Wahoos One Win Away From Co-Championshp
September 8, 2017
Pensacola starting pitcher Jose Lopez delivered the second straight eight inning outing for the Blue Wahoos in the Southern League South Division Championship Series.
Behind Lopez’s three-hit, nine-strikeout performance, Pensacola defeated the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, 6-3, Thursday in front of 3,256 at Blue Wahoos Stadium. The Blue Wahoos have won the first two games of the playoff and are one game away from becoming the Southern League co-champions.
Lopez’s outing came after Pensacola starting pitcher Deck McGuire threw eight scoreless innings with a career-high 13 strikeouts.
Pensacola manager Pat Kelly called the game Lopez turned out “outstanding,” giving the Blue Wahoos a five game winning streak over Jacksonville.
“It was a really, really tremendous job,” Kelly said. “Deck (McGuire) did great yesterday and he did just as good.”
It was the second playoff appearance for Lopez, who pitched for the Billings Mustangs in 2015 in the Pioneer League playoffs. To add even more pressure, in his past two starts against Jacksonville, Lopez is 0-1 with a 6.59 ERA and lasted 4.2 and 4.0 innings. He allowed six earned runs on eight hits and 10 walks and struck out 11.
“It was just a mental thing,” Lopez said about his first two outings. “It’s fun to win. The playoffs make it a little more special.”
Austin Ross, who is 9-0 with a 1.87 ERA, takes the mound for Pensacola in the third game of the best-of-five series at 1:05 p.m. Friday that is free to fans, who are requested to donate for Hurricane Irma Relief. The Blue Wahoos have come to rely on their starting five this season with the second-best ERA in the Southern League at 3.14.
“I can’t think of a better guy to have on the mound to clinch it,” Kelly said.
Speaking of clutch players, Pensacola left fielder Josh VanMeter clubbed a two-run homer in the seventh inning with center fielder Gabriel Guerrero on base to give Pensacola a 6-1 lead. It was his first in the playoffs and sixth of the season. In the first two playoff games, Van Meter is 7-for-8 with a home run and four RBIs. The utility player also has a double and a stolen base.
“Definitely, this is the time to get hot,” said VanMeter, who hit .375 and drove in 27 runs with two outs and runners in scoring position this year. “I’ve been pretty good in clutch situations. These are the games you live for.”
Kelly said VanMeter’s home run came with all kinds of benefits, such as allowing Pensacola to save Zack Weiss and other relievers for Friday’s game. That’s because reliever Robert Stock gave up a two-run homer in the ninth inning that would have made the game a 4-3 nail biter, instead of a still comfortable 6-3 lead.
“It took the air out of (Jacksonville’s players),” Kelly said. “There are a lot of things involved right there.”
Pensacola first baseman Gavin LaValley launched a high flyball for a two-run home run to right field into Hill-Kelly hill with VanMeter on base to put the Blue Wahoos ahead, 2-0, in the second inning. His fourth homer for Pensacola was LaValley’s first since July 7 and 19th this season counting his first half with the High-A Daytona Tortugas.
“That was huge to get a lead on (Jacksonville pitcher Matt) Tomshaw right there,” Kelly said.
Blue Wahoos shortstop Blake Trahan added one more run in the inning when he lined a single to center to drive in Aquino to make the score, 3-0.
Jacksonville rallied with two outs in the third inning to get a run, when center fielder Braxton Lee doubled to left field and left fielder Austin Dean smacked a single to left to drive him in and trail Pensacola, 3-1.
Arismendy Alcantara hit his first home run for Pensacola when he belted a fly ball over the fence to right field to extend the Blue Wahoos lead to, 4-1.
Blue Wahoos co-owner and PGA Tour player Bubba Watson already proved he could motivate the Pensacola ball players when he gave a pep talk before Thursday’s playoff game. Then, the two-time Masters Champion donned the roach costume for the Lewis Critter Gitter Roach Race and looked like he could pinch run, if Pensacola needed him.
“It was pretty cool considering his status and who he is,” VanMeter said. “He is so down to earth. He came in and treated us like he knew us.”
Kelly said Watson’s talk to the players was great.
“I think it means a lot,” Kelly said. “You could see his passion. He loves not only his sport, but he loves our sport, too.”
Bonus Gallery: Northview, Escambia Academy Cheerleaders And Bands
September 5, 2017
Escambia Academy defeated the Northview Chiefs Friday night in Bratt.
For a bonus photo gallery of the cheerleaders and bands from both schools from Friday night, click here.
For a photo gallery of football action as Escambia Academy beat Northview, click here.
