NWE Football, Cheer To Host Registration Event Monday
June 26, 2017
NWE Football and Cheer will have a registration event on Monday, June 26th from 5:30 until 7 p.m. at Bradberry Park in Walnut Hill.
Cheerleaders who need new uniforms will be fitted by our cheer uniform representative. Due to uniform turnaround time, this will be the last day to register for cheerleaders who need new uniforms.
Cheerleader registration plus new uniform package is $150. Cheerleader registration (if you have a uniform) is $25.
Football registration is $50. NWE provides helmet, shoulder pads and game uniforms. NWE Football Players can now also register online at www.nwechiefsfootball.com.
Wahoos Drop Doubleheader To Chattanooga
June 26, 2017
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos lost a doubleheader Sunday to the Chattanooga Lookouts and have yet to beat them this season.
The Blue Wahoos dropped both seven-inning games, 6-0, and are now 0-9 against the Lookouts in the teams’ two five-game series. The Blue Wahoos have now been blanked nine times this season, while the Chattanooga pitching staff has recorded nine shutout wins this year.
Pensacola dropped the first game of the seven-inning doubleheader to Chattanooga, 6-0, Sunday, thanks to 25-year-old Dereck Rodriguez, who was pitching in just his second Double-A game.
Rodriquez allowed just two hits and two walks over six scoreless innings, striking out six for his first win for Chattanooga. Rodriguez earned his first Double-A victory and is now 1-0 with a 4.50 ERA.
Meanwhile, Pensacola starter Jose Lopez gave up four runs on nine hits and four walks over five innings and struck out four. Lopez gave up a home run in the top of the second inning to Chattanooga left fielder Travis Harrison, his first of the season. He fell to 2-1 on the year with a 3.57 ERA for the Blue Wahoos.
Also leading the Chattanooga offense in game one of the doubleheader was center fielder LaMonte Wade, who was 2-3, scored and knocked in two runs, and Andy Wilkins, who hit 3-4, with a double, scored a run and drove in 2 RBIs.
Pensacola’s offense was less productive, managing just three hits in both games. The Blue Wahoos dropped the second game, 6-0, as well, with Fernando Romero tossing seven scoreless innings. He also gave up three walks and struck out six to improve to 7-5 with a 2.97 ERA. The 22-year-old Romero now has 76 Ks in 78.2 innings.
Pensacola starter Domingo Tapia gave up four runs on six hits and two walks in three innings of work to pick up the loss to drop to 2-3 with a 3.38 ERA.
Blue Wahoos first baseman Gavin LaValley was 1-3 in both games and now is 5-14 (.357) hitting in all four games since being called up from the High-A Daytona Tortugas Thursday. The 22-year-old was the only Pensacola batter to get hits in both games and now has two doubles a homerun and three RBIs against Chattanooga.
Pensacola, the Southern League first half South Division champion, will try to avoid being swept in the five-game series by Chattanooga, the first half North Division champion, for the second time this season at 6:15 p.m. Monday.
Pensacola Drops Game, 3-2, to Chattanooga
June 25, 2017
Pensacola Blue Wahoos starter Deck McGuire threw eight scoreless innings, allowing five hits and striking out six.
But the Chattanooga Lookouts came back from a 2-0 deficit when catcher Dan Rohlfing was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded for a walk-off win, 3-2, Saturday over Pensacola at AT&T Field.
Gavin LaValley appeared to have given the Blue Wahoos and All-Star McGuire a 2-0 win in the top of the eighth inning when he laced a double that scored shortstop Josh VanMeter and center fielder Gabriel Guerrero.
In his first two games since being called up from the High-A Daytona Tortugas Thursday, the 22-year-old LaValley has two doubles and a homer in eight at-bats.
Meanwhile, the 6-foot-6 McGuire has shutout his opponents in four of his 11 starts this season with Pensacola.
But Chattanooga came right back in the bottom of the ninth with three runs off Pensacola reliever Geoff Broussard, who gave up three walks, three singles and hit a batter and failed to get an out.
