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.
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.
Northview Chiefs Open With A Really Big Win In A Really Long Game
August 25, 2018
The Northview Chiefs opened their regular season Friday with a really big win over Lighthouse Private Christian Academy of Pensacola in a really long game.
Coach Derek Marshman and his Northview Chiefs came out on top 46-20 in game that ended about three and a half hours after it’s 7:00 start time at Victor Randall Stadium at the Brent Athletic Park. The Lighthouse Christian Stingsrays do not have their own stadium.
The game did not go into overtime…it progressed slowly due to penalties and an unusual amount of time between plays.
The Northview High School Chiefs (1-1) will host the Flomaton Hurricanes (1-0) next Friday Night at Tommy Weaver Memorial Stadium in Bratt. Flomaton is coming off a big 27-0 shutout of the Jay Royals.
NorthEscambia.com file photo.
Friday Night Football Final Scores
August 25, 2018
Here are high school football scores from around the area Friday Night:
Florida
- Tate 28, Choctaw 21 [Read more...]
- Northview 46, Lighthouse 20 [Read more...]
- Flomaton 27, Jay 0
- Pine Forest 27, Pensacola 6
- Milton 38 Washington, 15
- Navarre 35, Pensacola Catholic 7
- Gulf Breeze 41 Pascagoula, MS 15
- Pace 30, Fort Walton Beach 20
- Escambia 23, West Florida 20 (Thursday)
Alabama
- Flomaton 27, Jay 0
- Escambia Academy 63, Snook Christian
- Escambia County (Atmore) 16, T.R. Miller 7
- W.S. Neal 17 Southern Choctaw 7
Wahoos Drop Opener To The BayBears
August 25, 2018
The Blue Wahoos postseason hopes took another hit on Friday as they dropped the series opener, 9-4 to the BayBears at Blue Wahoos Stadium.
After a promising first inning from Seth Varner (L, 8-3), things quickly turned south. Varner allowed six runs over the next three innings was pulled from the game with the Wahoos trailing 6-0. Nick Howard replaced him in the fifth and the BayBears tacked on two more runs to take an 8-0 advantage.
Former Blue Wahoos Joe Hudson, in his first game at Blue Wahoos Stadium as a visiting player, tied his career high with four RBI after going 4-for-5 at the plate. Hudson doubled and homered in his first two at-bats, and fell a triple shy of the cycle.
Pensacola scored their four runs in the final two innings of the game. Connor Justus mishandled a groundball from Taylor Featherston, which allowed Shed Long to score. Luis Gonzalez followed with a fielder’s choice, which allowed Crook to score after he singled earlier in the inning. Pensacola brought two more runs home in the ninth innings thanks to back-to-back RBI singles from Crook and Featherston.
Unfortunately for the Wahoos, the rally was too little, too late. Pensacola had runners on base in every inning and wound up leaving 13 men on base after going 2-for-17 with runners in scoring position. The Wahoos now trail the BayBears by 1.5 games in the wildcard, and after Biloxi’s loss to Mississippi, trail the Shuckers by 1.5 games in the second-half standings.
RHP Vladimir Gutierrez (9-10, 4.15) will try to get the Wahoos back on track in the second game of the series. The BayBears have yet to disclose who will start for them on Saturday.
Lady Chiefs Lose Season Openers To Baker (With Gallery)
August 24, 2018
The Northview High School varsity and junior varsity volleyball teams fell in their season openers Thursday night.
The varsity Lady Chiefs lost a district match to Baker 7-25, 12-25, 7-25. After winning their first set 25-22, the junior varsity Lady Chiefs were defeated by the JV Lady Gators 9-25, 13-15.
Up next, the Northview Lady Chiefs will host a district match against the Jay Lady Royls on Tuesday. The junior varsity takes the court at 5:00; the varsity follows at 6:00 in Bratt.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Biloxi Completes Sweep Of The Blue Wahoos
August 24, 2018
Biloxi completed the five-game sweep at MGM Park Thursday night as the Wahoos dropped a heartbreaker, 3-2.
It was a promising start for the visitors when Jose Siri homered on the first pitch of the game from Cameron Roegner to give Pensacola a snappy 1-0 lead. For Siri, it was his 12th second-half home run, adding to the franchise record that he set earlier this year.
Wyatt Strahan (L, 7-11) started the game strong for the Wahoos. Strahan faced one over the minimum through the first five innings of his start. In the sixth, Cody Ponce’s (W, 7-6) one-out double marked the first time the Shuckers had a runner in scoring position against Strahan. It was also his first professional hit. After a flyout by Corey Ray, Troy Stokes Jr walked and Keston Hiura singled to tie the game at one. Lucas Erceg followed with an RBI single and the Shuckers jumped ahead 2-1.
In the seventh, Biloxi added one more run off of MLB-rehabber Rookie Davis. After a leadoff double by Luis Aviles Jr., a pair of flyouts moved and eventually scored Aviles from second.