For a game recap story, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Bonus Gallery: West Florida Jaguars At Tate Aggies
September 5, 2017
The West Florida Jaguars defeated the Tate Aggies Friday night.
For a bonus photo gallery, click here.
For an earlier photo gallery, click here.
For a game recap story, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Jennifer Repine, click to enlarge.
Wahoos Overcome Jacksonville Shrimp
September 5, 2017
Pensacola Blue Wahoos right fielder Aristides Aquino crushed his team-leading 17th homer of the season to help his ballclub overcome the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, 5-1, at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville.
The victory helped Pensacola — the first half Southern Division title winners — win its third straight game to capture the five-game series, 3-2 over second half champion Jacksonville.
Pensacola went ahead, 3-0, in the first inning when first baseman Gavin LaValley singled to right field with two outs to drive in shortstop Blake Trahan to put the Blue Wahoos up, 1-0. That’s when Aquino launched a two-run homer to left field with LaValley on base to make it a 3-0 game. For the season, Aquino has a team-leading 17 homers and 56 RBIs.
In the fourth inning, Pensacola scored two more to go up, 5-0. LaValley scored the first run when center fielder Jonathan Reynoso hit a sacrifice fly to center field. Hudson then smacked his 15th double of the season to drive in Aquino.
Aquino went 2-for-4 with a homer, his 20th double, scored twice and knocked in two in Monday’s game. LaValley went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and his 34th RBI in the second half for Pensacola.
Jacksonville avoided being shutout when third baseman David Vidal scored in the bottom of the fourth inning when catcher Rodrigo Vigil grounded out into a double play to trail Pensacola, 5-1.
Pensacola starting pitcher Jesus Reyes worked five innings allowed one run on eight hits, walked one and struck out one.
The Blue Wahoos starting pitchers Austin Ross, Keury Mella and Reyes allowed three earned runs in 18 innings for a 1.50 ERA in the last three games. Pensacola owns the second-best ERA in the Southern League at 3.14 this season.
Pensacola and Jacksonville have the day off Tuesday and then start the best of five game playoff series for the Southern Division crown scheduled to start at 6:35 p.m. Wednesday at Blue Wahoos Stadium. Pensacola also hosts the second game before heading to Jacksonville.
The Blue Wahoos won a Southern League record four halves in a row this season to tie the Tennessee Smokies, which also won four straight halves between 2009 and 2011.
Pensacola improved to 34-36 in the second half and 74-66 this regular season. Meanwhile, Jacksonville fell to 39-31 and 69-71 to end the year.
Wahoos Beat The Jumbo Shrimp
September 4, 2017
Pensacola starting pitcher Keury Mella turned in his fourth strong start in a row for the Blue Wahoos.
This time, the 24-year-old Dominican allowed one run in seven innings, while Pensacola third baseman Josh VanMeter singled in the winning run to help the Blue Wahoos overcome the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, 2-1, Sunday at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville. The win tied the series, 2-2.
Mella gave up just four hits, no walks and struck out six. In the past four games, the right-hander has given up six runs, five earned in 25 innings for a 1.80 ERA, while striking out 23. He has turned his year around since the Mobile BayBears chased him from the game by scoring seven runs in 2.2 innings on Aug. 10
The victory improved his regular season record to 4-10 with a 4.30 ERA.
Blue Wahoos closer Tanner Rainey picked up his fourth save in his last four appearances since Aug. 28. Rainey, whose fastball touches 100 mph, has not allowed a run or hit in his last six games, recording 13 strikeouts in 6.2 innings.
Sunday, the big right-hander made it interesting, though. Rainey walked the first two batters he faced in the ninth inning. However, he got a strikeout and then Jacksonville right fielder John Norwood hit a line drive to second baseman Shed Long, who quickly threw to first to get Austin Dean out for a double play to end the game.
Pensacola rallied to beat Jacksonville with two out in the sixth inning by getting three singles in a row by right fielder Gabriel Guerrero, Long and third baseman Josh VanMeter. Guerrero’s single scored Mella, who had singled, to tie the Jumbo Shrimp, 1-1. Then VanMeter singled up the middle to drive in Long and put Pensacola up, 2-1.
Jacksonville’s only run of the game came on a solo home run by first baseman Justin Bour, who is on a rehab assignment from the Miami Marlins where he hit 21 homers this year.
Because Pensacola won the Southern Division in the first half, it will play Jacksonville, the second half champion, in the best of five game playoffs scheduled to start Sept. 6 at Blue Wahoos Stadium.
