Northview Battles To 21-14 Win Over Escambia Academy (With Gallery)
September 3, 2016
In a game that came down to a fourth quarter battle, the Northview Chiefs defeated the Escambia Academy Cougars 21-14 Friday night at Tommy Weaver Stadium in Bratt.
“It was a battle between two great football teams,” Northview head coach Derek Marshman said. “It was great football game, a fourth quarter football game up and down, back and fourth the entire time. It was a battle. There’s no other way to describe it. It was a battle.”
The Chiefs have now won two of three games this year, both of them second half shutouts.
For a photo gallery, click here
Luke Ward, freshman Jeremiah Woods, Hunter Edwards and Neikel Robinson were the Chiefs’ offensive standouts of the night, Marshman said.
“Jacob Weaver was just huge for us defensively,” he said. Weaver was injured during the game, suffering a shattered arm that will require surgery on Saturday. “He really holds it down for us in the middle. That was a big loss for us.”
Next week, the 1A Chiefs travel to take on the 6A Dolphins of Gulf Breeze.
“Next week it’s going to be the same mentality. They are a good football team; they area big school. But we can’t think of it that way. They will put 11 on the field; we have to put 11 on the field. I’ve heard they have the best quarterback in the area, but I’d argue with that with our guy,” Marshman said. “It’s going to be another battle.
For a photo gallery, click here. (Additional photos later this weekend from the bands, cheerleaders, mini-cheerleaders and more.)
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Tate Beats West Florida (With Photo Gallery)
September 3, 2016
For the third consecutive year, the Tate Aggies defeated the West Florida Jaguars Friday night.
West Florida jumped out to a 14-0 lead by the end of the first quarter. In the second, Tate’s Corey Moorer, a senior, scored the first of his three touchdowns with 8:29 to go in the half. Moorer added his second TD with 1:59 in the second to tie it up at 14-14.
The Aggies added another touchdown from Moorer with 39 second to go in the half for a 21-14 lead.
In the second half, the Aggies Ladarryl Paige scored twice in the third quarter for a 35-21 Aggie advantage headed into the fourth. Tate added one more touchdown with a quarterback keeper from Jake Henry with 9:30 to go in the ballgame.
The Tate Aggies will host West Gadsden next Friday night for homecoming.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
Friday Night Football Scores
September 3, 2016
Here is a look at final scores from tonight’s high school football games across the North Escambia area.
FLORIDA
Northview 21 Escambia Academy 14
Tate 42 West Florida 28
Resurrection Catholic 46 Jay 0
Pine Forest 46 Choctaw 10
Navarre 36 Washington 20
Niceville 30, Escambia 6
Pace 36 PHS 19
Gulf Breeze 36, Catholic 21
Milton 26 Lake Area New Tech 25 OT
Baker 21 Blountstown 18
South Walton 12 Walton 6
ALABAMA
Northview 21 Escambia Academy 14
Hillcrest Evergreen 19, Flomaton 13
UMS Wright 54 Escambia County 0
Thomasville 26 W.S. Neal 20
T.R. Miller 55 Cottage Hill Christian 27
Laurel Hill Defeats Northview (With Gallery)
September 2, 2016
Laurel Hill earned a 3-0 win over Northview Thursday evening in Bratt in varsity volleyball action.
Varsity 12-25, 17-25, 24-26 Laurel Hill wins
Laurel Hill also defeated Northview in junior varsity action.
JV 22-25, 25-22, 8-15 Laurel Hill wins
The Lady Chiefs are on the road next Tuesday against T.R. Miller, and back home next Thursday as they host Jay.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge
Wahoos Beat Birmingham
September 2, 2016
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos have won six of its last seven games and are just 1.5 games behind the Mississippi Braves in the race for the second half title in the Southern League South Division.
After beating the Birmingham Barons, 11-8, Thursday at Regions Field there are just four games left in the season for Pensacola to try and overtake the Braves.
Mississippi also won Thursday and is 37-28 in the second half, while Pensacola, which won the first half to qualify for the playoffs, is 36-30.
Both Pensacola and Birmingham slugged 15 hits in Thursday’s game that featured 19 combined runs. Six of the Blue Wahoos nine hitters had multi-hit games.
