Wahoos Drop Second Game To Mississippi Braves
August 25, 2015
In its first playoff race in franchise history, the Pensacola Blue Wahoos have turned over sole possession of first place to the Mississippi Braves by dropping its first two games to the visiting club.
The Braves jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first and 7-0 after three innings and cruised to a 9-4 victory in front of 3,555 fans Monday at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium.
Highlights for the Blue Wahoos tonight included first baseman Marquez Smith’s driving a double into the right center alley in the third inning that scored two runs, pulling Pensacola within, 7-2.
In addition, Pensacola catcher Kyle Skipworth also hit homer No. 11 of the year in the eighth inning — his first since Aug. 6 — as the Blue Wahoos trailed, 9-4.
Mississippi, which took back first place in the Southern League South Division Sunday, is now 32-24. Meanwhile, Pensacola dropped to 1.5 games behind Mississippi, falling to 31-26. The Mobile BayBears also fell back 1.5 games to the Braves at 30-25, after losing in 11 innings at MGM Park.
Pensacola has 12 games left this season and play both Mississippi and the Mobile BayBears at home.
Blue Wahoos Manager Pat Kelly said that Mississippi has been hard for Pensacola to defend this season. They knocked 14 hits Monday.
“We could have 18 guys on the field and couldn’t catch the balls that they hit,” Kelly said. “It was one of those nights where they shot the ball in the hole between first and second or blooped it into right field.”
Mississippi jumped in front, 3-0, in the first inning off of Pensacola starter Sal Romano. Leadoff batter shortstop Emerson Landoni doubled to the right field corner and center fielder Mycal Jones followed with a double to the right center field gap to score him for a 1-0 lead.
Braves third baseman Rio Ruiz then clobbered a ball deep to center field that Pensacola center fielder Phillip Ervin ran back on but the ball bounced off his glove. Ruiz reached third, driving in Jones and right fielder KD Kang, who had walked to put the Braves ahead, 3-0.
Landoni led the Braves by going 3-5 with a double and two RBIs and lifting his season average to .295.
Reds top prospect Jesse Winker now has a hit in 15 of his 20 games this month. Winker is hitting .347 (25-72) in August with six homers and 12 RBIs
He raised his average in the second half to .302 (55-182) with 10 home runs and 31 RBIs. Winker’s two walks Monday also raised his on-base percentage to .403 (85-211) in the second half.
Kelly said Winker has really come on down the stretch.
“He has been our most consistent hitter the last three months of the year,” he said.
Pensacola center fielder Phillip Ervin, the Reds No. 9 prospect, also played well Monday, going 2-3 with a double and RBI and walking twice. In five games with the Blue Wahoos, he is 6-15 or batting .400, with two doubles, two homers and four RBIs.
Pensacola Falls To Mississippi
August 24, 2015
It was Princess Night at the ballpark and all the Pensacola Blue Wahoos wished for was its first dance at the ball – the playoffs that is.
In its first game in franchise history with post season implications, Pensacola didn’t get its fairytale ending Monday.
Despite Phillip Ervin slugging his second home run in two games, the Mississippi Braves held on in the opener of the five-game series for a 3-1 win in front of 4,357 fans, including several little “Frozen” princesses, at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium.
Mississippi took back first place in the South Division over Pensacola by a half game in the second half of the Southern League season. The Braves, who have recorded a better second-half record than first-half record the past seven seasons, are now 31-24 and Pensacola is 31-25.
Blue Wahoos manager Pat Kelly said with 14 games left this season and Pensacola playing both Mississippi and the Mobile BayBears at home, he knows the Blue Wahoos can qualify for the playoffs.
“We just have to win every series,” he said. “It’s a pretty simple formula.”
Mississippi starter Lucas Sims was coming off a 1-0 victory in which he threw 5.1 innings of scoreless, one-hit ball against the Birmingham Barons.
Throwing a steady stream of 90-plus mph fastballs against Pensacola, Sims allowed just three hits and recorded a season-high 10 strike outs against the Blue Wahoos. His only run was on Ervin’s solo blast.
