Blue Wahoos Bounce Back, Keep Playoff Hopes Alive With 9-2 Win

June 20, 2026

The Pensacola Blue Wahoos defeated the Birmingham Barons by a final score of 9-2 on Friday night behind a mixture of pitching prowess and offensive firepower.

After a loss followed the longest weather delay in stadium history a night prior, the Blue Wahoos (34-33) evened the series at 2-2 against the Barons (26-41) with the victory tonight as the pennant race for the South Division of the Southern League continues. With two games remaining in the first half, the Blue Wahoos’ elimination number is two as they battle against the first-place Biloxi Shuckers. Any combination of two Shuckers wins or two Pensacola losses would hand the first half title to Biloxi.

Orlando Ortiz-Mayr (W, 1-2) put on a show from the mound to earn his first win of the year. He struck out a season-high eight batters while allowing just four hits and a pair of free bases, keeping the Barons off the board through 5.2 innings of work.

Birmingham’s Connor McCullough (L, 0-4) suffered his fourth loss, relenting the game-winning run in the second inning and a total of four earned runs to Pensacola through five innings pitched.

Pensacola plated their nine runs on 14 hits and drew three walks. Five different Blue Wahoos registered multiple hits, led by Cristian Hernández’s 3-for-4 night that saw him both drive in and plate two runs.

Other notable performances included Brendan Jones, Connor Caskenette and Ryan Ignoffo, who recorded two hits each. Cam Cannarella posted a 2-for-4 night, leading the team with three RBI. The combined pitching staff of Ortiz-Mayr, Jack Sellinger and Livan Reinoso struck out 11 Birmingham bats.

After returning from injury just this week, Jones has found his groove: in his first at bat, he’d blast a triple to the warning track in right-center field in the bottom of the second. A subsequent Ignoffo single through the left side would bring him home to give the Blue Wahoos the immediate edge.

Jones’ triple puts him at six on the season, tying Chattanooga’s Shane Sasaki for the Southern League lead. He also tied his own career high for triples in a single season at the Double-A level, doing so a year ago with the Somerset Patriots (AA – New York Yankees).

It would be Jones to score again in the fourth inning, as Hernandez ripped a double down the left field line to score him from third. Two more came across after a line drive from Payton Green avoided the diving glove of Samuel Zavala in center, extending the Pensacola lead to 4-0.

Cannarella kept up his recent consistency at the plate, knocking in another pair of runs in the sixth with a ground ball up the middle that scored Hernandez and Green. Cannarella extended his hitting streak to five games, also having reached base in each of the last six.

The Pensacola bats stayed hot going into the seventh. A string of three hits saw a double from Jones followed by singles from Ignoffo and Hernandez, with Hernandez’s third hit of the night scoring Jones to pad the lead at 7-0.

The Barons answered back with one in the top of the eighth, scoring after Aiva Arquette pulled off a diving play at shortstop for a force out at second base.

Not to be deterred, the Blue Wahoos kept their foot on the gas and responded with two more in the bottom of the frame, spraying contact to all fields. Cannarella fired a single into left to score Caskenette from second base, while Dillon Lewis punched a single into right to score the latter.

Though a home run was relented in the top of the ninth, Pensacola shut down any inkling of momentum from the Barons to secure the 9-2 victory.

The Blue Wahoos continue their series against the Barons on Saturday night.

written by Maddy Branning

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under FRONT FEATURE, Sports, TOP sports