Chattanooga DH Jonathan Rodriguez smacked a single to left field that scored right fielder Edgar Corcino to cut Pensacola’s lead to 2-1. The game was knotted, 2-2, when first baseman Andy Wilkins then hit a line drive into right field that scored left fielder LaMonte Wade. The next two batters walked and then Broussard hit Rohlfing, which scored pinch runner Alex Perez with the game-winning run, 3-2.
Pensacola has lost the first two games of the series and plays a seven-inning doubleheader with Chattanooga at 3:15 p.m. Sunday to make up for Thursday’s rained out game. The five-game series matches the South and North divisions’ first half champions.
Besides LaValley, VanMeter went 2-5 with a run scored for Pensacola. Gabriel Guerrero earned his 24th multi-hit game with a 3-4 night and one run scored. Blue Wahoos third baseman Nick Senzel, the second overall pick in the 2016 MLB Draft by the Cincinnati Reds, was 2-4 for his first multi-hit game in Double-A.
Wahoos Finish First Half At 40-30
June 19, 2017
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos finished the first half with three straight losses to the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp. But more importantly the Double-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds also finished with its fourth consecutive half season title in the Southern League.
The crown matches the Tennessee Smokies, who also won four consecutive halves from 2009 to 2011.
Pensacola fell, 3-2, in the first seven-inning game and, 1-0, in the second game Sunday on a walk-off single with the bases loaded and one out when Jacksonville left fielder Alex Glenn slapped a single to right field to score catcher Austin Nola at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville.
Up until the seventh inning, Pensacola starter Luis Castillo was riding a three-game winning streak. Castillo has pitched 6.1 scoreless innings and given up just two hits before Glenn’s game-winning hit. He dropped to 4-4 with a 2.58 ERA on the season.
Although Pensacola hammered out eight hits, the lineup was 1-8 with runners in scoring position Sunday.
Jacksonville starter Chris Mazza and reliever Andy Beltre combined to shutout Pensacola on eight hits, one walk and five strikeouts over seven innings. It was the Blue Wahoos seventh shutout loss this season with two, 1-0, losses coming in this series with the Jumbo Shrimp.
In the first game, Blue Wahoos second baseman Alex Blandino put Pensacola on the board first, 1-0, when he crushed his sixth homer of the year over the left field fence.
But Jacksonville pushed two runs across in the third inning to take a 2-1 lead, when center fielder Yefri Perez, who leadoff the inning with a double, scored on a bunt by pitcher Omar Bencomo on a throwing error by Pensacola catcher Adrian Nieto. The second run came when Bencomo stored on a sacrifice fly by right fielder John Norwood.
Jacksonville catcher Cam Maron, who played with Pensacola, his a solo shot in the fourth to put the Jumbo Shrimp ahead, 3-1. Pensacola pulled within one run in the top of the seventh, 3-2, when Nieto singled to center to drive in first baseman Eric Jagielo, who leadoff the inning with a walk.
Pensacola starter Deck McGuire lasted four innings, giving up three runs, two earned, on four hits and a walk and striking out two. He picked up the loss and is 6-5 with a 3.50 ERA this year.
Meanwhile, Jacksonville used four pitchers over the seven-inning game, scattering five hits and two walks that led to Pensacola’s two runs, and striking out seven.
Blandino finished the year as one of the hottest hitters in the Pensacola lineup. He earned a hit in 13 of the the last 15 games and three homers, including two against Jacksonville. He batted .367 going 18-49 with 18 RBIs, including two 4-RBI games.
The Cincinnati first round pick in 2014 has 22 doubles in the first half this year, which is just three off his best season when he had 25 in 2015 between High-A Daytona Tortugas and Double-A Pensacola.
Blue Wahoos And Jacksonville Rained Out
June 18, 2017
The scheduled Pensacola Blue Wahoos and Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp game Saturday was rained out for the third time this series.
The Southern Division champion Blue Wahoos and Jumbo Shrimp are slated to start a seven-inning doubleheader at 12:05 p.m. CST Sunday.
Pensacola leads the five-game series, 2-1.
Wahoos Split Double Header With Jumbo Shrimp
June 17, 2017
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos made sure it decisively won its fourth consecutive Southern League half.
Both second baseman Alex Blandino and catcher Adrian Nieto clobbered home runs, as Pensacola downed the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, 9-3, in the first game of a seven-inning doubleheader Friday at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville. The Blue Wahoos fell in the second game to the Jumbo Shrimp, 1-0.