Pensacola clawed their way back into the game with a run in the eighth. Malik Collymore led off the frame with a pinch-hit single, and after a walk to Siri, both runners advanced on a sac bunt from TJ Friedl. Mitch Nay brought home Collymore with a sac fly and the Wahoos were only down 3-2. After Brad Kuntz walked Scott Schebler to put runners on the corners, Mike Guerrero brought in his closer, Nate Griep (S, 33), and he struck out Gavin LaValley to end the inning.
In the ninth, Taylor Featherston led off with an infield single. After Luis Gonzalez moved Featherston to second with a sac bunt, Griep walked the next two batters to load the bases. Griep worked around the threat by inducing Siri into a foul pop out and Friedl into a comebacker to the pitcher to end the game.
This is the second time this season Pensacola has been swept. As it stands, Pensacola is outside of the postseason, trailing the BayBears by a half game in the wildcard standings. If Pensacola cannot overtake Biloxi in the second-half standings, the team with the best overall record in the South Division will claim the other postseason berth.
LHP Seth Varner (8-2, 3.13) will take the hill to open Pensacola’s most important series of the season. The Blue Wahoos will welcome the BayBears for the final five games at Blue Wahoos Stadium this season. Mobile is expected to send RHP Alex Klonowski (9-3, 4.28) on the bump for the visitors.
Biloxi Beats Pensacola Again
August 23, 2018
The Biloxi Shuckers handed the Wahoos their fourth consecutive loss with a 6-3 win on Wednesday to knock the Pensacola Blue Wahoos out of first place in the second-half standings.
Zach Davies (W, 1-0), on a Major League rehab assignment was excellent over six innings for the Shuckers. Pensacola did not register their first hit until Gavin LaValley belted his 13th homer of the season, and his second of the series.
By that point, the Wahoos had dug themselves in a hole. Troy Stokes Jr. homered in the first inning off Daniel Wright (L, 6-10) to put the Shuckers up 1-0. In the third, Corey Ray led off the inning with a solo homer, his league-leading 27th of the year to give the Shuckers a 2-0 edge. The next batter reached on an error, and after a single by Lucas Erceg, Biloxi had runners on the corners with nobody out. Both runs would eventually score and Biloxi led 4-0 after three.
After LaValley’s homer made it 4-1, Biloxi scored two more in the bottom of the fifth, which increased their lead to 6-1. Pensacola’s final push came in the seventh, when Chris Okey crushed a two-run shot off Nattino Diplan to bring the Wahoos within three. However, Miguel Sanchez pitched the final two innings in scoreless fashion to secure Biloxi’s fifth win in a row.
The Wahoos, who sat in first place for 57 days, now trail Biloxi by a half game in the second-half standings. Fortunately for Pensacola, the BayBears split their doubleheader with Mississippi meaning that the Wahoos and BayBears are still tied in the wildcard standings. If the Wahoos can earn a win in the series finale, Pensacola will leapfrog ahead of Biloxi for first place once again.
The Wahoos will send RHP Wyatt Strahan (7-10, 4.19) in a pivotal series finale against the Shuckers. LHP Cameron Roegner (0-1, 6.39) will try to complete the series sweep for Biloxi.
Home Run: Blue Wahoos Rehab Fields At Century’s Showalter Park
August 22, 2018
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos teamed with area businesses and organizations Tuesday to renovate the little league fields at Showalter Park in Century.
They worked to overhaul the infield clay, weed, mow and bring the fields into game-ready shape for the youth of the Century area. The were joined by several community members and young Century Little League players.
For a NorthEscambia.com photo gallery, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Wahoos Lose 2-1 To Biloxi
August 22, 2018
Corey Ray and Trent Grisham belted solo home runs as the Wahoos fell to the Shuckers 2-1 Tuesday afternoon at MGM Park.
Ray delivered his league-leading 26th homer on Tony Santillan’s (L, 4-2) first pitch of the game to make it 1-0 Shuckers. Grisham led off the second inning and took Santillan deep to the opposite field to double Biloxi’s advantage.
After that, Santillan was exceptional. He allowed one hit over his final five innings and left the game in the eighth after retiring 11 consecutive Shuckers. Santillan is the tough-luck loser for the Wahoos and has now suffered defeats in back-to-back starts.
The Wahoos had no answer for Trey Supak (W, 4-6). The Texas-native held the Wahoos to three hits over six shutout innings and did not allow a runner to reach scoring position. Pensacola’s best chance for a comeback was in the eighth inning. Gavin LaValley led off with a home run off Jeff Ames to cut the deficit to one. Cassidy Brown doubled before Narciso Crook earned a pinch-hit walk to setup first and second with nobody out. Unfortunately, the Shuckers bullpen retired the next three Wahoos in order and Pensacola stranded the tying run at second.
Nate Griep (S, 32) for the second-consecutive night closed out the game in scoreless fashion. After a leadoff walk, he retired the side in order to earn his league-best 32nd save of the year. Pensacola has now lost nine of their past 11 games, and their lead in the second-half standings have shrunk to a half game.
The Wahoos will get right back to work for the penultimate game of the series tomorrow night. RHP Daniel Wright (6-9, 4.19) hopes to give the Wahoos a win in Wednesday’s contest. The Shuckers have not yet announced who will take the bump for them.