The Braves’ Sims improved to 3-2 this season with a 4.19 ERA and now has allowed just two runs in his last 17.1 innings for a 1.06 earned-run average.
“Sims pitched a helluva game,” Kelly said. “He had really good stuff.”
Meanwhile, Pensacola starter Daniel Wright also gave the Blue Wahoos a strong outing, throwing seven innings and allowing three earned runs on six hits, while striking out seven Braves batters. The right-hander retired the first seven Mississippi batters he faced, striking out four, all on off-speed pitches.
“He pitched seven innings for us and allowed us to rest our bullpen a bit,” Kelly said. “That was good. He did a great job, he just had that little hiccup there in the fourth inning.”
Mississippi scored first getting three in the fourth. Braves second baseman Levi Hyams scored on a ground out and third baseman Rio Ruiz hit a two-out, two-run line drive over the left field wall to put Mississippi ahead, 3-0.
Ervin, the Cincinnati Reds No. 9 prospect according to MLB, hit two of Pensacola’s three hits off Sims. He went 2-3 with a double and solo blast to left field in the fourth inning Sunday that pulled Pensacola within, 3-1, of Mississippi.
He had four hits in a row between his third and fourth games in Double-A – two of them home runs. Ervin has 14 home runs and 66 RBIs this season counting his numbers for the High-A Daytona Tortugas.
Ervin said he’s relaxing more at the plate after going 0-5 in his first two games and 4-7 with a double, two homers and three RBIs in the last two.
“I like it right now,” Ervin said, chuckling, about Double-A pitching. “I was putting pressure on myself to get that first hit. Once I got it, I’ve been able to relax and have a little more fun.”
Wahoos Take Series Against The Lookouts
August 23, 2015
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos (31-24, 56-67) won the series against the Chattanooga Lookouts (24-29, 67-54) with a 10-6 victory in front of a sellout crowd of 5,038 at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium. The Wahoos are now 0.5 ahead of the Mississippi Braves for first place. The two teams will face off against each other in a five-game series starting Sunday in Pensacola.
Pensacola starter Barrett Astin pitched 5.0 innings and allowed three runs on three hits, but he did not earn the decision. That distinction went to reliever Kevin Shackelford (2-4), who went 0.2 and did not allow a run. The save went to Kyle McMyne, his eighth of the season.
Chattanooga reliever Alex Wimmers (7-4) earned the loss, allowing the sixth and seventh runs of the game, which proved to be decisive.
Phillip Ervin, who went 2-4 with a home run and two RBIs, led Pensacola at the plate. Jesse Winker and Alex Blandino also stood out at the plate, driving in two runs apiece.
The Wahoos took the early lead on a Marquez Smith solo homer that carried over the wall in right-center field. It was Smith’s eighth deep shot of the season. He was also the 10th Wahoo to hit a home run in the month of August.
Chattanooga got on the board in the third with three runs, one of which was the result of Beau Amaral’s first error of the season.
Pensacola responded in the bottom of the third with a homer from Zach Vincej, the 11th Wahoo to hit a home run this month.
The Wahoos knotted it up at three runs apiece after Yovan Gonzalez took one deep to left in the bottom of the fifth. It was his third homer this August.
Pensacola retook the lead in the sixth with a pair of runs on three hits and two walks. One of the runs came on a single from Phillip Ervin, which was his first hit as a Wahoo.
Stephen Wickens brought Shannon Wilkerson home on an RBI double to bring the score back to 5-4 for the Lookouts. Adam Brett Walker then singled to bring one run home, but the second runner, Max Kepler, was gunned down at the plate by Ervin to keep the score tied.
Blandino put the Wahoos in good position with a sacrifice bunt in the bottom of the seventh, which followed a pair of singles by Amaral and Vincej. Winker brought them both home with a single on the next at bat, making the score 7-5 in favor of the Wahoos.
The Lookouts brought it back to a one-run game in the eighth as Travis Harrison scored on a groundout. Levi Michael earned an RBI on the play.
