BayBears Beat The Wahoos
June 18, 2015
Marlon Byrd wants to return to the Cincinnati Reds starting lineup. The sooner the better.
Placed on the disabled list June 3 with a fractured wrist, Byrd started off his two-game rehab assignment with a bang Wednesday night for the Pensacola Blue Wahoos in front of 4,251 at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium.
Byrd crushed a game-tying, three-run home run deep to left field in the eighth inning. With two outs and the bases loaded for him again in the ninth, Byrd missed on a high fastball.
Despite the crowd’s excitement of having Byrd hitting No. 3 in the Blue Wahoos lineup the Mobile BayBears added two runs of its own in the top of the ninth to pull out a 5-3 victory in the opener of the five-game series between the rival teams that play on fields nearly an hour apart.
Byrd said his wrist felt good playing at game speed. He wasn’t sure how it would react but it was good enough to send a slider up in the zone over the left field wall.
“I had some good looks. I had some good swings,” Byrd said. “I wish I had come through on that last one.”
“The wrist felt fine, that was the big thing,” he added. “I wasn’t sure how it was going to feel. I didn’t know if it was going to bother me going full speed. You can practice all day long, but game speed is always different. But it felt good on every swing I took.”
On Wednesday with Pensacola, he struck out in his first at bat, lined out hard to the second baseman, lined out deep to the right fielder who chased his ball down, homered and finally struck out on a high fastball with the bases loaded to end the game.
Before fracturing his wrist, Byrd a 14-year major league veteran had hit 10 home runs and 25 RBIs with a .212 average for Cincinnati. If all goes well, Reds officials have said Byrd could return to the majors by the weekend. The Reds will reassess Byrd’s status after Thursday’s game at Pensacola.
“Marlon’s rehab has gone way better than I had ever anticipated,” said Reds manager Bryan Price to the Cincinnati media earlier in the day. “His broken bone is mending quickly. He put a lot of hard work into being able to come back so quickly.”
Pensacola manager Pat Kelly joked he would like to keep Byrd in the Blue Wahoos lineup a little longer.
“That was terrific,” Kelly said. “We hadn’t done much at all offensively. Next thing you know he ties the game in one at bat.”
Meanwhile, Pensacola starter Wandy Peralta, who had lost three in a row by giving up 13 earned runs in 13.1 innings, had a solid outing. He allowed two runs, one earned in 6.2 innings on seven hits, two walks and struck out five.
Pensacola also benefited from a 3-5 night by shortstop Zach Vincej, along with multi-hit games by right fielder Jesse Winker (2-4), Kyle Waldrop (2-3) and Beau Amaral (2-4).
Northview Splits Road Games With Central
June 18, 2015
Summer ball continued Wednesday for the Northview Chiefs as they split wins on the road with Central. Photo by Ramona Preston for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Softball State Champion Tate Lady Aggies Honored By School Board
June 17, 2015
The 2015 Class 7A state softball champion Tate Lady Aggies were honored Tuesday evening by the Escambia County School Board. To read the entire proclamation, click the proclamation image below to enlarge. Courtesy images for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Pensacola Blue Wahoos Beat The Montgomery Biscuits
June 16, 2015
Right-handed pitcher Daniel Wright allowed two runs in the seventh inning to lead the Pensacola Blue Wahoos to victory over the Montgomery Biscuits at Riverwalk Stadium.
Pensacola snapped a four-game losing streak thanks to six scoreless innings by Wright, as the Blue Wahoos won, 4-2, over the Biscuits.
Wright, who improved to 3-4 on the year with a 5.46 ERA, bounced back from giving up four earned runs in 5.2 innings in his last start against the Jacksonville Suns. Against Montgomery on Monday, Wright allowed just four hits, walked none and struck out four.
Wright was backed up by the Pensacola lineup that scored four runs on 11 hits. The Blue Wahoos scored three in the second inning when catcher Cam Maron hit his first home run for Pensacola to right field that also scored DH Sean Buckley for a 2-0 lead. Left fielder Jesse Winker then hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score second baseman Ryan Wright from third and put Pensacola ahead, 3-0.
It added another run in the eighth inning, when Buckley crossed the plate on a ground out by shortstop Zach Vincej.
Montgomery got its two runs when catcher Justin O’Conner, the Tampa Bay Rays No. 1 prospect according to MLB, doubled in left fielder Joey Rickard to cut the lead to 3-1. O’Conner then scored on a sacrifice fly by right fielder Johnny Field to pull the Biscuits within, 3-2.
Maron extended his hitting streak to five games and raised his average to .224 with his dinger. He went 5-12 or .416 in the series against the Biscuits with one homer and four RBIs.
