Wahoos End First Half With 11-4 Win Inbox
June 22, 2026
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos secured the series victory over the Birmingham Barons by a final score of 11-4 on Sunday evening.
Besting the Barons (26-43) in four of six games, the Blue Wahoos (36-33) earned their fifth series win as the first half of the season came to a close. It is their first series victory over Birmingham, who they tied 3-3 in the teams’ first meeting at Regions Field in late May.
Standout Cam Cannarella batted a triple shy of the cycle, going 3-for-4 with a career-best five RBI as well as two runs scored. He’d increase his hitting streak to seven games and manage his second home run in as many days, earning his first three-hit game at the Double-A level.
Over the course of the series, Cannarella batted .534 (11-for-21) against the Barons. He’s slashing .378/.439/.543 heading into a road trip at Chattanooga.
The Blue Wahoos managed their 11 runs on 12 hits, drawing eight walks. All but one Pensacola starter recorded a hit in the win. Juan Matheus and Dillon Lewis each posted 2-for-5 days at the plate, each driving in and scoring at least one run.
The Pensacola pitching staff, led by starter Luis Moreno (W, 3-3), allowed only four earned runs on a combined nine hits and a single walk while striking out nine Baron bats. Moreno delivered 5.0 innings, allowing one earned run on four hits while picking up three strikeouts. A free base wasn’t issued to the Birmingham battery until the ninth inning.
Pensacola made a statement in the first inning as three hits led to three runs. The one-two punch of Cannarella and Aiva Arquette showed just how much damage they can do, as Cannarella got himself aboard with a single and was sent home immediately after Arquette powered his fifth home run over left field.
Matheus added to the lead moments later, scoring from third on a Ryan Ignoffo sacrifice fly into deep center. Pensacola would round out the impressive first inning with a 3-0 lead, and bring an early end to the day for Barons starting pitcher Phil Fox (L, 2-3) who would be saddled with the loss.
Patience at the plate paid off in the second inning for the Blue Wahoos. Garret Forrester, Payton Green and Arquette each drew walks to load the basepath, setting the table for Matheus to single through the left side and bring home Forrester.
Cannarella padded the lead for the third straight inning, sending a sacrifice fly to the warning track in center to give Ignoffo room to score from third. Birmingham stopped the bleeding as third baseman Alec Briley pulled off a diving catch on a liner by Arquette, but the Blue Wahoos held a comfortable 5-0 lead
The Barons answered back in the fifth with a solo home run from Jorge Corona, but it wouldn’t take long for the Blue Wahoos to respond with two of their own. After a lengthy battle at the plate, Cannarella launched an opposite field two-run home run over left. It’d be his second home run at the Double-A level, his first coming a night prior in Saturday’s victory.
Lewis then hammered a first-pitch no-doubter over left center, driving in Matheus to spike the lead to 9-1. Lewis tied Columbus’s David McCabe for the Southern League lead in home runs with 16 on the season.
Birmingham got two back with an Anthony DePino two-run homer in the top of the sixth, but the Pensacola offense kept rolling. Ignoffo kicked off the bottom of the frame with a single, followed by a walk issued toIan Lewis Jr. Both pulled off a double steal, paving the way for Cannarella to blast a two-RBI double to the left-center warning track.
Though the Barons would manage another run on a solo homer in the seventh, it’d be the final score from either side as the Blue Wahoos pitching staff struck out four through the remaining innings.
The Blue Wahoos will take Monday off before hitting the road for a series with the Chattanooga Lookouts, the Double-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, beginning on Tuesday.
written by Maddy Branning
After Record Rain Delay, Matheus Lifts Wahoos To Late-Night Win
June 21, 2026
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos and Birmingham Barons waited nearly four hours to play their Saturday game at Blue Wahoos Stadium, getting started past ten o’clock and dueling for seven innings in a 4-0 Blue Wahoos win to keep Pensacola’s first half playoff hopes alive.
Prior to this week, the longest rain delay in Blue Wahoos Stadium history had been 2 hours and 55 minutes. A seventh-inning rain delay on Thursday night lasted 3 hours and 40 minutes, sending the game to a 1 a.m. curfew and a shortened eight-inning game. Saturday’s pregame delay lasted even longer, pushing back a scheduled start time of 6:05 to 10:04, by far the latest first pitch in the stadium’s history as well as the longest weather delay.
Despite the unprecedented wait, hundreds of fans from what was initially a sellout crowd stuck around. Fireworks, intended to be shot off postgame, lit up the tarp-covered field around 8:30. Because the game had playoff implications, with the Biloxi Shuckers poised to clinch a first half South Division title upon a Blue Wahoos loss, the umpire crew went to unprecedented lengths to get the game in.