Ervin extended the lead with a solo shot to left in the bottom of the eighth, the fourth of the night for the Wahoos. It was Ervin’s first Double-A homer of the year and 13th overall. Blandino made it 10-6 with an RBI double that scored Amaral and Vincej.
The Mississippi Braves come to town on Sunday for a five-game series
6A Washington Tops 1A Northview (With Photo Gallery)
August 22, 2015
Sometimes it’s just easier to play somebody your own size. But if you can hold you own against the big boys, it only makes you stronger.
The 1A Northview Chiefs certainly held their own against 6A Washington Friday night in a kickoff jamboree, in Bratt with Washington coming out on top 14-12.
And it won’t get any easier the next few weeks as the 1A Chiefs continue their trial by fire….they’ll face a pair of 6A teams – Crestview and Gulf Breeze.
“It’s not ideal playing much larger schools,” Northview Head Coach Sid Wheatley said. “It’s not what in a perfect scenario you would draw up. But that’s the way it fell, and as long as we can stay healthy I think it will make us better in the long run.”
Unlike the traditional kickoff Jamboree where junior varsity or backup players square off few a few quarters, Friday night’s meeting between the Chiefs and Wildcats was four quarters of full-on football.
Northview took the lead in the first quarter on a 6-yard run from Jared Aliff. And Northview held the lead at the half after a Luke Ward make a jumping catch of a 19-yard pass from quarterback Gavin Grant.
Wheatley was confident that his offense held their own during the four quarters with more possession time than the Wildcats, but NHS made a couple of key errors, including a fumble on the 2-yard line and another fumble inside the 15.
“You can’t leave points out there,” he said. “The difference could have been if we punched that touchdown in, but as it was we failed to do so.”
“For the most part, I thought we were sound. But those little mistakes, those can be fixed,” Wheatley said.
The Northview Chiefs will open the regular season at 7:00 next Friday night on the road against the 6A Crestview Bulldogs. They will sit out September 4 with an open date before hosting 6A Gulf Breeze on September 11.
For a photo gallery, click here. (Band, cheerleader and dance team photos will be published later.)
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Prep Football Scores
August 22, 2015
Here’s a roundup of prep football games from around the area Friday night:
FLORIDA
(Scores are from the varsity portion of preseason scrimmages.)
Washington 14, Northview 12
PHS 15, Tate 14
West Florida 13, Pine Forest, 7
Baker 13, Jay 6
Niceville 14, Catholic 7
Pace 19, Choctawhatchee 7
Navarre 43, Dothan 22
Gulf Breeze 24, Fort Walton 14
ALABAMA
Flomaton 42, Chickasaw 8
Andalusia 25, T.R. Miller 0
Baldwin County 35, Escambia County 22
Edgewood 33, Escambia Academy 21 (Thurs)
Milton 21 WS Neal 14 (Thurs)
Pictured: A very wet game between Jay and Baker Friday night. The Tate Aggies also experienced rain and lightning delay of about 45 minutes. Photo by Michele Gibbs for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Lookouts Top The Wahoos
August 22, 2015
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos (30-24, 55-67) fell to the Chattanooga Lookouts (24-28, 67-53) by a score of 7-2 Friday night to force a Saturday rubber match. 4,572 witnessed the game at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium.
Despite the loss, the Blue Wahoos gained full control of first place in the Southern League South Standings. Mobile dropped both games of a doubleheader against Jacksonville as Mississippi fell in their game to Birmingham. Mobile and Mississippi are tied for second, half a game behind Pensacola.
Wahoos starter Cody Reed (3-2) earned the loss as he allowed four runs on nine hits through 5.0 innings. D.J. Baxendale (6-4) earned the win for the Lookouts, also pitching 5.0 innings but only allowing a run on five hits.
The Wahoos’ offense was highlighted by Alex Blandino’s ground-rule double in the third inning. Blandino lifted a ball opposite-field that carried beyond the reach of Travis Harrison and bounced over the wall in right. It would be the only RBI of the night for the Wahoos.
The Lookouts jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first after Adam Brett Walker doubled down the line in left.