Pensacola improved to 24-39 in the Southern League South Division and has the day off tomorrow before opening a five-game homestand against the Mobile BayBears. Meanwhile, Montgomery dropped to 33-31 in the North Division.
Pensacola first baseman Ray Chang went 2-5 and is hitting .375 in June. Meanwhile, Marquez Smith is even hitting hotter in the month with a .405 average, including two homeruns and six RBIs. His average is now .277 on the season.
The Blue Wahoos return home to play the Mobile BayBears June 17-21.
Youth Archery League Aims To Teach Sport
June 15, 2015
The Panhandle Bowhunters and Archery Association has started a youth archery league.
The cost is $5 per week, with meetings every Tuesday through July 7 on the range at 7201 Sparshott Drive (off of Mobile Highway, just west of Klondike Road). Check in begins at 6:00 p.m., with shooting beginning at 6:30. Prizes will be awarded to the most improved archer in middle and high school, and for overall high scores. The awards night, with new bows for the first place winners, will be July 14 at 6:30 p.m.
No experience is necessary; equipment is provided. For more information, call Jeremy Blackmon at (850) 375-7630.
Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Biscuits Beat Wahoos
June 15, 2015
Juan Perez scored a run and knocked in another on a double to pull the Pensacola Blue Wahoos within, 3-2, in the sixth inning but the Montgomery Biscuits pulled out the victory in the end.
Montgomery won on two, two-run home runs smacked by left fielder Johnny Field, 5-2, in the first and seventh innings at Riverwalk Stadium.
Pensacola scored one in the fourth and one in the sixth. Blue Wahoos catcher Cam Maron singled in shortstop Juan Perez in the fourth inning to cut the lead to 2-1. In the sixth inning, Perez doubled to score third baseman Marquez Smith to bring Pensacola within, 3-2.
Montgomery went ahead, 2-0, when Field hit a two-run homer, his ninth of the year, to left center field in the first inning. Field smacked his second two-run homer of the game in the seventh to put the Biscuits up, 5-2.
On the day, Field, the Tampa Bay Rays No. 28 prospect, went 2-4 and drove in four of the Biscuits five runs in the game. He now has 10 homers on the year.
The Biscuits extended its lead, 3-1, when catcher Justin O’Conner, the Rays No. 1 prospect according to MLB, hit his fifth homer of the season over the left center field wall in the fourth inning.
Montgomery has now won four straight over Pensacola, improving its record to 33-30 in the Southern League North Division. Meanwhile, Pensacola dropped to 23-39 and last place in the South Division.
Pensacola first baseman Ray Chang went 1-3 and is hitting .372 in June. Perez continued his hot-hitting on the road, going 1-2 for a .282 average.
Northview Summer Ball Underway
June 14, 2015
Summer ball is underway for the Northview Chiefs. The Chiefs lost to Crestview 10-2 and lost to Niceville 9-7 Saturday. On Friday, the Northview Chiefs lost to Crestview 3-2 and defeated Baker 11-2 in summer ball. The Chiefs are back in action in Bratt at 4 p.m. Monday. Photos by Ramona Preston for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Century’s Showalter Earns Orioles Third Most Wins Ever As Manager
June 14, 2015
Another milestone Saturday night for Century native and Baltimore Orioles Manager Buck Showalter.
With the Orioles defeating the Yankees 9-4 for the sixth straight victor, Showalter earned his 408th win as manager of the Orioles, third-most ever behind Earl Weaver and Paul Richards.
Showalter’s family moved to Century in the late 1950’s. His father served as a teacher, coach and principal at Century High School for 23 years. Buck Showalter played Little League ball in a thriving program in Century, and he graduated from Century High School. Century’s modern day Showalter Park is named after him.
Photo courtesy Baltimore Orioles for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Biscuits Beat Wahoos
June 14, 2015
Jacob Johnson earned his first Double-A start in three seasons for the Pensacola Blue Wahoos and looked like he never moved to the bullpen.
The big right-hander gave up two hits, one walk and one earned run in five innings and struck out two, as Pensacola entered the bottom of the seventh inning ahead, 3-1.
However, the Montgomery Biscuits ended up sweeping the seven-inning doubleheaders against Pensacola at Riverwalk Stadium. Montgomery won, 4-3, in the eighth inning of the second game when third baseman Patrick Leonard scored on a two-out, wild pitch by Blue Wahoos reliever Kyle McMyne. The Blue Wahoos lost the first game, 3-2, on a walk-off home run by second baseman Thomas Coyle in the seventh.
In the second game, Johnson got the spot start after Blue Wahoos Keyvius Sampson earned a promotion to the Triple-A Louisville Bats earlier this week. In his past five games out of the bullpen, Johnson had given seven runs on 13 hits and five walks in 10 innings.