Pensacola’s victory in the first game was historic. It ensured that the Blue Wahoos joined the Tennessee Smokies, who also won four consecutive halves from 2009 to 2011. There was no celebration after the first game just high fives as the team remained focused on playing the second game of the seven-inning doubleheader.
Pensacola manager Pat Kelly said he was pleased with his team.
“It’s great,” he said. “The players deserved it they’ve played extremely well all year. They’ve been in first place every day but about six. Just a terrific performance. Again, good pitching and we got some really timely hitting in that first game.”
Cincinnati Reds right-hander Brandon Finnegan made his second MLB rehab assignment for Pensacola with the first half title on the line. He’s recovering from a strained left trapezius, which he sustained April 15.
The 24-year-old threw four scoreless innings, allowed one hit and struck out four Jacksonville hitters Friday. In his two starts for the Blue Wahoos, Finnegan has thrown seven scoreless innings, given up two hits, walked one and struck out five.
Pensacola split Friday’s doubleheader and is 40-28 on the year. The second place Biloxi Shuckers (34-31) scheduled seven-inning doubleheader Friday with the Mobile BayBears was rained out.
Before his injury, Finnegan, a first round pick in 2014, was 1-0 with a 2.70 ERA and had 14 strikeouts in 10 innings. In his three seasons with the Reds, he is 13-13 in 38 starts with a 3.94 ERA.
Pensacola middle reliever Ariel Hernandez earned the victory in one inning of relief of Finnegan and is 2-0 with a 2.18 ERA.
Nieto hit his third homer of the season, a solo shot to left center field. He was 3-4 in the game with two runs scored. Blandino smashed a two-out, three-run bomb in the fifth inning and now has 30 RBIs. He is second on the team behind right fielder Aristides Aquino, who singled in a run in the first game Friday and has 34 this season.
In the second game, Pensacola ace Tyler Mahle started the game. He pitched three innings and gave up the only run in the game on four hits and struckout three. Mahle took the loss and is 7-3 with a 1.59 ERA in the first half of the season.
Mahle gave up a two-out triple to right field to Jacksonville third baseman Brian Anderson in the bottom of the third innings. The extra-base hit scored Jumbo Shrimp pitcher Mike Kickham, who had singled to center, for a 1-0 lead. Kickham earned the win and is 4-3 with a 2.26 ERA. He is also 5-13 at the plate, hitting .385.
Wahoos Beat Jacksonville 1-0 In Rain Shortened Game
June 16, 2017
Pensacola Blue Wahoos pitcher Keury Mella gave up one hit in five scoreless innings of a rain-shortened game, plus the 23-year-old knocked in the only run of the game.
Pensacola defeated the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, 1-0, Thursday at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville. The Blue Wahoos’ ninth shutout win of the year was called in the top of the sixth with one out — a strikeout by Pensacola catcher Adrian Nieto.
Mella gave up his only walk in the top of the first inning to leadoff hitter Jeremias Pineda. The only hit Mella allowed came in the top of the second inning when Jacksonville first baseman Taylor Ard knocked a single to left field to leadoff the inning. Ard was also the only Jumbo Shrimp batter to reach second base.
Mella, who is in his first season in Double-A, then retired the next 11 of 12 batters he faced. He improved to 2-4 with a 4.35 ERA.
Plus, Mella, who is ranked the 19th best prospect in the Cincinnati Reds organization, hit a first pitch ground ball that deflected off the third baseman and continued into left field. The two-out single drove in Pensacola catcher Adrian Nieto for a 1-0 lead.
Blue Wahoos left fielder Tyler Goeddel led the Blue Wahoos lineup going 3-3 with a double. Goeddel’s three hits were half of Pensacola’s six total hits.
Pensacola center fielder Gabriel Guerrero also earned a hit, going 1-3, and second baseman Alex Blandino got the other hit for the Blue Wahoos, hitting 1-2 with a walk.
The Blue Wahoos improved to 39-27 and can clinch the Southern League South Division crown with a win in Friday’s scheduled doubleheader or with a loss by the Biloxi Shuckers. Pensacola is vying to join the Tennessee Smokies, who won four consecutive halves from 2009 to 2011.