The Wahoos tried to respond in the bottom half after a Marquez Smith double put two runners in scoring position. A strikeout, however, brought an end to the inning.
Chattanooga pounced again in the third with a pair of runs, one of which came on a Shannon Wilkerson solo homer to left-center.
The Lookouts made it 4-0 in the fifth after Walker’s second double of the game. The inning would be Reed’s last of the night.
Pensacola got on the board in the fifth inning, as Blandino’s ground-rule double brought Ryan Wright home from second. However, the Wahoos left a pair of runners stranded in scoring position.
Levi Michael extended the lead by three runs in the sixth with a deep opposite-field shot to right field, making the score 7-1 in favor of the Lookouts.
The Wahoos put another one on the board in the bottom of the ninth as Beau Amaral scored on a wild pitch.
Results: Northview Preseason Volleyball Classic
August 21, 2015
Here are results from a volleyball preseason classic Thursday at Northview High School
Court 1, Game 1 Laurel Hill vs Central
20-25, 26-24, 17-15 Laurel Hill wins
Court 2, Game 1 Jay vs PCA
32-34, 25-14, 15-9 Jay wins
Court 1, Game 3 Laurel Hill vs NHS
25-17, 26-24 Laurel Hill wins
Court 2, Game 4 Central vs PCA
25-21, 26-16 Central wins
Court 1, Game 5 Jay vs Laurel hill
20-25, 27-25, 15-12 Jay wins
NorthEscambia.com photos by Gary Amerson, click to enlarge.
Wahoos Top Lookouts
August 21, 2015
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos (30-23 ,55-66) came away victorious over the Chattanooga Lookouts (23-28, 66-53) by a score of 3-1 in front of 4,156 fans Thursday night at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium.
Wahoos starter Tim Adleman (8-8) was stellar once again as he pitched 7.1 innings while allowing only one run on five hits. The effort brought his ERA down to 2.21, the best among Southern League starters. Adleman did not allow a run until the eighth inning, allowing him to reach 19.2 consecutive innings pitched without a run allowed. The feat is the longest for a Wahoo pitcher this season, breaking his previous record of 17.1 innings.
Chattanooga starter Aaron Slegers (1-2) earned the loss despite a decent effort, allowing three runs on six hits through 6.2 innings. Zack Weiss earned the save for the Wahoos, his 22nd of the season. The number ties a team record for saves in a season.
Kyle Skipworth, who went 2-3 with an RBI and a run, led the Wahoos at the plate. It marked Skipworth’s first multi-hit game since June 22nd.
The Wahoos got on the board first in the bottom of the second when Skipworth brought Marquez Smith home on an RBI single up the middle. It was Skipworth’s first RBI since August 6th at Jacksonville.
Chattanooga threatened in the top of the fourth, but Juan Duran came up big in the outfield. D.J. Hicks tagged up at third on a would-be sacrifice fly, but Duran was able to one-hop a throw from right field to Skipworth at the plate, ending the frame.
The Wahoos extended the lead in the bottom of the seventh. Ray Chang’s shot to the corner in left resulted in an RBI double that scored Skipworth. Beau Amaral made it 3-0 on an RBI single that plated Chang.
Amaral also came up huge with two SportsCenter worthy diving catches in center field while Phillip Ervin, who made his Double-A debut, raved for an out in left field.
The Lookouts cut into the lead in the eighth inning on a Max Kepler RBI single. Kepler extended his hit streak to nine games on the play.
Chattanooga Tops The Pensacola Blue Wahoos 11-0
August 20, 2015
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos (29-23, 54-66) fell to the Chattanooga Lookouts (23-27, 66-52) by a score of 11-0 in front of 3,852 fans at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium. The loss puts the Wahoos half of a game behind the Mobile BayBears, who were postponed due to rain.
Pensacola starter Sal Romano (0-2) earned the loss on a rough night in which he wasn’t able to get through the first inning. He allowed five runs on five hits and two walks.
Chattanooga starter, Brett Lee (5-4), a Pensacola native and West Florida High grad, earned the win with 7.0 shutout innings. Lee allowed only two hits in the effort.
