Wahoos Even Series With Mobile
August 16, 2014
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos saved their best game for last in front of Cincinnati Reds Bill Bavasi, who was in town to evaluate the players firsthand.
Bavasi oversees Cincinnati’s scouting, player development and international operations and looked on as the Reds’ Double-A affiliate romped to an 8-3 victory over its archrival Mobile BayBears – the top team in the Southern League.
Bavasi’s assessment? He gives Pensacola, its club, ballpark and fans all high marks.
“This place is terrific. It’s off the charts,” he said. “This league is full of guys who have great tools and are on their way up. This is a great city and a terrific place to play.”
One of those Wahoos players the Reds have an eye on is its top prospect Robert Stephenson who started Friday’s game. Stephenson earned the win and is now 6-8 on the year. He went five innings, allowing one run on four hits, while striking out five to retake the Southern League lead with 121 on the season.
Stephenson, who left the game after the fifth inning and 88 pitches because his right calf started cramping, said there’s no added pressure when a front office executive like Bavasi pays a visit.
“They have videos and are watching every game any way,” he said. “It didn’t concern me. I just wanted to pitch the way I’m supposed to pitch.”
The hard throwing righty bounced back from his last start when he allowed five runs and nine hits in just 2.1 innings.
“I felt great,” Stephenson said. “I felt my struggles lately have just been mental. I told myself I was going to get everyone out and I was just better than them. It seemed to help me.”
Blue Wahoos Manager Delino DeShields reminded his players of one important lesson.
“They’ve been evaluated all along,” he said. “It comes down to how the guys finished, not how they started. They are all still playing hard. I appreciate the effort they’re giving.”
Stephenson, outfielder Jesse Winker (No. 2), starting pitcher Michael Lorenzen (No. 4) and starting pitcher Ben Lively (No. 6) are all among the Reds top 10 prospects in their organization, according to MLB.com. In addition, starting pitcher Daniel Corcino is ranked No. 12, outfielder Yorman Rodriguez No. 13 and starting pitcher Jon Moscot No. 16.
Bevasi said while Stephenson and Winker get all the kudos as the top two prospects, a lot of other players have a chance to play for the Reds in the coming years. Winker has been on the disabled list since July 24 with a sprained right wrist.
“Robert (Stephenson) has developed well and this is a good place for him to get challenged,” Bevasi said. “We wish Jesse (Winker) wasn’t hurt. We’d like to see him get more at bats. But the guys who are written up are not always the ones who end up playing in the Major Leagues.”
And Blue Wahoos players who have the best chance of joining Cincinnati’s starting lineup? All Bevasi revealed is, “I like them all.”
In Friday’s game, the players most fans liked best were leftfielder Juan Silverio, who clubbed a solo homer in the sixth, and first baseman Travis Mattair, who blasted a three-run home run in the seventh inning that put Pensacola up, 8-1.
GAME NOTES
The finale of the five-game series with Arizona Diamondbacks Double-A affiliate the Mobile BayBears (73-48) gets underway at 6:30 p.m. Saturday. RHP Michael Lorenzen (4-5, 2.98) takes the mound for the Wahoos (53-71) and is scheduled to be opposed by the BayBears RHP Archie Bradley (2-2, 3.77).
by Tommy Thrall
Northview, EWMS Showcase Cross Country Programs With ‘Glow Run’
August 15, 2014
Northview High and Ernest Ward Middle schools’ cross country programs hosted a community “glow run” Thursday in Bratt. The event ended just after dark, with runners wearing glow sticks, glow bracelets and other glow in the dark items.
The run gave students and their parents a chance to learn about and sign up for the cross country programs at both schools. For more information about the Northview Cross Country team contact Coach Natalie Nall at nnelson@escambia.k12.fl.us, or for more information about the Ernest Ward Cross Country team, contact Coach Betty Coon at bcoon@escambia.k12.fl.us.
The first scheduled meet for Northview is September 16 at Brewton Middle School. The first home meet will be September 23 at Northview.
