Wahoos Come Up Empty
August 27, 2018
After the Wahoos’ 11-run outburst the night before, Pensacola’s offense dried up Sunday night. Mitch Ghelfi’s solo home run in the seventh inning broke a scoreless tie and the BayBears held on for a 1-0 win at Blue Wahoos Stadium.
Tony Santillan (L, 4-3) pitched 6.2 innings and allowed seven hits while striking out eight. For most of his night, the right-hander avoided trouble from the BayBears offense. Ghelfi led off the seventh and pulled a home run just inside the right-field foul pole to give Mobile a 1-0 lead. Ryan Clark pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth for his fifth save of the year.
Pensacola had plenty of chances with runners on base but simply couldn’t produce any runs. Pensacola had baserunners in eight of the nine innings; however, only three times did the Wahoos have runners in scoring position. Mobile outhit the Wahoos 10-5 a night after the Wahoos piled on 15 hits and 11 runs against the BayBears.
The Wahoos tried to nick the game late after Jose Siri walked with one out in the ninth. With Friedl batting, Siri stole second base, and then a pitch later advanced to third on a wild pitch. Unfortunately, Clark struck out Friedl, and after a walk to Mitch Nay, Gavin LaValley struck out looking to end the game.
With Mississippi’s 2-0 win over the Shuckers, the Wahoos now trail the M-Braves by a game in the second-half standings. Should the M-Braves win the second-half, both the Wahoos and BayBears would be eliminated from the postseason.
RHP Daniel Wright (6-10, 4.30) will try even the series for the Wahoos with a win on Monday. Mobile hopes to hand Pensacola their fifth consecutive series loss when RHP Matt Ball (1-1, 5.40) takes the bump for the visitors.
Bicyclist Struck By Passing Truck On Highway 29
August 26, 2018
One person was injured when the the mirror of a passing vehicle reportedly struck a bicycle midday Sunday on Highway 29 north of Archer Road.
The driver of a Ford pickup truck stopped a short distance away after the 11:50 a.m. accident.
The accident is under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol. Further details have not been released.
The Cantonment Station of Escambia Fire Rescue and Escambia County EMS also responded.
Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Hill Wants To Bring Trump’s Hollywood Star To Pensacola; Bydlak Keeps On Knocking
August 26, 2018
The two leading candidates for the Republican nomination for Florida House District 1 have taken two very different approaches to their campaign in the final days leading up to Tuesday’s primary election.
Mike Hill, a former state representative looking to return to the legislature, took to Facebook Live with a giant replica of Trump’s Hollywood Walk of Fame plague.
In the video, Hill stands in front of a Confederate monument in downtown Pensacola and vows to “bring the Trump Hollywood star” to “the first settlement in America.”
“We have President Trump’s Hollywood Star! Pensacola is America’s first settlement – where it all began. Fitting that we have our President’s star rejected by leftists. We will honor and protect it,” Hill posted.
Trump’s sidewalk star — which has been destroyed twice — probably isn’t going anywhere, but the West Hollywood City Council reportedly passed a unanimous resolution this month calling for the onetime reality-show host’s marker to be permanently removed.
The video of Hill — who’s captured on camera directing his photog to scootch a little to the left and a little closer to frame the shot — is a contrast to the slickly produced campaign ads bombarding Floridians in the mail, on TV and over the internet in the days leading up to Tuesday’s primary elections.
Almost as an aside, at the end of the nearly two-minute video, Hill holds up a giant sign with his own name on it and asks voters to support his bid in state House District 1. The video as received over 7,000 views since it was posted Wednesday, and it has made political news across the country.
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Meanwhile, Rebekah Bydlak has just kept on knocking.
In additional to all the traditional campaign tactics, Bydlak said Saturday that she has personally knocked on the doors of a over 6,000 voters across a District 1, a conservative stronghold.
“I have personally talked with hundreds of people in our community every day, hearing their concerns and sharing my conservative agenda to support President Trump, fighting for jobs and against illegal immigration, protecting our gun rights, and standing for life,” she said.
Bydlak has received the endorsement of current District 1 Rep. Clay Ingram, who is term-limited.
Friday night, Bydlak and her husband joined Ingram and his family at Pete Gindl Stadium to watch Tate High School Aggie football…and meet voters.
“My campaign has been about the people and our community. I want to do things differently than career politicians,” Bydlak said Saturday – as she was out knocking on more doors of voters and meeting them face to face.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Sen. John McCain Passes Away; He Held Fond Memories Of North Escambia
August 26, 2018
Sen. John McCain, American statesman and POW survivor, has passed away at age 81 after a battle with brain cancer.
NorthEscambia.com interviewed McCain in a personal one-on-one phone interview as he was campaigning for Mitt Romney.
He addressed what an area like North Escambia needs from the federal government.
“We need to give businesses large and small the kind of certainty about the future that they need to invest and light a fire in your communities,” he said. “But that’s not happening now. They never know when the next regulation is coming down from Washington.”
“It’s the same with the smalls cities and towns; there’s too much regulation,” McCain said.
McCain said he felt a special bond with Escambia County where he and other McCain family members attended flight training in Pensacola.
And had expressed fond memories of rural North Escambia, where during his time at NAS he would head north to the country on the weekends to ride the area’s dirt roads.