Pensacola and Jacksonville will try again Friday to play a seven-inning doubleheader to make up for the rain out of the second game Thursday.
Northview Chiefs Release Revised Fall Football Schedule After Cancellation
June 15, 2017
Northview High School has released a revised fall football schedule after a cancellation.
Lighthouse Christian School canceled an August 18 preseason Kickoff Classic with the Chiefs. Northview will now travel to Vernon August 18 for their Kickoff Classic preseason game.
The revised varsity and junior varsity schedules for the Northview Chiefs are as follows:
NorthEscambia.com file photo.
Wahoos Beat The Braves
June 14, 2017
Baseball experts may want to rethink sticking Pensacola Blue Wahoos hurler Luis Castillo in the bullpen.
All he did Tuesday was throw a two-hitter over eight scoreless innings, walk one and strike out a career-high 13 as Pensacola beat the Mississippi Braves, 5-0, in front of 3,989 at Blue Wahoos Stadium.
The Blue Wahoos captured the series, 4-1, by earning its eighth shutout of the season. It was Pensacola’s seventh consecutive series win, which ties a franchise record.
Pensacola manager Pat Kelly said the pitching coach Danny Darwin is good at teaching the slider, which Castillo attested to after Tuesday’s game through Blue Wahoos catcher Adrian Nieto who served as the interpreter for the Dominican right-hander.
“He’s been traded a couple times and we wonder why?” Kelly said. “The Marlins told us they didn’t think he was a starter that he was a reliever. That (slider) is going to make the difference. He can start in any league.”
Castillo laughed and said “hands down” that he wants to be a starter, not a reliever. The Cincinnati Reds picked him up from the Miami Marlins in January after he was named that organization’s Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2016.
“I’m very happy about it,” he said about his outing Tuesday. “I felt locked in from the beginning with all my pitches working. I was very focused on having a good outing.”
Castillo, ranked by MLB Pipeline.com as the seventh best prospect in the Cincinnati Reds organization, struck out five hitters in a row at one point. Pensacola’s record for strikeouts in a game is 15, which Tony Cingrani did June 27, 2012 against the Jackson Generals.
The 24-year-old Castillo, who retired 15 of the first 16 batters he faced, won his third start in a row to improve to 4-3 and lowered his ERA to 2.68.
In his last three starts, Castillo has now struck out 31 and walked four over 19 innings. He jumped from 11th in strikeouts in the Southern League to fifth with 76 total this season.
Castillo displayed hitting and running skills, too. He is 3-14 this season and scored his first run of the year. He knocked a ground ball back up the middle — the second hit off of Mississippi starter Luiz Gohara — and hustled from second to score on a single slapped into right field by third baseman Josh VanMeter to give Penacola a 1-0 lead in the fifth inning.
“He’s deceptively very athletic,” Kelly said. “People don’t realize it. But he runs well shagging balls in the outfield (during batting practice).”
Pensacola ended up batting around in the fifth inning to go ahead, 3-0, getting three walks and two singles. Blue Wahoos center fielder Gabriel Guerrero hit a tapper to shortstop and left fielder Tyler Goeddel beat the throw to home for the second run. The final run in the fifth came when VanMeter scored when second baseman Alex Blandino walked with the bases loaded.
The Blue Wahoos added two more runs in the seventh inning when left-handed hitting first baseman Eric Jagielo jacked a two-run shot to the opposite field. He now has five home runs and 19 RBIs on the season.
Mississippi’s Gohara, who is from Tupa, Brazil, earned the loss to fall to 0-1 in his fourth start in Double-A. The 20-year-old, who Baseball America ranked the No. 3 prospect last year in the Seattle Mariners organization, gave up three runs on three hits and four walks in 4.1 innings and struck out three.
Mississippi couldn’t generate any runs off the Blue Wahoos pitching staff in the five-game series, which featured MLB rehab starts by Cincinnati Reds starters Homer Bailey and Brandon Finnegan. The scored six runs in five games.
One key was keeping the hot-hitting 19-year-old Mississippi outfielder Ronald Acuna off the bases. He entered the series batting .354 but went 2-20 and struck out 10 times as the Blue Wahoos pitching pounded fastballs outside. His average fell to .316.
