Wahoos Maintain Divison Lead Despite Loss
September 4, 2015
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos struggles against perennial Southern League contender the Mobile BayBears continued Thursday.
Mobile, just an hour west of Pensacola, is now, 12-4, this season against the Blue Wahoos and 51-32 since the Cincinnati Reds Double-A affiliate was established in 2012.
Pensacola managed three hits in a shutout loss, 3-0, against Mobile in front of 4,572 Thursday at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium.
Blue Wahoos right fielder Juan Duran, who had two of Pensacola’s three hits on two infield singles, launched a fly ball to dead center with two outs and the bases loaded in the eighth inning but Mobile center fielder Evan Marzilli hauled it in with his back to the wall.
Pensacola manager Pat Kelly said he knew Duran didn’t get all of the ball to drive it 400-feet over the center field wall.
“I knew he missed it,” Kelly said. “But he’s so strong he can miss balls and still hit home runs. It did go 395 feet.”
Pensacola is on a 1-4 slide in its last five games against the Jackson Generals and Mobile, but it has been lucky to stay on top of the Southern League South Division. The Atlanta Braves Double-A affiliate the Mississippi Braves lost to the Jacksonville Suns on a walk off three-run home run in the 10th inning and fell to 35-30. Meanwhile, the Blue Wahoos also lost but dropped to 36-30 to remain a half-game ahead in the second half of the season.
Kelly said Pensacola was snake-bitten Thursday night, especially after Duran’s smash down the third base line in the second inning hit the umpire and bounced into Mobile third baseman Raul Navarro’s mitt in the second inning. Duran singled but the odd play seemed to rob Duran of a sure double.
Duran then threw a strike on a hit-and-run play from right field in the fourth inning that looked like it beat Mobile left fielder Socrates Brito to third base. However, according to Kelly who ran on to the field to argue the play, the third base umpire said Blue Wahoos third baseman Seth Mejias-Brean tagged the runner high.
Mobile ended up scoring three runs in the fourth with Brito and second baseman Garrett Weber hitting back-to-back singles to lead off the inning. Pensacola starter Daniel Wright then walked right fielder Gabriel Guerrero and threw seven straight balls.
Mark Thomas, batting .163, came to the plate with one out and clobbered a double over Pensacola center fielder Beau Amaral’s head into the left-center alley to clear the bases and Mobile was ahead, 3-0.
“Everyone in the ballpark, including the runner, knew he was out,” Kelly said about the play at third on Brito.
Mobile, which has had six players from its 2015 team make their Major League debut this year with the Arizona Diamondbacks, got a strong outing from new pitcher Matt Koch, who earned his first win. He was making his first start for Mobile after a trade earlier this month between the Arizona Diamondbacks and New York Mets. He allowed two hits in 7.1 innings, walked four and tied his season-high with six strikeouts.
After Duran’s smash in the second inning, Koch settled down and retired the next 16 of 17 batters through the seventh inning. Koch allowed a runner to second base twice — once when Pensacola catcher Kyle Skipworth reached the bag in the fifth inning and again in the seventh inning when Duran earned an infield single up the middle.
Kelly only had praise for Koch’s slider and cutter.
“We knew he had good stuff,” Kelly said. “It’s hard when you haven’t seen the guy before.”
Pensacola is looking to make its first postseason appearance since its inaugural season in 2012 and end the longest drought of missing the playoffs by a Southern League Major League affiliate. The Cincinnati Reds last Double-A team to make the playoffs was Chattanooga in 2006.
“It’s one of five games,” Kelly said. “It tightens things up. It still comes down to winning this series. If we can win this series, they can’t catch us.”
Thursday Football: Ernest Ward Beats Miller; WFHS Bests Tate
September 4, 2015
Thursday night football scores:
Ernest Ward Middle 34, T.R. Miller 10
West Florida JV 26, Tate 0
West Florida Freshmen 48, Tate 6
Tom Thumb Robbed At Gunpoint (With Surveillance Video)
September 3, 2015
An early morning armed robbery is under investigation at Highway 29 convenience store.
The Tom Thumb at Highway 29 at Roberts Road was robbed at gunpoint just before 1 a.m. Thursday. A black male wearing a dark hoodie and a mask entered the store and demanded cash, according to Sena Maddison, spokesperson for the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office. The clerks were not injured.
Investigators have not yet determined if this robbery is related to the robbery of a Tom Thumb at in the 300 block of Highway 29 last week. Click here for more information and surveillance images from that robbery.
Anyone with information on either robbery is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP or the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office at (850) 436-9620.
(If you do not see the video below, it is because your home, school or work firewall is blocking YouTube videos.)