Blue Wahoos catcher Chad Wallach led the way going 3-5 with two runs scored. DH Brandon Dixon also continued his hot streak going 2-5 with a triple, his first of the year, and a double. He scored twice and drove in a run, his 65th of the season, which leads Pensacola.
The offensive outburst started when Dixon tripled to leadoff the second inning and scored when Pensacola third baseman Taylor Sparks grounded out to shortstop to put the Blue Wahoos ahead, 1-0. Pensacola went up, 3-0, when centerfield Jeff Gelalich doubled with two outs to score both Pensacola first baseman Eric Jagielo and Wallach.
Birmingham shortstop Trey Michalczewski’s doubled to left field in the third inning to drive in right fielder Keenyn Walker to pull the Barons within, 3-1. Birmingham DH Eudy Pina then grounded out to shortstop to allow shortstop Joey DeMichele to make the score, 3-2.
In the fourth inning, Birmingham went ahead, 6-3, when centerfield Hunter Jones singled to right field to drive in third baseman Ryan Leonards to knot the score, 3-3. Birmingham went ahead, 6-3, when left fielder Courtney Hawkins hit a two-out, three-run homer to left field that also brought in Jones and Walker.
In the top of the fifth inning, Zach Vincej lined a single to center field to drive in both second baseman Alex Blandino and left fielder Phillip Ervin to pull Pensacola within, 6-5, of the Barons.
Pensacola finally took the lead for good, 10-6, when it scored five runs in the top of the sixth inning with two outs. Ervin singled to right field to drive in Wallach and tie the game, 6-6. Right fielder Sebastian Elizalde singled to right field to score Alex Blandino and put Pensacola ahead, 7-6. Dixon then doubled, his 23rd of the season, to left field to score Ervin and put the Blue Wahoos up, 8-6. Vincej singled to right field to score both Elizalde and Dixon for a 10-6 Pensacola lead.
Pensacola added an insurance run when Gelalich hit a line drive to right field for a solo homer, his second of the season, in the seventh inning to put the Blue Wahoos up, 11-6.
Birmingham did get the run back in the bottom of the seventh when right fielder Keon Barnum hit a solo shot to right center field to make it a 11-7 game in Pensacola’s favor.
Hawkins then hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth to score Jones for the final run of the game but the Barons still trailed Pensacola, 11-8.
Wahoos Drop Series Finale To Jacksonville Sons
September 1, 2016
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos head into its last five games Thursday against the Birmingham Barons, chasing the Mississippi Braves for the Southern League South Division second half title.
After winning the first four games of the series against visiting Jacksonville, the Suns picked up a win in the finale, 4-1, in front of 4,277 at Blue Wahoos Stadium. Pensacola reached 302,340 in attendance for the season, which is the fifth straight year it surpassed 300,000 since its inaugural year in 2012.
Pensacola, which already captured the first half winning a franchise record 41 games, is 1.5 games behind Mississippi, which defeated the Chattanooga Lookouts, 6-2. The Braves are 36-28 (70-63), while Pensacola dropped to 35-30 (76-58).
Blue Wahoos manager Pat Kelly congratulated the Blue Wahoos fans and its front office on drawing more than 300,000 fans for five consecutive seasons.
“That’s a great accomplishment,” Kelly said. “Usually, you have a honeymoon period because it’s the new thing in town. This has been great.”
The highlight for Pensacola fans besides the attendance was Pensacola second baseman Brandon Dixon hitting a bullet over the right field fence in the sixth inning for his second homer in the five-game series.
The solo shot was his 16th of the season, which is fourth in the Southern League. With five games left in the season, Dixon is one behind the franchise record of 17 homers clobbered by outfielder Juan Duran in 2014.
Kelly said Dixon, who went 3-4 and is hitting .373 in August to lift his season average to .265, liked watching the home run rocket over the right field fence. He’s also liked being able to play Dixon in all three outfield positions and second and first base.
“That’s a great sign, if he can hit a ball to right field like that,” Kelly said.
Pensacola Blue Wahoos starter Nick Travieso started the game out strong walking one to start the game and then retiring the next six batters with two strikeouts.
However, the Jacksonville Suns scored four runs on five hits and a walk, sending all nine batters to the plate. The first two runs scored when Jacksonville left fielder Austin Dean doubled into the left field corner. Suns second baseman Derek Dietrich, doing a MLB rehab, scored when center fielder Kenny Wilson grounded out to second. Jacksonville first baseman Chris Curley then singled to left field to score third baseman Brian Anderson to put the Suns up, 4-0.