But Pensacola blew Johnson’s one-run effort by allowing Montgomery to send the game into extra innings by scoring two in the seventh inning to tie it, 3-3. Biscuits right fielder Boog Powell drove in Leonard, who had walked. Then pinch runner Juniel Querecuto scored on a two-out walk to Biscuits first baseman Cameron Seitzer.
Pensacola had gone ahead, 3-1, in the fourth inning when third baseman Marquez Smith hit a solo homer to left field. Blue Wahoos center fielder Juan Perez then scored on a single by left fielder Juan Silva after knocking his fourth triple of the season.
The first game of the doubleheader was delayed by an hour, 19 minutes because of rain.
Montgomery won, 3-2, on the walk-off homer by Coyle off Pensacola reliever Zach Weiss to start the seventh inning.
Weiss fell to 0-3 with a 6.75 ERA and ruined a quality start by Tim Adleman (2-6) who threw six innings and allowed only two runs on five hits, one walk and four strikeouts. Adleman, who had the third best ERA in the Southern League entering the game, was chosen to his first All-Star game earlier this week.
Meanwhile, Biscuits reliever Ryan Garton got his first Double-A win to improve to 1-0 when he came in to pitch the final 1.1 innings. Garton has struck out 17 batters in 14.1 innings after fanning left fielder Jesse Winker, first baseman Ray Chang and Smith in the final inning. He did allowed a single on a soft liner by right fielder Kyle Waldrop.
In the top of the fifth of the first game of the doubleheader, Pensacola went ahead, 2-1, when Chang hit a sacrifice fly to center to drive in second baseman Ryan Wright.
But Montgomery came right back in the bottom of the inning to tie the game, 2-2, when right fielder Joey Rickard grounded out to third to score Coyle from third. Coyle lead off the inning when he was hit by a pitch.
Montgomery tied the game at one in the third, when Powell doubled to left field to score shortstop Juniel Querecuto, who had an infield single to shortstop.
Pensacola took the lead, 1-0, when Smith singled in Chang, who singled on a line drive to left field.
Montgomery improved its record to 32-30 in the Southern League North Division. Meanwhile, Pensacola dropped to 23-38 and last place in the South Division. The Blue Wahoos now have the worst record in one-run games in the Southern League at 7-19 for a .269 winning percentage.
Five Flags Honors Marty White: From Principal’s Office At Tate High To Radio Icon
June 13, 2015
Five Flags Speedway held a special sendoff Friday night for Marty White, longtime Pensacola radio personality. He was honored by Sen. Greg Evers and Escambia Commissioner Wilson Robertson, awarded a trophy (with an upside-down car that was on fire), and given a Yeti cooler. His remarkable radio career can be traced back to his days at Tate High School.
By Chuck Corder
Would you be shocked to learn the man, who has entertained Pensacola radio listeners for four decades with his blue-collar comedy and homespun delivery, started out in the principal’s office?
If we’re going to blame somebody, Burma Davis is a kind and decent soul to begin with. It was 1972 and Davis, the youngest principal’s secretary ever hired at Tate High School, had her plate full of responsibilities.
One of those was overseeing the office assistants — a group of student workers, seniors mostly, who served as de facto ambassadors for the sprawling, 80-acre school.
Davis, then just 25 years old, had to find tasks to keep the teenagers’ idle hands busy. After all, they were receiving course credits for answering phones, greeting visitors, providing directions for lost deliverymen. It wasn’t like they were going to skip out on such an easy “A.”
Like a hive of worker bees, students parked themselves at Davis’ desk and awaited further instructions.
She plucked one young man, a senior with an engaging and effervescent personality, to boom the morning announcements through the school’s speakers. “He had a lot of personality, full of confidence and was real creative,” Davis remembers.
Nearly 45 years after Marty White got his high school “break,” the longtime and popular disc jockey at NASH 102.7 FM can still be described as full of personality, confident and creative.
And on days, when Davis was forced to tap other students to meekly perform the same announcements, she got peppered with the same question in the school’s hallways.
“Where’s Marty?” classmates asked Davis. “We love it when he does ’em.”
A Chapter Worth Celebrating
To this day, Pensacolians still love the sound of 59-year-old Marty White’s voice. They’ll only get to enjoy that privilege a little while longer before he officially retires later this month.
And for a few years, Pensacolians loved to watch him race at Five Flags Speedway.
Those are just two of the many reasons why White was honored at the famed half-mile asphalt Friday night — Marty White Appreciation Night. Two from now, on June 26, Marty will hang up his microphone for good and broadcast his last show before heading into a glorious sunset of rocking chairs, golfing, hunting, fishing and honey-doing.