Man Steals Truck For Beer And Cigarette Run, Visits Creek And Returns Truck
September 3, 2015
A Bratt man is facing charges after allegedly stealing his neighbor’s truck to buy beer and cigarettes and go to a a creek before returning the pickup the next morning.
A resident of York Road reported his truck stolen, only to wake up the following morning and discover that his truck had been returned He told deputies that he confronted his neighbor, 51-year old Marvin Anthony Haynie, who allegedly admitted to the theft.
The neighbor said Haynie told him that he had walked into his yard to see where deer had been crossing, entered the truck and found the keys. He then reportedly took the truck to get beer and cigarettes at a store before driving to a creek near Little Rock, AL. That’s where the truck’s battery died and Haynie spent the night before someone jumped off the truck’s battery the next morning.
Prior to the truck being reported stolen, it was caught on a camera and observed by an off-duty with Haynie driving at York Road and Pine Barren Road, according to an Escambia County Sheriff’s Office report.
Haynie was charged with felony grand theft of a motor vehicle, burglary of an unoccupied conveyance and driving with a suspended license. Haynie remained in the Escambia County Jail early Thursday with bond set at $6,000.
Man Sentenced To 12 Years For Burglary, Grand Theft
September 3, 2015
An Escambia County man convicted on burglary related charges will spend the next 12 years in state prison.
Trenton Marquis Fails was sentenced by Circuit Judge Thomas Johnson for burglary of an occupied dwelling, grand theft auto, theft from a person 65 years of age or older, criminal mischief, trespass and resisting officer without violence, fleeing or attempting to elude a law enforcement officer, reckless driving and driving without a valid driver’s license.
On January 4, Fails and his co-defendant, Anthony McPherson, knocked on the door of an 87-year old woman and briefly spoke with her before forcing their way into the residence. The defendants took her purse, along with cash and her car keys, before stealing her car.
When deputies spotted the vehicle on Belmont Street, they attempted to conduct a traffic stop of the vehicle by initiating their lights and siren. A brief chase ensued before McPherson and Fails abandoned the vehicle and fled on foot. A K-9 track led deputies to a residence on Frisco Road where both were apprehended.
McPherson was previously sentenced to 15 years in state prison.
The investigation was conducted by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant State Attorney Jeremiah Monahan prosecuted the case.
Deputies Seek Cantonment Armed Robbery Suspect
September 3, 2015
Authorities are seeking information in the armed robbery of a Cantonment Tom Thumb during the early morning hours of August 25.
The suspect entered the store in the 300 block of South Highway 29 about 1:45 a.m. He was armed with a revolver, forcing the clerk to place money from the register into a plastic bag. The suspect was described as a black male wearing a camouflage hoodie with a black mask over his face. It is believed that he drove the silver vehicle pictured prior to the robbery.
Anyone with information as to his identify is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP or send an online tip at gulfcoastcrimestoppers.org.
These surveillance photos were released Wednesday by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
Northview To Hold Open House Next Week
September 3, 2015
Northview High School will hold an Open House next week.
The even will be held from 6-7 p.m. on Tuesday, September 8 with school faculty and staff on hand to provide a more in-depth look at the education programs at Northview.
For more information, click here.
Escambia Sheriff’s Office Presents Quarterly Awards
September 3, 2015
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office held their quarterly awards ceremony Wednesday, with Sheriff David Morgan presenting the following awards and commendations:
Commendation Medal and Law Enforcement Officer of the Quarter: Deputy Ron Busbee (pictured top).
(scroll down below photos for more)
Law Enforcement Employee of the Quarter: Vicki Hodge (pictured above).
Big Smiles: Tate Cheerleader Wins $500 Prize For Her Squad
September 3, 2015
A Tate High School varsity cheerleader received a big surprise, and a big check, Wednesday from her orthodontist. Freshman Emilee Potter won a Shehee & Callahan Family Orthodontics’ car magnet contest, earning her $500 for her school. She chose to give the money to her cheerleading squad. The money will be used to purchase pink pom-poms for the Tate cheeerleaders to use for breast cancer awareness. Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
State Sets 320 Bear Limit For Upcoming Hunt
September 3, 2015
A target was placed on at least 320 black bears Wednesday as the once-threatened species will be hunted across Florida next month for the first time in more than two decades.
A split Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission approved quota numbers that represent about 10 percent of the bear population in four regions of the state — there are seven regions — where the hunt will be allowed. Commission staff called the regional and overall quota numbers “conservative.”
Commissioners, meeting in Fort Lauderdale, also gave support Wednesday to a position paper on the Florida panther population. Some panther advocates argued the commission’s move is a step toward allowing the endangered animals to eventually be hunted like bears.