Travieso developed bronchitis and has had trouble breathing. He stopped the game with two outs in the fourth inning and threw a warm up pitch for Pensacola manager Pat Kelly, pitching coach Danny Darwin and trainer Tyler Moos. He then struck out Dietrich to end the inning.
“He couldn’t catch his breath and panicked a little bit,” Kelly said. “We got him to relax. “He just had that one bad inning.”
Travieso, who struck out seven over six innings, lost the game, dropping to 4-7 with a 4.10 ERA. He last won July 8 against the Mobile BayBears when he threw a two hitter in six scoreless innings.
Kelly said he’s been resting his starters the past two weeks in preparation for the playoffs. He said he will make adjustments in the last series of the season against Birmingham to get ready.
“If we win (the division) great, if not we at least get the first two games at home,” Kelly said. “To me, this is the time to ramp up and get ready for the playoffs.”
Wahoos Beat Suns
August 31, 2016
His teammates call him, “Mr. Clutch,” and Tuesday Pensacola Blue Wahoos minor league veteran Ray Chang lived up to the nickname.
Locked in a pitcher’s duel between Pensacola right-handed starter Sal Romano and Jacksonville Suns left-hander starter Matt Tomshaw, Chang hit a line drive single with the bases loaded and two outs in the sixth inning to drive in Blue Wahoos right fielder Sebastian Elizalde and center fielder Brandon Dixon to give his team a 2-0 lead.
Mr. Clutch is now 4-5 with a double and seven RBIs with the bases loaded for Pensacola this season.
Pensacola won its fifth in a row, beating Jacksonville, 5-2, Tuesday in front of 3,192 at Blue Wahoos Stadium. Pensacola is just 1,937 fans short of reaching 300,000 fans in each of its first five seasons with one more home game to play Wednesday.
No one was happier to have the 12-year-minor league veteran Chang back in the lineup than Pensacola manager Pat Kelly.
“How about that? He comes back and gets that big clutch hit,” Kelly said. “And then gets a double after that. He didn’t miss a beat. He comes with experience. He knows all the pressure is on the pitcher and not the hitter.”
Chang was playing in his second game Tuesday with the Blue Wahoos after getting transferred from Triple-A Louisville, where he had just gone 3-3. He was a defensive substitution Monday. Chang went 2-4 with a run scored and two RBIs and is hitting .274 for Pensacola.
“It was weird,” the 33-year-old Chang said. “I wasn’t 100 percent locked in the first two at bats. That situation automatically locks you in. I was just trying to get a pitch to hit.”
Romano was grateful for Chang coming through. Romano improved to 6-11 with a 3.42 ERA this season. In the second half of the season, the Cincinnati Reds No. 16 prospect has been dominant, going 5-4 with a 2.39 ERA.
He had a perfect game through 4.2 innings with four strikeouts when Jacksonville shortstop Peter Mooney hit a line drive to left field for the first Suns hit.
Romano has a career high 140 strike outs and now is tied for the Pensacola single-season franchise record. Three more strikeouts and, Romano, who boasts a 95 mph fastball, will reach 500 career strikeouts in five minor league seasons. Romano, who is second in the Southern League in strikeouts, previously had a high of 128 strikeouts in 2014 for the Low-A Dayton Dragons.
His final line in Tuesday’s game read: eight innings pitched, two hits, no runs, no walks and six strikeouts on 94 total pitches.
“I pitched off my fastball, which made all my other pitches look better,” Romano said. “I trust all my pitches. It’s been a fun half.”
Kelly liked that Romano wanted to go out and finish the game in the ninth inning after only giving up the singles to Mooney and second baseman Garrett Weber.
“That was fun to see,” Kelly said of Romano’s two hitter. “Boy, how far he has come since the start of the year. He wanted to go out for the ninth. We’ve raised all these five or six-inning pitchers who look to come out of the game. Here’s a guy who wants to end the game. That’s nice to see.”
After Chang’s single, Pensacola added two more runs to put the Blue Wahoos up, 4-0, when Blue Wahoos catcher Joe Hudson followed with a double into the left field corner. Both third baseman Taylor Sparks and Chang scored.
