Unfortunately for him, fate wasn’t kind.

Buxton, a righthander, had a scorching line drive ricochet off his side in the second inning, forcing him out of the game and igniting a big inning for the Montgomery Biscuits they carried into an eventual 7-6 victory Thursday against the Blue Wahoos.

But on this night when an impactful part of Pensacola’s pro baseball legacy was honored, the home team nearly pulled off the biggest comeback this season.

Taking on identity of the Pensacola Seagulls, the most renowned of the city’s former teams during the segregation era, a 7-0 deficit after two innings was whittled into a one-swing game after the seventh inning.

The game at Blue Wahoos Stadium, which honored Pensacola’s heritage on Juneteenth, started nearly an hour late, following a massive thunderstorm.

That was the first patch of rough luck to start Buxton’s night.

He yielded a pair of walks, then a two-run homer in the first inning. With two on, none out in second inning, Biscuits third baseman Willy Vasquez blasted a fastball that exited his bat at 112 mph, striking Buxton above his waist with no time to react.

He tried two warmup pitches, but it was quickly determined he could not continue. Buxton, 24, started just once before with the Blue Wahoos, back on Sept. 13, 2023 during the team’s final homestand. He was elevated Tuesday from the Beloit (Wisconsin) Sky Carp, where he pitched the entire 2024 season.

He was 3-2 with a 2.10 earned run average in eight appearances this season in Beloit.

When he exited Thursday, reliever Ricky DeVito was summoned from the dugout. He tried in about five minutes to rapidly get loose on the mound during an extended play stoppage, but he didn’t have his normal command.

His first pitch to shortstop Gregory Barrios was laced over first base inside the foul line for a run-scoring double. A sacrifice fly scored another run. DeVito then walked the bases loaded, gave up a two run single and uncorked a wild pitch for a 5-run inning and 7-0 Biscuits lead.

Nathan Martorella started the comeback with a solo homer in the fourth inning. The Blue Wahoos then took advantage of some sloppy defense by the Biscuits to score three runs in the sixth and two more in the seventh.

In the seventh, Shane Sasaki led off with a double, advanced on an infield single and scored on Kemp Alderman’s RBI ground out. A dropped pop up at third base enabled Martorella to reach base. Cody Morissette drove in the sixth run with an RBI.

But the Biscuits bullpen held on in the final two innings. Alderman hit a line out to right field to start the ninth. Martorella drew a walk, before a double play ended the game.

A good portion of Thursday’s crowd of 3,334 remained for post-game fireworks to honor the Juneteenth holiday.

The Blue Wahoos wore the replica white uniforms with blue piping, numbers and logo of Pensacola Seagulls, as part of The Nine Initiative in Minor League Baseball, which launched in 2022 by Major League Baseball to honor and celebrate the historic impact numerous African-American baseball pioneers made on the sport.

Nine is a reference to the No. 9 worn by legend Jackie Robinson while he played in the minor leagues, before breaking the game’s color barrier in 1947 in a historic way with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Robinson wore No. 42 through his decorated MLB career.

Though Robinson never played in Pensacola, he and his wife stayed overnight in Pensacola in 1946 on their way to spring training with the Dodgers organization.

The Seagulls were once a feeder team for the Negro Southern League, which had its final official season 74 years ago in 1951. In the Pensacola region, the Seagulls were the most prominent team of black players during the segregation era. They had a four-decade existence that ended as a local semi-pro team.

GAME NOTABLES

— Blue Wahoos outfielder Mark Coley II joined members of the Blue Wahoos front office staff, along with Kazoo, to participate in Pensacola’s Martin Luther King Parade downtown. The event on Juneteenth was originally scheduled on Martin Luther King Day in January, but that was the exact date of the historic 2025 snowfall in Pensacola.
F
— This was the fourth consecutive year the Blue Wahoos wore the Seagulls’ uniforms for a game. Part of Seagulls history included outfielder Johnny Joe Lewis, who became Pensacola’s first African-American player to play in Major League Baseball when he made his debut on April 14, 1964 with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Part of the team’s history occurred during an era where Pensacola had other black baseball teams called the Arthur Giants, the Pensacola Clowns, the Olive Braves and Pepsi-Cola Stars.

— On Friday, 20-year-old lefthander Thomas White, the Miami Marlins’ No. 1 prospect, makes his Double-A level debut on the mound with the Blue Wahoos in a game being offered for free on the MiLB TV network.

WANT TO GO?

WHO: Montgomery Biscuits vs. Blue Wahoos

WHEN: Friday Thru Sunday.

GAMETIMES: The games on Friday and Saturday all start at 6:05 p.m. The game on Sunday starts at 4:05 p.m.

Comments

Comments are closed.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News, Sports, TOP sports