Early Voting Closes With Over 12K Ballots Cast
August 26, 2018
Early voting for the 2018 primary election ended Saturday with 12,101 votes cast in Escambia County. That’s the most ever for a regular primary – 36 percent higher than the previous records. . Combined with returned mail ballots, the unofficial turnout is already at 14 percent.
Polls will be open 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
By The Numbers: How Many Calls Does Escambia Fire Rescue Answer?
August 26, 2018
This infographic includes a sampling of Escambia Fire Rescue calls for service during July 2018. It does not include every call category.
Source: Escambia Fire Rescue
Equine Field Day Coming To Molino
August 26, 2018
The Escambia County Equine Field Day is a hands-on learning opportunity for horse owners and enthusiast in the western Panhandle of Florida. Participants will be educated in the areas of equine vaccinations, hoof & leg care, nutrition, pasture weed control, exercise physiology, and other relevant topics. Industry professionals, extension faculty and a local veterinarian will lead interactive workshops to engage the audience in current topics related to the Florida equine industry.
The Escambia County Equine Field Day will be held at the Escambia County 4-H Livestock Facility at 5701 Highway 99 in Molino.
Pre-registration is requested to ensure adequate food preparation. The cost of registration is $10 per person, but free for 4-H & FFA members. You may mail your RSVP & registration fee to: Escambia County Extension Service, Attn: Nick Simmons, 3740 Stefani Rd., Cantonment, FL 32533. Make checks payable to The University of Florida. Registration is due by September 4th.
For more information, contact Nick Simmons, Commercial Livestock Agent, UF/IFAS Extension Escambia County, 850-291-7173 or n.simmons@ufl.edu.
Northview Football Teacher Of The Week: Megan Carroll
August 26, 2018
The Northview Chiefs named Megan Carroll as their Teacher of the Week for her hard work and dedication to inspire football team members in an academic setting.
Each week, we would like to invite the teacher to our pregame meal on Friday (if possible), to talk to the team prior to the game on Friday night and stand on the sideline with the team during the game.
Also, each teacher of the week will receive a Northview football t-shirt.
Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Wahoos Come Back For 11-6 Win Over The BayBears
August 26, 2018
After Vladimir Gutierrez allowed six runs in the second inning of the game, Pensacola’s playoff hopes seemed slim to none. However, the Wahoos came roaring back to win Saturday’s contest against the Blue Wahoos 11-6 in front of a capacity crowd at Blue Wahoos Stadium.
After he struck out the side in the first inning, Gutierrez’s start came crumbling down. The first six BayBears all reached base safely in the second, and four of them came home to score. After Brandon Sandoval hit into a fielder’s choice, Gutierrez walked Jam Jones—his third of the inning—to close out his shortest professional outing. He lasted just 1.1 innings and was on the hook for six runs on four hits, and the Wahoos looked out of it early, trailing 6-0.
Rather than fold, Pensacola engineered one of their best and most important comebacks of the season. After plucking a run back in the second inning, the Wahoos added two more in the fourth. Chris Okey walked to ignite the rally, Jose Siri tripled in the left field corner to bring the score to 6-2. He would score one batter later on a TJ Friedl groundout to second.
In the sixth, the Wahoos flipped the script on the BayBears with a five-run rally to take the lead. Okey singled off Matt Custred (L, 3-4) to get the rally started. After Friedl walked, Mitch Nay and Gavin LaValley swatted back-to-back RBI singles to cut the deficit down to a single run. Shed Long followed with a groundball to second that was mishandled by Jones, which allowed Nay to score and tie the game. Narcisco Crook followed Long with a two-run single, giving the Wahoos their first lead of the night at 8-6.
The bullpen was responsible for a lion’s share of the work on Saturday. Rafael De Paula followed Gutierrez and turned in 3.2 shutout innings. Rookie Davis (W, 2-1) pitched a scoreless sixth inning as part of his MLB rehab assignment, and Robinson Leyer tossed two additional shutout innings. With the Wahoos leading 11-6 in the ninth, Jody Davis brought in his closer to secure Pensacola’s first win since August 18.
With the win, in conjunction with the Shuckers 3-1 loss in Pearl, the Wahoos now trail the Shuckers by a half game in the second-half standings. In addition, the Wahoos trail Mobile by a half game in the wildcard standings.
RHP Tony Santillan (4-2, 3.78) will try to give the Wahoos a two-to-one series lead when he takes the hill on Sunday. Mobile will send RHP Jesus Castillo (8-4, 4.90) on the mound for game three.
SRSO: Shooting That Claimed One Life Near Allentown May Have Been Self Defense
August 25, 2018
The Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office says a deadly shooting near Allentown Saturday morning may have been self defense.
Deputies responded about 7:20 a.m. to the 5500 block of Memory Lane, about 1.5 miles from Central High School off Highway 89.
Investigators determined that there was a domestic altercation between two adult family members. They said the altercation was physical and escalated to the point a firearm was used.
“Evidence is leading us to believe the person who fired the weapon was being attacked at the time of shooting,” said Sgt. Rich Aloy, spokesperson for the SRSO.
Jeffrey Troy Pernicka, 32, was shot and killed. Another adult male was transported to an area hospital with severe injuries.
The case remains under investigation.