The bear hunt, approved by the commission in June and set to start Oct. 24, will last from two to seven days. While the hunt is supposed to end in each region once the preset quotas are reached, hunters are guaranteed a minimum of two days of pursuing bears.
Commissioner Robert Spottswood said he’d like to give the agency’s executive director authority to close the hunt after the first day if the quotas are reached, but he failed to get support from the full commission.
“Why not manage the program so you can’t exceed the objective?” Spottswood said.
Commissioner Ron Bergeron, a hunter who cast the lone vote against the hunt in June because of what he said was a need to gather more data on the number of bears, also voted against approving the quotas.
Diane Eggeman, director of the commission’s Division of Hunting and Game Management, said that while the number of bears killed could exceed the quota numbers in each of the four regions, there will not be an “over-harvesting,” based on examples from others states that allow bear hunts.
Opponents said the commission was mismanaging the hunt, with an unlimited hunt for the first two days, and warned of a pending bear “blood bath.”
Lee Cook, a wetlands biologist, questioned assurances that there won’t be over-harvesting, as the state has sold 1,948 bear hunting permits — as of Tuesday — at a cost of $100 for Floridians and $300 for non-Floridians.
“You have put us on track to go over the quota in the first two days,” Cook said. “That, combined with the nuisance bear kills and the car kills, could put us right back on the endangered species list, which we all worked so hard to get them off.”
Black bears were placed on the state’s threatened list in 1974, when there were between 300 and 500 across Florida. At the time, hunting black bears was limited to three counties. In 1994, the hunting season was closed statewide.
This year’s hunt is intended to help the state achieve a 20 percent reduction in the bear population in each region. The 20 percent figure includes the number of bears that die naturally, are hit and killed by cars and are captured and killed by wildlife officers due to conflicts.
Eggeman said permitted hunters, who will be limited to one bear each, must report kills within 12 hours, and there will be nightly updates, via text and social media, on the counts for each region.
According to the latest figures, there are an estimated 1,300 bears in the Central region, which includes the St. Johns River watershed to the Ocala National Forest, and 550 bears in the North region, which goes from Jacksonville west to Hamilton and Suwannee counties. In each region, the harvest target is 100 bears.
The bear quota is 40 in an eastern Panhandle region, which includes the northwestern Big Bend area to west of Apalachicola Bay. In a South region, which includes Broward, Collier, Hendry, Lee, Miami-Dade, Monroe, and Palm Beach counties, the quota number is 80. The South region excludes the Big Cypress National Preserve.
The issue has gained attention recently because of conflicts between bears and humans in some areas of the state. Critics of the hunt contend that people are moving into bear habitats and that the state should focus on efforts such as bear-proofing trash containers and prohibiting people from feeding bears.
Thomas Eason, director of the commission’s Division of Habitat and Species, said the agency is identifying obstacles in getting more “bear resistant” trash cans in areas where bears live, including a need to push for local ordinances to ensure compliance.
“It’s not rocket science. We know it works,” Eason said.
The panther issue also drew heavy discussion Wednesday. Commissioners backed the new position paper, which seeks incentives for private landowners to maintain panther habitat and assistance from the Department of Transportation to install panther crossings to reduce collisions with vehicles. Also, it seeks to develop ways to respond to encounters between panthers and people or panthers and livestock.
Commissioner Charles “Chuck” Roberts called the policy “our best efforts” to sustain the panther populations.
Agency officials say they aren’t seeking to allow the federally endangered species to be hunted but are seeking better management to reduce conflicts with humans.
Such assurances weren’t accepted by many of speakers addressing the commission Wednesday.
“It’s not what’s in the paper that’s wrong, it’s what’s missing from the paper that is wrong,” said Manley Fuller of the Florida Wildlife Federation. “Not a word about habitat loss. You folks know, and your scientists know, and the Fish and Wildlife Service folks know, that the big problem for the panther is loss of habitat. It’s been continuous, ongoing and it’s happening now.”
The policy statement also recommends the commission seek more federal assistance as the panther population in Southwest Florida has reached its “carrying capacity” and is expanding to other parts of the state.
Nearly a half-century of conservation efforts have allowed the panther population, mostly across South Florida, to grow from about 30 to around 180, according to the commission paper.
The current recovery plan calls for the panther population to reach about 240 adult cats in three areas across South Florida. Yet the panther population is being impacted by humans moving into the animal’s natural habitat.
Commissioner Aliesa “Liesa” Priddy, a Collier County rancher who shared a video of a panther strolling across a field apparently unconcerned about the human occupants of a nearby vehicle, questioned if the 240 number is realistic due to development growth. She also said many people may not understand the impact of panthers on residents of rural areas.
“The people that are in the urban, suburban areas have to have some empathy for those people that are not in the urban and suburban areas,” Priddy said.