Pictured: A community “glow run” Thursday evening at Travis Nelson Park in Bratt. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Wahoos Win 2-1 Over Rival Mobile BayBears
August 15, 2014
Hometown prospect Ben Lively remains winless in front of his friends and family at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium.
But that doesn’t matter as long as the Pensacola Blue Wahoos starter keeps pitching like he did Thursday night. The 6-foot-3, 215-pound righty shut out the Mobile BayBears over six innings, allowed just three hits and struck out seven.
What matters to Lively is his team pulled out a win in the 11th inning, 2-1, against Southern League rival Mobile, which is 26 games over .500 with the best record in the South Division at 73-47.
Travis Mattair lead off the bottom of the 11th inning with a triple off the centerfield wall and the very next batter Devin Lohman drove him home with the winning run on a deep fly ball to right field.
A Gulf Breeze High School baseball standout Lively entered the game with a 0-4 record and 4.73 ERA. Afterwards his comment: “It’s a team sport. As long as we win, I don’t care.”
Pensacola Manager Delino DeShields said Thursday was one of Lively’s best performances in front of the home crowd.
“He was really good tonight,” DeShields said. “I wish we would have held the lead for him and gotten him the W.”
Lively’s had a bit of hard luck that his overall 1-6 record doesn’t explain. Consider this: When allowing two runs or less, which Lively has done in six of his 10 starts with Pensacola, Lively has 1 win, 2 losses and 3 no decisions. Plus, in half of his 10 starts, he’s allowed just three hits or less, with opposing hitters batting .196 against him.
Lively bounced back from his last home start against the Jackson Generals, he allowed five runs – the most all season – in six innings and struck out three batters – his fewest all season.
Mattair, who nearly won a bet that he would blast a homer, said playing at first base behind Lively on the mound is always exciting.
“He has just been lights out,” said Mattair, who has a home run, triple, three doubles and two singles in his last seven hits. “He has that mentality that he’s going to beat you.”
Lohman, wearing a collar of shaving cream, said he was just looking for a pitch to drive out of the infield, which was playing in. He let a first pitch fastball go by and was angry at himself before hitting the walk-off sacrifice fly. Like Lively, he just wanted to get a victory and end their two-game losing streak to Mobile.
“Lively is very intense and the kind of person who fires the team up,” Lohman said. “He plays to win. We’ve had a lot of close games against Mobile this year. It was good to get the win. ”
BLACKED OUT GAME RESUMES The first ever Pensacola Blue Wahoos game suspended because the ballpark lights went out Wednesday resumed Thursday. The BayBears were in the middle of a ninth-inning rally when the blackout happened and the game restarted with the bases loaded with one out and Mobile ahead, 4-3.
Mobile picked up where it left off, adding four more runs on two more hits to win the game, 8-3. In all over two nights, Mobile sent nine batters to the plate and scored six runs on six hits off Pensacola closer Shane Dyer, who had saved 12 games in a row. Dyer, who earned the loss to fall to 0-3, has only blown two saves in 18 tries.
It was the first time in 26 home games this season that the Wahoos lost after leading the game after eight innings.
During the day, Pensacola hired an electrical contractor who repaired a breaker in the malfunctioning lights on the first base side of the field.
GAME NOTES
The fourth game of the five-game series with Arizona Diamondbacks Double-A affiliate the Mobile BayBears (73-47) gets underway at 6:30 p.m. Friday. RHP Robert Stephenson (5-8, 4.59) takes the mound for the Wahoos (52-71) and is scheduled to be opposed by the BayBears LHP Clayton Richard (0-0, 18.00).
by Tommy Thrall
The Night The Lights Went Out For The Wahoos
August 14, 2014
The Southern League rivalry between the Pensacola Blue Wahoos and Mobile BayBears will be remembered Wednesday for the first ever game delay because the ballpark lights went out.