The Blue Wahoos, who have won four straight series, are 14-5 with six games left before the playoffs. Pensacola, which won the first half South Division title, are battling Mississippi Braves for the second half crown, too. The Blue Wahoos are a half game behind Mississippi, which is 35-28 and 69-63 overall. Pensacola is 35-29 in the second half and has its best overall record in franchise history at 76-58.
Romano is looking forward to the playoff run.
“This is a special team and a special run for us,” he said. “We go out there and try to win every single ball game and play hard. We’re going to be a hard team to beat. I’m really excited for it.”
Kelly added: “The next five days will be very interesting,” Kelly said.
Volleyball: PHS Downs Northview
August 30, 2016
The Northview High School varsity and junior varsity volleyball teams fell to Pensacola High School on Monday in Bratt.
The Northview Lady Chiefs will travel to Central on Tuesday for junior varsity at 5:00 and varsity at 6:00. The Chiefs will host Laurel Hill on Thursday, JV at 4:00, varsity at 5:00.
NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Wahoos Beat Jacksonville
August 30, 2016
Pensacola Blue Wahoos Barrett Astin threw in relief and as a starter in college with the Arkansas Razorbacks and in his four seasons in professional baseball.
The 24-year-old freely admits he prefers the bullpen but you wouldn’t know it from his 11 starts with Pensacola this season.
Astin started his third straight game for Pensacola and threw a season-high seven scoreless innings to lead the Blue Wahoos to its fourth consecutive win, 4-0, Monday over the Jacksonville Suns at Blue Wahoos Stadium.
The victory clinched the Blue Wahoos fourth straight series win and they are 13-5 heading down the stretch. It puts them just a half game behind the Mississippi Braves who are on a 3-10 slide, including a seven game losing streak, since the Atlanta Braves called up Mississippi shortstop Dansby Swanson on Aug. 17.
Pensacola, the first half Southern League South Division champion, is 34-29 in the second half and has its best overall record in franchise history at 75-58, while Mississippi is 34-28 and 68-63.
Astin said he feels comfortable in either role. Last year, he started all 14 games he pitched for Pensacola and 11 of the 16 games he played at High-A Daytona Tortugas to start the 2015 season. He was 8-9 overall with a 3.98 ERA.
“Really I’ve been starting and relieving my whole career,” said Astin, who reached the College World Series in 2012 as the Arkansas closer. “I prefer being a reliever. But right now this is what the (Cincinnati) Reds want.”
They may want more of right-handed starter Astin who ended up tossing seven innings, allowing five hits, no walks and striking out seven. He is the second Pensacola pitcher after Rookie Davis, who got called up to the Triple-A Louisville Bats, to win nine games (9-3) and Astin now has a 2.29 ERA and a WHIP under 1.00.
Pensacola manager Pat Kelly said he believes Astin has benefitted from returning to the Blue Wahoos this season. Astin was 1-4 in his last seven starts last year in Double-A for the first time with Pensacola and saw his ERA balloon from 3.48 to 5.63.
“He has shown confidence and been aggressive, coming right after the hitters,” Kelly said. “Repeating this league has been good for him.”
Astin agrees that a second year of seasoning has helped him develop as a pitcher. He throws a fastball, slider, curveball, changeup and cutter. Last night, he threw all of them over the plate throwing 59 of 84 pitches for strikes.
“I had five (Monday) tonight and threw them all for strikes, which helps a lot,” he said. “It gives me a lot of confidence getting ready for the playoffs. You want to go in clicking on all cylinders.”
Kelly said that Mississippi misses Swanson, who even though he was hitting .261, provided the leadership and defense the Braves needed.
“That’s a huge part of it,” said Kelly about Swanson’s promotion to Atlanta. “At this level one player, one batter can improve your lineup or really hurt it. He was only hitting in the .260s but he played solid steady defense for them.”
Jacksonville Suns pitcher Luis Castillo quickly showed his 99-mph fastball, striking out Pensacola second baseman and leadoff hitter Alex Blandino, in the first inning. Still, both Blandino and left fielder Phillip Ervin hit his main pitch out of the park just foul down the left field line.
Despite Castillo’s velocity in only his second start for Jacksonville, center fielder Brandon Dixon crushed a pitch into left-center over Suns left fielder Austin Dean’s head that drove in Ervin, who drew a walk, for a 1-0 Blue Wahoos lead.