Luis Palacios made the start for the Blue Wahoos in his first appearance since being named Southern League Pitcher of the Week on Monday. The lefty endured shaky command, allowing only one hit but walking four batters over 3.1 innings. Kade Bragg (W, 4-2) inherited a pair of runners in the top of the fourth, coaxing a lineout from Colby Shelton and striking out Jeral Perez to escape the jam.
Barons starter Dylan Cumming (L, 1-5) was perfect through three innings, but the Blue Wahoos built a rally in the fourth. Cam Cannarella dropped down a bunt single, Aiva Arquette reached on a fielding error that could have been a double play grounder, and Juan Matheus launched a three-run homer to right field to put Pensacola ahead 3-0.
Bragg walked the bases loaded in the fifth, but struck out three Birmingham batters to keep the lead intact. Cannarella added insurance with a solo homer, his first at Double-A, in the sixth inning. Colby Martin (S, 3) earned a four-out save to finish off a combined three-hit shutout.
With the win, the Blue Wahoos’ first half playoff hopes remain alive. On Sunday, they would need the Biloxi Shuckers to play – no sure thing, given that they have only been able to play two of their scheduled games this week at Keesler Federal Park due to heavy rain and unplayable field conditions – and lose twice to the Columbus Clingstones. The Shuckers and Clingstones will complete a suspended seven-inning game from Friday, tied 1-1 in the third inning, and play another seven-inning contest. The Blue Wahoos would also need to win their series finale against the Barons.
The Blue Wahoos wrap up their series, and the first half schedule against the Barons, on Sunday afternoon.
written by Erik Bremer
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
Blue Wahoos Split Twin Bill With Barons
June 18, 2026
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos beat the Birmingham Barons 6-4 in the first half of their Wednesday doubleheader, but blew a late lead in the nightcap to lose 6-3.
Combined with a Biloxi Shuckers loss, the doubleheader split puts Pensacola in second place by 0.5 games with four to play before the end of the first half on Sunday.
In game one, the Blue Wahoos went deep three times to account for five of their six runs. Aiva Arquette hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the third inning, Dillon Lewis added his team-leading 14th later in the frame, and Cristian Hernández laced a two-run shot in the fifth inning.
Alex Williams (W, 4-5) outpitched Birmingham’s Gabe Davis (L, 0-2), working 5.2 innings of four-run ball. After surrendering a first-inning homer to Alec Briley, the righty settled down and effectively protected the Pensacola lead. Jack Sellinger (S, 3) inherited a pair of baserunners with the tying run at the plate in the sixth, but escaped the jam and returned for the seventh to secure a five-out save in a 6-4 final.
In game two, Lewis once again provided early offense with an RBI groundout in the first inning and an RBI single in the third. Connor Caskenette forced in the third Pensacola run with a bases-loaded walk in the fifth, though the Blue Wahoos squandered a chance to add on with the bases loaded and nobody out against reliever Phil Fox (W, 2-2).
Blue Wahoos starter Jacob Miller allowed a Brenden Dixon RBI double in the second inning, but otherwise looked sharp over 2.0 innings in his first start since coming off the injured list. Holt Jones was dominant in long relief, striking out seven batters over 3.0 one-hit innings, and Kade Bragg (L, 3-2) worked through a 1-2-3 sixth to send the game to the seventh and final frame.
Tasked with protecting a 3-1 lead, Bragg allowed an infield single and a pair of walks to load the bases. Colby Martin entered from the bullpen, getting a strikeout before allowing a game-tying two-run double to Pensacola native T.J. McCants. Martin struck out Samuel Zavala and intentionally walked Briley to load the bases for Caleb Bonemer, the top prospect in the White Sox organization who had made his Double-A debut in game one. A four-pitch walk forced in the go-ahead run, and Anthony DePino muscled a broken-bat single up the middle to score two more.
Jackson Kelley (S, 5) worked around a Lewis double in the seventh to close out a 6-3 Barons win.
The Blue Wahoos continue their series against the Barons on Thursday.
written by Erik Bremer
Blue Wahoos, Barons Postponed in Pensacola
June 17, 2026
Tuesday’s game at Blue Wahoos Stadium between the Pensacola Blue Wahoos and Birmingham Barons has been postponed due to rain.
The game will be made up as part of a doubleheader on Wednesday, June 17, with a pair of seven-inning games beginning at 4:05 p.m. Game two will begin approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of game one.