The Blue Wahoos won a Southern League record four halves in a row to tie the Tennessee Smokies, which also won four straight halves between 2009 and 2011.
Pensacola improved to 33-36 in the second half and 73-66 overall, while Jacksonville fell to 39-30 and 69-70.
UWF Gets Late Stops To Preserve 20-16 Season-Opening Road Win
September 3, 2017
On a night when the UWF offense wasn’t as prolific as it had been a year ago, the defense came up huge with multiple ‘bend but don’t break’ stops and two turnovers to secure the season-opening 20-16 road win over Missouri S&T at Allgood-Bailey Stadium Saturday.
The Argonauts got a huge break at the start of the fourth quarter when S&T kick returner Rod Chapman fumbled a punt that gave UWF the ball at the 19-yard line. Three plays later Mike Beaudry connected with sophomore Gage Krull inside the five before Krull carried a defender into the end zone that gave the Argos a 20-13 lead.
The Miners got four first downs on the ensuing drive but were stood up inside the 10 and had to settle for a 25-yard Ben Styron field goal – his third of the game.
Both teams traded 3-and-out possessions before the Miners made a push across midfield into UWF territory. Sitting at the 44, Tyler Swart went for a home run ball but graduate transfer Josh Marshall went up and intercepted it at the eight.
The Miners got the ball back again 59 seconds later and drove to the 8-yard line with less than a minute to play. Deshawn Jones found a seam up the middle and was hit at the three, where he launched towards the goal line but saw the ball slip out of his hands inside the one when sophomore Martes Wheeler hit him, allowing sophomore Trent Archie to recover it for the Argos and clinch the victory.
UWF (1-0) finished with 265 yards of total offense. Beaudry, a redshirt sophomore who missed last season while rehabbing a foot injury, was 20-of-31 for 192 yards and a pair of touchdown passes in his first college game. Sophomore Grey Jackson was 5-of-8 for 32 yards.
The Argonauts rushed for just 41 yards, with sophomore Chris Schwarz gaining 34 on 19 carries. He had 10 yards on five trips with a 1-yard score late in the first quarter that put the Argonauts ahead 6-0.
On defense, UWF sacked S&T’s Tyler Swart five times and limited the rushing attack to 65 yards. Wheeler led the defense with nine tackles and junior Marvin Conley added eight.
Missouri S&T (0-1) had 422 yards with 357 through the air, but committed three turnovers in its final five possessions.
The Miners held their only lead at 7-6 following a 65-yard Swart touchdown pass early in the second quarter. The Argos regained the lead with six seconds to play in the half when Beaudry found Rodney Coates in the end zone on a 25-yard pass that ended a drive that covered 75 yards on seven plays in 1:45.
UWF will return home for three-consecutive games at Blue Wahoos Stadium, beginning next Saturday, Sept. 9 against No. 24 Midwestern State (1-0).
Wahoos Win Over Jacksonville
September 3, 2017
In his sixth start since spending a month on the disabled list for shoulder tightness, Pensacola Blue Wahoos starting pitcher Austin Ross finally looks 100 percent healthy.
The 29-year-old Ross allowed one run in six innings to snap Pensacola’s two game losing streak with a, 3-1, victory Saturday over the second half Southern Division champion Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville.
Ross improved to 9-0 with a 1.87 ERA, allowing just five hits, no walks and striking out six.
Ross loaded the bases with one out in the second inning but struck out the final two batters of the inning to escape that scoring threat and blanked Jacksonville the first five innings.
However, with two outs in the sixth inning Jumbo Shrimp right fielder John Norwood his 16th double of the year. Jacksonville third baseman David Vidal followed with a single to center to drive in Norwood to trail Pensacola, 3-1. On the play, Blue Wahoos catcher Joe Hudson threw Vidal out trying to take second base on the throw home.
The Blue Wahoos scored all its runs in the third inning benefitting from two Jacksonville errors to go ahead, 3-0. Pensacola shortstop Blake Trahan reached second on a throwing error by Jacksonville’s Vidal. Trahan scored the first run when Jumbo Shrimp first baseman Justin Bour committed an error on a grounder by Pensacola third baseman Arismendy Alcantara. Pensacola went up, 2-0, when second baseman Shed Long doubled to drive in Ross. Guerrero then grounded out to third, allowing Alcantara to score for a 3-0 Pensacola lead.
Long was 3-for-3 in the game with the double, walk and RBI to lead the Blue Wahoos. He is 5-for-11 in the first three games of the five-game series against Jacksonville with two RBIs and a run scored.
