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Blue Wahoos Eliminated From Playoffs In 8-3 Loss To Shuckers
September 18, 2026
One of the most successful seasons in Blue Wahoos history ended in a most difficult way.
Their post-season fate against the Biloxi Shuckers continued to be the wrong kind, after the Shuckers jumped on Blue Wahoos’ reliable starter Eliazar Dishmey with a trio of 2-run homers in the first three innings en route to an 8-3 victory Thursday night and a two-game sweep of their Southern League divisional playoff series.
The Shuckers’ win, before a crowd of 3,500-plus at Keesler Federal Park that was the team’s largest for a playoff game, sent them into the Southern League Championship Series for the first time since 2019.
They will face the Rocket City Trash Pandas, the Los Angeles Angels’ affiliate, who blasted their way past the Knoxville Smokies 13-3 in Knoxville, Tennessee to sweep the Southern League North Division playoff series.
Both divisional winners will be seeking their first Southern League championship when the best-of-three series starts on Sunday.
Biloxi’s fast start Thursday continued its playoff success against the Blue Wahoos, who entered with the best overall record in the league this season.
The Shuckers, the Milwaukee Brewers’ affiliate since the team’s inception in 2015, are now 11-3 against Pensacola in the postseason. They have won all four playoff matchups across three different Blue Wahoos affiliations.
In 2019, the Shuckers last won the divisional series, which was then best-of-five, in a deciding fifth game in Biloxi against the Blue Wahoos in their only year as a Minnesota Twins affiliate.
After the dropping the first game Tuesday 6-3, the Blue Wahoos sought to extend the series with Dishmey on the mound. The 21-year-old had allowed just seven runs combined in July and August in becoming the Blue Wahoos’ top starter.
But the only blip in that stretch was against Biloxi on August 13 when he was tagged for eight hits and three runs in 4.2 innings. In August, the Shuckers were 5-20, but got hot when it counted most.
The Shuckers quickly got to him again Thursday. The Shuckers’ heralded prospect, 19-year-old shortstop Jesus Made – rated No. 1 overall in Minor League Baseball – followed leadoff batter Dylan O’Rae’s single in the first inning with an opposite-field homer over the left field wall for a 2-0 lead.
That was followed by a two-run homer by catcher Matthew Wood in the second inning. Wood later had a two-run single in the eighth inning to complete a four-RBI night, giving him six RBI in two playoff games.
In the third inning, Braylon Payne crushed a Dishmey pitch as a rocket liner over the right field wall. The ball exited at 117 mph—the hardest hit ball of the Shuckers’ season.
At that point, Biloxi was up 6-0 and already positioned for a celebration. The Shuckers’ loaded lineup set a Southern League record for most runs scored this season.
The Shuckers had edged out the Blue Wahoos to win the first half division race. The Blue Wahoos claimed the second half in a dominating way.
The Blue Wahoos’ 79-58 overall record matched their second-most wins and third-best winning percentage in their 14-year franchise history. It included a 17-10 record against Biloxi in the regular season and a 43-25 second-half finish that won the playoff spot by seven games.
In the process, the team set franchise records for home runs (184) and stolen bases (312).
But the bulk of the position players who built that success were no longer on the Blue Wahoos roster when the season ended.
Four of their top players – outfielders Cam Cannarella, Brendan Jones and top slugger Brandon Compton, along with infielder Juan Mathews, were all called up to the Miami Marlins Triple-A affiliate Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp during the final five weeks of the season.
In addition, shortstop Aiva Arquette, the Marlins’ top pick in the 2025 draft, was injured last week and unable to play in postseason.
As late as Sept.1, the Blue Wahoos batted Arquette-Mathews-Compton as No. 2-4 in the batting order and once had the Marlins’ top three draft picks from 2025 on the roster.
Having clinched their playoff spot on Sept. 6 in Columbus (Ga.), the Blue Wahoos split the final regular-season series against the Shuckers at Blue Wahoos Stadium and rested both playoff starting pitchers, Jacob Kisting and Dishmey,
But their offense couldn’t deliver comebacks like it had during the second half of the season.
The Blue Wahoos picked up a run in the fifth inning on Payton Green’s sacrifice fly to score Ethan O’Donnell.
They cut the deficit to 6-3 in the seventh inning on RBI singles by Fenwick Trimble and Max Williams. For Williams, it continued his big boost since the former Florida State star and 2025 Draft pick joined the team in late August.
Dillon Lewis had a chance to continue the rally with two runners on base, but his hard-hit grounder became a force-out and the Blue Wahoos didn’t have another big threat.
Ironically, the Blue Wahoos will begin their 2027 season back in Biloxi when they start a 3-game, weekend opening series against the Shuckers on April 2-4 in this same ballpark.
written by Bill Vilona
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