Fans planning to attend Tuesday’s postponed game can exchange their tickets for a future 2026 regular season home game of equal or lesser value at the Blue Wahoos Stadium ticket office. As stated on tickets, no refunds will be given, according to the Wahoos.
Fans with tickets to Wednesday’s regularly scheduled game will gain admittance to both games in the doubleheader, in the seats they have been assigned. Gates open at 3 p.m.
Incoming Tate Senior Brooklyn Ray Commits To Southern Mississippi
June 16, 2026
Tate High School’s Brooklyn Ray has made an early commitment to continue her athletic and academic career at the University of Southern Mississippi. She is an incoming senior at Tate. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Tate High Graduate Evan Taylor Commits To Wallace Selma
June 15, 2026
Tate High School 2026 graduate Evan Taylor has committed to continue his baseball and academic career at Wallace Community College Selma. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Blue Wahoos Clinch Series With 8-4 Win Over Clingstones
June 15, 2026
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos wrapped up their weeklong road series against the Columbus Clingstones with an 8-4 win on Sunday afternoon.
Juan Matheus, Jay Beshears, Garret Forrester and Dillon Lewis each went deep, helping the Blue Wahoos secure a series win and apply pressure in the first half South Division playoff race. With one week remaining, they are 1.0 game behind first-place Montgomery pending the results of the Biscuits’ Sunday contest.
Luis Moreno (W, 2-3) allowed a first-inning solo homer to David McCabe, the Columbus slugger’s league-leading 15th of the season, but turned in another effective start with 5.0+ innings of two-run ball.
The Blue Wahoos got on the board against Clingstones starter Ian Mejia (L, 0-4) in the second inning, using speed and small ball to score a pair of runs. Cristian Hernández was hit by a pitch, stole two bases, and scored when Ian Lewis Jr. stole second and prompted an errant throw to the outfield. Cam Cannarella then laced an RBI single to right field, scoring Lewis Jr. to put Pensacola ahead 2-1.
Matheus hit a two-run homer in the third and Beshears added a solo shot in the fourth, extending the Blue Wahoos lead to 5-1.
The Clingstones chipped away, as Luke Waddell delivered an RBI single in the fifth and sacrifice fly in the seventh, but relievers Kade Bragg and Nigel Belgrave worked out of trouble to preserve the lead. Late homers from Forrester in the eighth and Lewis in the ninth created a four-run cushion for Colby Martin to close out the 8-4 final.
After an off day Monday, the Blue Wahoos wrap up the first half with a six-game home series against the Birmingham Barons on Tuesday.
written by Erik Bremer
Blue Wahoos Spin Three-Hit Shutout In 4-0 Win
June 14, 2026
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos beat the Columbus Clingstones 4-0 on Saturday night, riding another dominant start from veteran lefty Luis Palacios to a combined three-hit shutout.
Palacios (W, 4-0), the winningest pitcher in franchise history, earned his 28th career Double-A victory with 5.0 innings of one-hit ball. Jack Sellinger and Holt Jones (S, 1) finished off the shutout with effective relief.
After a 29-minute precautionary pregame weather delay, Palacios and Clingstones starter Julio Robaina (L, 1-2) traded zeroes until the top of the third. Garret Forrester walked, Dylan Jasso reached on an error, and Ian Lewis Jr. hit an opposite-field three-run homer to put the Blue Wahoos ahead 3-0.
Cristian Hernández had a three-hit night, doubling in the ninth inning and scoring an insurance run on an unusual play when he stole third and catcher Archer Brookman’s throw deflected off Forrester in the batter’s box.
That would be more than enough for Palacios and the rest of the Pensacola pitching staff, which allowed only a seventh-inning walk and a pair of ninth-inning singles for the club’s third shutout of the season.
The win brought the Blue Wahoos back to .500 at 31-31, and brings them to within 2.0 games of first place with seven to play in the first half pending the results of first-place Montgomery’s Saturday game.
The Blue Wahoos wrap up their series against the Clingstones on Sunday afternoon.
written by Erik Bremer
Former Northview Coach Jeremy Greenwell Named J.U. Blacksher Offensive Coordinator
June 13, 2026
Former Northview High School Coach Jeremy Greenwell has been named the new offensive coordinator for the J.U. Blacksher Bulldogs in Uriah, Alabama.
Greenwell is the former head baseball coach at Northview, former football coach at Ernest Ward Middle School, and, most recently a football coach at West Florida High School.
Pictured: New J.U. Blacksher Bulldogs offensive coordinator Jeremy Greenwell with his family — wife Savannah and children Coy and Joanna. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.