Pensacola, which has the top team ERA in the Southern League at 2.79, travel to play the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp for the last five-game series of the first half.
The Blue Wahoos are 38-27 and are up four games with five to go in the Southern League South Division. Pensacola hopes to clinch the first half crown and join the Tennessee Smokies who won four consecutive halves from 2009 to 2011.
“These guys have worked exceptionally hard,” Kelly said about his team that he has coached the past three years. “I think they deserve it.”
Blue Angels Spark Blue Wahoos 8-1 Win Over The Braves
June 13, 2017
Many of the players and coaches of the Pensacola Blue Wahoos have been long-time fans of the Blue Angels.
Monday the two teams got a chance to visit in the clubhouse, the weight room and in the batting cage on “Blue Angels in the Outfield” night at the ballpark.
More than 40 U.S. Navy’s flight demonstration team members turned out to sign autographs before the game. Fans swarmed the Blue Angels and then stuck around to watch the Pensacola Blue Wahoos beat the Mississippi Braves 8-1.
It was the largest Monday night crowd this season with 4,678 packing Blue Wahoos Stadium.
Alex Blandino, who tied his career-high with four RBIs, said he remembered watching the Blue Angels’ show in the San Francisco bay area as a boy.
“That was really special for them to see us out here today,” Blandino said. “It got us so fired up. It gave us an extra boost today.”
Blandino sent a double streaking through the air that flew over the left fielder’s head for a two-out double that cleared the bases in the fourth inning and put the Blue Wahoos ahead, 3-0. It was his Southern League-leading 20th double of the season. In the sixth inning, he drove in Pensacola left fielder Aristides Aquino on a ground out. The last time he had four RBIs was Sept. 1, 2014 with the Low-A Dayton Dragons.
For the last month, Blandino has batted sixth and increased his RBI total to 26, which is second on the team behind Aquino who has 32.
Pensacola manager Pat Kelly said it’s a key spot in the lineup to drive in runs.
“He has done a great job and really taken advantage of it the last six weeks,” Kelly said.
Meanwhile, Pensacola starting pitcher Deck McGuire had fun on Blue Angels night. He got to meet many members of the team, plus he threw a one-hitter in seven scoreless innings and tied his season-high with nine strikeouts.
He laughed as he ran out onto the field through a high-five tunnel formed by all the Blue Angels at the game. One of them cracked, “Be gentle! He’s got to pitch.”
“It was a cool thing to be a part of in this city,” McGuire said.
The 27-year-old McGuire said he had fun the rest of his start, which was his 175th appearance in his professional career.
He bounced back after giving up 11 earned runs and 12 hits in 10 innings in his last two starts.
“I beat myself up pretty bad, so I was trying to focus on going out and having fun,” said McGuire, who gave up a single to Mississippi’s leadoff hitter Luis Valenzuela. The Braves had runners on first and second with no outs, but McGuire got the No. 2, 3 and 4 hitters out in order.
Mississippi left-handed starter Max Fried had a perfect game for the first 3.1 innings. Aquino got the first hit of the game when he singled sharply to left field to load the bases. Aquino also crushed his fourth triple of the season off the wall in the right-center gap to drive in center fielder Gabriel Guerrero to give the Blue Wahoos a 4-0 lead. He was 2-4 on the night with two runs scored.
Pensacola clinched the series, 3-1, and improved to 37-27 and are now up four games with seven to go in the Southern League South Division. They have a chance to clinch the team’s fourth straight half, if they beat Mississippi Tuesday and the Biloxi Shuckers lose. The Tennessee Smokies did that last in the 2009 to 2011 seasons.
Not only did Pensacola win Monday, but they strengthened their tie with the Blue Angels, who had nine members of its crew throw out first pitches to nine Blue Wahoos players. Over the years, the Double-A affiliate has partnered with the Blue Angels, flying in Fat Albert among other things.
The Blue Wahoos have a fan in Lt. Joe Hontz, the Blues public affairs officer.
“This is great stuff,” Hontz said. “The community supports us and the Blue Wahoos so well. The Blue Wahoos are a great organization.”