Pensacola reliever Zack Weiss entered the game in the seventh inning and threw two scoreless innings, striking out four. Weiss has now thrown 6.2 shutout innings and has not allowed a hit, while striking out four over his last four appearances.
Blue Wahoos closer Tanner Rainey picked up his third save in his last three appearances. Like Weiss, the flame throwing Rainey has not allowed a run or hit in his last five appearances, getting 12 strikeouts in 5.2 innings.
Jacksonville starter Trevor Richards, picked up the loss to fall to 5-7 on the year, but also pitched a good game. The 24-year-old righty worked six innings, allowing three unearned runs, five hits, walked none and struck out seven.
Jacksonville leads the series, 2-1.
Because Pensacola won the first half, its Southern League record fourth in a row, the two teams meet again Sept. 6 at Blue Wahoos Stadium in a best of five series in the Southern Division playoffs.
Only the Tennessee Smokies have also won four straight halves between 2009 and 2011.
West Florida Topples Tate (With Photo Gallery)
September 2, 2017
The West Florida Jaguars came from behind to defeat the Tate Aggies Friday night 41-28.
For a photo gallery, click here.
Two touchdown passes by Tate junior quarterback Hunter Riggan on the Aggies’ first two drives made it 13-0 after just four minutes of play. The Aggies were back on top late in the second quarter on a short Shermari Jones touchdown run to make the score 22-14. The Aggies saw their lead cut to 22-20 by halftime.
Early in the third quarter, West Florida junior quarterback Trever Jordan and Ko Burrell linked up for another aerial touchdwon. West Florida converted the 2-point try for a 28-22 lead. The Jaguars held the lead the remainder of the game.
The Aggies (1-1) will host Gulf Breeze (2-0) next Friday night at 7:00 while West Florida (2-0) will hit the road to take on D’Iverville, MS.
Look for more photos to be posted by Tuesday on NorthEscambia.com.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Jennifer Repine, click to enlarge.
Escambia Academy Beats Northview, 41-14 (With Gallery)
September 2, 2017
The Northview Chiefs were beat at home Friday night by the Escambia Academy Cougars, 41-14.
“They were better than us tonight in every facet of the game. They fought better, they tackled better, they ran better. They ran routes better, they covered better…every facet of the game,” Northview head coast Derek Marshman said. “There were some positives. We had some young guys step up. We had freshman and sophomores on the field. We’re a young team. I mean this is like a JV team playing a varsity team age-wise. So in the grand scheme of things we had some young guys really step up and fight but overall they just out performed us tonight.”
For a photo gallery, click here.
The running-clock loss will serve as one of those character building, a team building lessons in life for the Chiefs.
“To see competition like this you know, No. 3 (Fred Flavors) and No. 7 (Trey Turner) are just helluva football players. You get competition like that and you see there speed it helps, it really does, but overall like I said, it’ll help us because we had young guys stepping up, and that’s what matters. We are a young football team and our leaders are young guys,” Marshman said.
Turner had three touchdowns on the night, including a 55-yarder, for the Cougars, while junior Patrick McGhee had two touchdowns.
Escambia Academy held a 28-0 lead at the half, with Northview coming back to outscore EA 14-13 in the second half.
Northview scored with a 70-yard touchdown run from Jaden Jackson and a 5-yard run by Aunterrio Minor.
Next week, the Chiefs (1-1) make the trek to South Walton (1-1) while Escambia Academy will host Pickens Academy.
“Next time we go to South Walton and they got moved up to 4A so it’s going to be a challenge for us. They are going to throw the ball around and they are going to do some really good things in the spread so it’s going to be a little different type of look for us,” Marshman said.
For a photo gallery, click here.
Look for cheerleader, band and other photos to be posted by Tuesday on NorthEscambia.com.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
High School Football Scores
September 2, 2017
Here are week two high school scores from around the North Escambia area Friday night:
FLORIDA
West Florida 41, Tate 28 [Read more...]
Escambia Academy 41, Northview 14 [Read more...]
Cottondale 28, Jay 27
Navarre 27, Washington 12
Gulf Breeze 38, Catholic 25
Pensacola 40, Pace 14
Milton 27, Choctaw 13
Pine Forest (OFF)
Escambia at Archbishop Shaw (LA) – Saturday
ALABAMA
Escambia County 8, Wilcox Central 0
Escambia Academy 41, Northview 14
Flomaton 53, Billingsley 7
T.R. Miller 54, Opp 0
Tallasee 28, W.S. Neal 13
Pictured: Tate hosted West Florida Friday night. NorthEscambia.com photo by Jennifer Repine, click to enlarge.