Joel Bender was the star of the night for the Wahoos, pitching 4.0 shutout innings in the middle of the game. The effort was his longest of the year for the Wahoos.
The Wahoos would only get three hits on the nights against Lookout pitching, with Alex Blandino, Yovan Gonzalez and Ryan Wright each hitting safely.
The Lookouts got things started with bang, as they scored five runs on five hits in the top of the first inning. All of the runs were scored with two outs, and Jacob Johnson would replace Romano before the frame’s conclusion.
Chattanooga would extend the lead to 7-0 in the next inning with a two-run shot from Max Kepler. They would then add two more on a two-run double from Stuart Turner.
Jorge Polanco would make it 10-0 in favor of the Lookouts in the third, taking a solo shot to the bay in left field.
The crowd received a much-needed jolt of enthusiasm in the ninth as infielder and fan favorite Ray Chang took the mound for the Wahoos. He allowed a run on a hit and a walk in his fourth appearance in 11 years.
Pensacola Tops Chattanooga
August 19, 2015
Pensacola right fielder Juan Duran knocked in three of the club’s six runs in the first two innings as the Blue Wahoos pulled out a series opening victory over the Chattanooga Lookouts.
Duran tripled in two runs and hit a sacrifice fly to knock in another run as Pensacola cruised to an 8-4 win in front of 3,909 Tuesday night at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium.
Since finishing rehab in Arizona, Duran has played 42 games and has four home runs, 34 RBIs and is hitting .270 for the Blue Wahoos in July and August. He went 1-4 and scored a run against Chattanooga. His 22 extra base hits are second in the Southern League in the second half of this season.
Pensacola improved to 29-22 in the South Division in the second half of the Southern League season and catapulted into a first place tie with the Mobile BayBears, who lost to the Jacksonville Suns. The latest the Blue Wahoos had been in first place before now was July 22, 2012 — the team’s inaugural season.
Pensacola manager Pat Kelly said he looks forward to Duran coming to the plate.
“Juan has been terrific,” he said. “He’s really good with runners in scoring position, especially with two outs. Having his presence in the lineup really helps.”
Chattanooga was playing in front of its parent club Minnesota Twins general manager Terry Ryan on Thursday. Ryan coincidentally is from the same hometown as Blue Wahoos owner Quint Studer in Janesville, Wisc.
Ryan watched as Pensacola wasted no time chasing Chattanooga starter Greg Peavy in the second inning, after going up, 6-0. Duran drove in three of those runs on a line drive triple that rolled to the wall in the right-center gap, scoring center fielder Bryson Smith and shortstop Alex Blandino in the first inning. His deep sacrifice fly to center field scored left fielder Beau Amaral in the second inning.
Amaral added two more runs when he blasted a home run, his fourth of the year, to left field in the sixth inning that also brought in second baseman Zach Vincej to put the Blue Wahoos up, 8-3.
Pensacola has had a home run outburst in the second half. It has gone from last place in home runs in the Southern League with 25 in the first half to fourth place with 44 home runs in the second half for 69 on the season.
Amaral’s sister, Jessica, who played softball at UCLA, was in Pensacola for the first time and got to watch her big brother hit his fourth home run of the season.
“I need her to come to more games,” Amaral said jokingly. “It was cool for her to come out here.”
Starting right-hander Daniel Wright checked Chattanooga the first two innings, retiring the side both times and striking out four. He retired the side five of the seven innings he worked. In all, he lasted 6.1 innings before walking two in the seventh.
Wright had one bad inning when the Lookouts added three in the third inning on a solo home run by shortstop Niko Goodrum and then center fielder Shannon Wilkerson and third baseman Steve Wickens both scored when Duran fumbled a bloop single by right fielder Max Kepler, earning an error on the play. The Lookouts pulled within, 6-3.
Blue Wahoos closer Zack Weiss entered the game in the eighth inning and earned his Southern League-leading 21st save on the season. Weiss is one save from the Pensacola franchise record of 22 saves set by Shane Dyer last season.