The field and fans sat in complete darkness for about 15 minutes in the top of the ninth inning, right in the middle of a Mobile rally. The BayBears had the bases loaded with one out after scoring two runs to go ahead, 4-3.
That’s when the lights on the first base side went out. When the lights came back on, the lights on the first base side did not return to full power.
As a result, the umpires suspended the game until 5:30 p.m. Thursday. The regularly scheduled game will start 30 minutes after the suspended game ends.
Blue Wahoos officials were still trying to figure out why the malfunction happened late Wednesday night.
Blue Wahoos Manager Delino DeShields said he has “never” experienced a suspended game because of the lights going out in his nearly 30 years of professional baseball.
“I’ve had the lights go out before temporarily but not to suspend a game,” DeShields said.
He said he doubts the blackout will effect the game’s outcome.
“I don’t think it will really matter much,” DeShields said. “The bases are loaded and one out. We’ll see what happens.”
Pensacola had comeback with three runs on five hits in the eighth inning to take the lead, 3-2. First baseman Travis Mattair pushed a single through to right field that scored Ryan Wright and Kyle Waldrop.
The third game of the five-game series with Arizona DiamondBacks Double-A affiliate the Mobile BayBears gets underway at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. RHP Ben Lively (1-6, 3.96) takes the mound for the Wahoos and is scheduled to be opposed by the BayBears RHP A.J. Schugel (5-2, 3.43).
by Tommy Thrall
Mobile Homers Win Over The Blue Wahoos
August 13, 2014
Mobile BayBears hitters showed two-time U.S. Master’s champion Bubba Watson – one of the longest drivers off the tee on the PGA Tour – how to drive a baseball.
While Watson took a few big cuts in the batting cage before the game, it was Mobile that relied on the long ball to defeat Southern League rival Pensacola, 6-1, in the opener of the five-game series at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium.
The BayBears knocked two homers over the wall in left field and into the bay in the sixth inning for three runs to take a commanding, 5-1, lead.
Corcino entered the game with a 9-2 record at home with a 2.52 earned-run average. But Mobile knocked him out of the game in the sixth with a lead off home run by third baseman Brandon Drury just inside the foul pole. After right fielder Dustin Martin followed with a single, second baseman Gerson Montilla hit a two-run shot.
Mobile starting pitcher Braden Shipley earned his first professional hit when he smacked a solo home run over the left field wall in the third inning off Corcino to put the BayBears ahead, 2-0. Corcino gave up five runs and six hits in five-plus innings, however, he struck out seven, including five in a row. Shipley allowed just one run on three hits in four innings and struck out five.
The BayBears, winners of the first half of the Southern League South Division, have the best record in the second half, too. They are 30-19 and 72-46 overall. In the final series with Pensacola (20-31, 51-70), Mobile leads nine games to seven.
After Mobile added a run in the seventh, Drew Hayes took the mound and stopped Mobile from scoring any more. He faced the minimum eight batters in the final 2.2 innings. He fanned three batters.
The Wahoos were only able to push across one run Tuesday and missed having catcher Ross Perez in the middle of the lineup, Manager Delino DeShields said. Perez, who was hitting a team-leading .333 on the season, got called up Tuesday to the Triple-A Louisville Bats.
“He earned the promotion,” DeShields said. “I know he was happy. Personally, I hated to see him go, especially for our offense. But at the end of the day, it’s all about the guys moving on and one day reaching the big leagues.”
The second game of the five-game series with Arizona DiamondBacks Double-A affiliate the Mobile BayBears gets underway at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. RHP Jon Moscot (7-10, 3.14) takes the mound for the Wahoos and is scheduled to be opposed by the BayBears RHP Aaron Blair (3-1, 3.09).
by Tommy Thrall
Teams Needed For Saturday Softball Tournament
August 12, 2014
Players are still needed for a double elimination coed softball tournament this Saturday, August 16 from 8 a.m. until at Showalter Park in Century. All proceeds will benefit the Northview Chiefs football program.
For more information or to sign up a team, call Amy at (850) 516-8400 or Tony at (850) 516-5736.