Castillo was replaced after 3.2 innings giving up three runs on two hits and four walks, while striking out five. He earned the loss and now 0-1 with a 1.86 ERA. He had an impressive Double-A debut last week against the Chattanooga Lookouts, allowing one earned run in six innings.
Dixon led Pensacola at the plate, going 2-4, with his 22nd double of the season and driving in his 63rd RBI. He now has hit in nine straight games and is batting .462 (18-39) with one homer and nine RBIs.
Meanwhile, Pensacola right fielder Sebastian Elizalde had his hit streak end at 13 games, going 0-4 and striking out twice. He fell one game short of his career-high 14 game hitting streak for High-A Daytona last year.
Pensacola Blue Wahoos Rally To Top Jacksonville, 7-4
August 29, 2016
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos spotted the Jacksonville Suns four runs in the first inning Sunday at Blue Wahoos Stadium.
But after that, the Blue Wahoos bullpen combined on 8.1 innings of shutout ball to deliver a 7-4 victory over the Suns. With eight games left in the season, the Blue Wahoos have won three straight games and seven of its last 10.
Pensacola manager Pat Kelly said there was no panic in the dugout after digging themselves into a four-run hole.
“It was early,” Kelly said. “We emphasized they didn’t have to make it up all at once. Mentally, the guys never felt they were out of the game.”
In fact, the Blue Wahoos cut the lead in half, 4-2, in the bottom of the first inning when left fielder Brandon Dixon smashed a fly ball into the left center gap to drive in Blue Wahoos second baseman Alex Blandino to make the score, 4-1. Pensacola shortstop Zach Vincej then delivered a single to center to score Dixon and put the Blue Wahoos right back in the game.
Vincej entered the game in a 4-29 slump but got on base all four times with two singles, a double and a walk Sunday, plus he scored and drove in a run.
Vincej said his swing had gotten “too big and too long” and he concentrated on having a quicker swing.
“The end of the year is the time to heat up,” said Vincej, who hit .370 in July. “Every single day we’re trying to compete. We still want to have pride in what we’re doing. We want to go into the playoffs with a hot streak.”
Pensacola pitcher Jackson Stephens uncharacteristically had his shortest outing of the season, lasting just 0.2 innings while giving up four runs on three hits and three walks.
But the Blue Wahoos bullpen came through after that. Pensacola reliever El’Hajj Muhamad pitched 3.2 scoreless innings, allowing four hits, one walk and striking out three. He was followed by 2.2 scoreless innings from Evan Mitchell, who earned the victory and is 3-1 on the year. Abel De Los Santos walked two and struck out two in one shutout inning and then Kyle McMyne earned his fifth save by pitching a scoreless ninth inning.
“I thought (Muhammad) did a tremendous job,” Kelly said. “Eight and a third scoreless innings. You can’t ask for more than that.”
Vincej said “El” fired up the offense with his performance.
“El came in and did a phenomenal job,” he said. “Everyone kind of got fired up after that. You want to put up runs for guys competing their butts off like that.”
Chad Wallach hit a two-out, two-run bomb over the left field fence in the fourth inning to tie the game, 4-4. All of Wallach’s seven homers this season have come at home in Blue Wahoos Stadium.
Three innings later in the seventh inning, Ronald Bueno scored the go ahead run, 5-4, when he smacked a pinch hit single up the middle, reached second on Pensacola second baseman Alex Blandino’s single to third and then scored from second base on a passed ball and throwing error by Jacksonville catcher Sharif Othman. Right fielder Sebastian Elizalde doubled in Blandino for a 6-4 lead.
Elizalde now has hit in 13 straight games, which is one game short of his 14-game streak last season with the High-A Daytona Tortugas. The 24-year-old is 22-52 or .423 during his current streak.
Derek Dietrich, who is doing a Major League rehab assignment for the Miami Marlins with Jacksonville, was 2-4 with a walk and scored the first run of the game for the Suns. In two games, he is 2-8.
The Mississippi Braves snapped its seven game losing streak with a 6-4 win over the Chattanooga Lookouts and improved its record in the second half to 34-27 in the South Division. It remains 1.5 games ahead of Pensacola, which won the South Division in the first half, and is now 33-29 in the second half.
“If we can win both halves that would be a pretty impressive thing to do,” Vincej said.