“We’re so proud of him,” said Donna White, Marty’s (much) better half for 27 years. “He’d give you the shirt off his back without knowing you. I appreciate (Five Flags general manager) Tim (Bryant) and all of y’all for thinking to do this. (Marty) wanted no hullabaloo, just something short and sweet, so I’m tickled to death about this.”
It was a busy Marty White Appreciation Night thanks to its annual children’s bicycle races, a 50-lap Modifieds of Mayhem feature in addition to Super Stocks, Sportsman and Bombers heats and features.
For more than 20 years in Pensacola and across the Florida Panhandle, Marty White became a prominent fixture on radio dials thanks to the “Hometown Morning Show.”
“Radio has been good to us,” Donna said. “We’ve had a lotta good times; he’s done stuff you normally wouldn’t get to do.
“He flew with the Blue Angels. He was in a blimp. He played a lotta golf. And he’s done a lot for this community — that’s a gimme. When (hurricanes) come around, we don’t see Marty until it’s over and everything is secure. He loves that part of radio, keeping the people informed, as much as anything else.”
He celebrated 40 years in radio earlier this year, most of those coming in Pensacola. Marty also did radio work while he served in the United States Air Force, despite it not being his official job.
The military sent him to Italy, although Donna remains suspicious to this day.
“He thinks he can speak Italian,” she said. “We went back over once on a trip, but his Italian was not good. He tried.”
Finding Love Over Spilled Drinks
A native of Pensacola, Marty’s down-home cadence and folksy candor made him a fan favorite of commuters, especially when he playfully sparred with sidekicks.
Davis remembers Marty’s appreciation for life at a young age. One morning she flipped on the intercom system at Tate, handed Marty the mike and let destiny take its course.
“He loved it,” Davis said. “Even then, he put so much energy into it — so much personality. You might think a young person would be bashful if you handed them a microphone, but he was very confident from the very beginning.”
Soon, Davis was recommending Marty to be the public address announcer at Tate football games every Friday night.
The rest is history.
“For a kid calling football games with so much energy, (White) stood out,” Davis said.
“It was very powerful. And he, himself, was a very driven young man. Not all kids are (driven) at that age.”
A senior, Marty called the action on the field, unbeknownst that his blissful future was on the sidelines, too.
Donna (nee Edwards) was a cheerleader, two years Marty’s junior. Love at first sight it was not.
“We didn’t hang around much together,” Donna said. “I didn’t pay much attention to him.”
A few years later at Five Flags, though, Marty took matters into his own hands. Unintentionally? You make the call.
“I was at Five Flags Speedway with some friends,” Donna continued. “He was out there, sitting behind us. He spilled a beer down my back. That was the first time I saw him after high school.”
It wouldn’t be the last.
Their first date came at a New Year’s Eve party with a bunch of couples ringing in 1984 in Navarre. Marty, perhaps with the help of some liquid courage, decided it was perfect weather for a dip in the Gulf.
If his plan was to get back to Donna’s house, it worked. Marty got pneumonia from his polar bear adventure and Donna nursed him back to health.
“He never moved out after that first date,” said Donna, who it should be noted has just as sharp a sense of humor as her husband does. “He wanted me for my washer and dryer.”
The pair married in 1987 and had their only child, son Cody, two years later.
Itchin’ to Race
After dominating the celebrity/media races in a Bomber car for a few years at Five Flags, Marty convinced Donna to let him try the real thing in 2010.
“He always teased me that he wanted to race,” Donna said. “I said whatever. He qualified for the (Sportsman Snowball) Derby one year, but it was illegal.
“After that, he started driving routinely. I wasn’t sure what he was getting us into.”
White and his trademarked No. 102.7 Sportsman, an appropriate number if you’ve ever seen one, raced for three seasons.
He won one heat race — “You would’ve thought it was a feature,” Donna joked — but it never seemed to be all about collecting checkered flags for Marty White.
“He hit the wall about 7,000 times,” Donna exaggerated. “He caught fire a bunch of times before finally realizing his time was done. But he loves it. He’d go back right now in a hard second.”
Asked if she thought Marty would consider a return for the track’s annual Demolition Derby later this summer, Donna was quick with a quip, “He’s a Demolition Derby on his own.”
How will the man fill his time without a mike in his hand or a short-track in front of his fender?
Fishing, hunting and swimming at the family camp in Florala, Ala., will fill the void. But Donna promises to keep him busy until she decides Marty don’t need no rockin’ chair, as George Jones (a Marty favorite) would say.
“I have stuff that’s just ready to be fixed around the house,” she said. “He wants to chill out, but, eventually, and he doesn’t know this yet, but I’m going to have to send him back to work.”
Perhaps Tate needs a voice for its morning announcements.
Photos courtesy Nash 102.7 for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.