Wahoos Win Slugfest 9-8
August 11, 2014
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos (20-30, 51-69) defeated the Jackson Generals (22-27, 53-65) 9-8 in the series finale at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium. With the victory, the Wahoos won their second series since the All-Star break.
For the second straight game, the Generals took an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first. Pat Kivlehan rocked a two-run home run to deep left field to get the Generals started. Pensacola responded with a big first inning of their own; Travis Mattair had a three-run home run and Juan Duran followed him with a two-run homer.
It didn’t take long for the Generals to respond, scoring four runs in the top of the third. The runs came off the bat of Kivlehan again as his three-RBI double cleared the bases. Pensacola and Jackson traded runs in the fourth and fifth innings and the Generals led 7-6 after the top of the sixth.
The Wahoos exploded for three runs in the bottom of the sixth. They loaded the bases for Brodie Greene, who hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield to score Duran. Ray Chang and Yorman Rodriguez both made the heads up play and moved up to second and third respectively on the sac fly. Chris Berset brought them home with a two-run two-RBI single to give the Wahoos a 9-7 lead after six innings.
Neither starting pitcher would account for a decision. RHP Michael Lorenzen allowed six runs on four hits over 3.0 innings while Jackson’s Tyler Pike lasted just 0.2 innings while allowing five runs. LHP Fabian Williamson earned the win and pitched extremely well in relief for Pensacola. The lefty tied his season high with four strikeouts and didn’t allow a hit over 2.2 innings of work.
Jackson’s Moises Hernandez took the loss; he allowed three runs on four hits over 1.2 innings pitched. RHP Shane Dyer set down the Generals in order in the ninth and earned his 16th save of the season.
The Wahoos scored at least five runs, so use promo code WAHOOS on PapaJohns.com Monday for 50% off pizza.
The Wahoos are off Monday and begin a five-game home set against the Mobile BayBears on Tuesday night. Gulf Breeze native Ben Lively (1-6, 3.96) will make the start for Pensacola.
by Tommy Thrall
Generals Top Wahoos
August 10, 2014
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos (19-30, 50-69) fell 
-5 to the Jackson Generals (22-26, 53-64) in front of the 30th sellout crowd of 2014. With the win, the Generals evened the series at two games apiece.
For the first time in the series, the Generals struck first in the contest. Leon Landry led the game off with a solo home run to right field. It was an inauspicious start for Wahoos’ starter Robert Stephenson, who would eventually be chased from the contest after 2.1 innings pitched. Stephenson allowed five runs on nine hits, five of which went for extra-bases.
The Wahoos answered in the bottom of the second inning with three runs of their own to take the lead, 3-2. Travis Mattair started the inning off with a double and Kyle Waldrop followed it up with an RBI triple. After a sacrifice fly from Seth Mejias-Brean, Juan Duran crushed a solo shot to left field to give the Wahoos the lead.
Jackson re-took the lead with a two-RBI double from Dario Pizzano in the third inning and it was sixth batter of the inning, Steve Baron, whose double ended Stephenson’s night. The seesaw battle continued with the Wahoos tying the score at five in the bottom of the fourth.
Dan Paolini answered in the fifth with a solo home run to left center to give the Generals the lead for good. Paolini was the marquee player for Jackson; he went 4-for-5, with three RBI and two solo home runs.
RHP Kyle McMyne made his first Double-A appearance of his career for Pensacola. McMyne went 2.0 innings and allowed one run on three hits while notching his first strikeout. RHP Tim Adleman came on in relief of Stephenson and took the loss for the Wahoos. Adleman went 2.2 innings and gave up just one run on two hits while striking out three batters. LHP Kyle Hunter earned the win, throwing 2.1 innings of scoreless ball for the Generals.
The Wahoos scored five runs, so use promo code WAHOOS on PapaJohns.com Sunday for 50% off pizza.
The rubber match begins at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday afternoon. The Wahoos will send RHP Michael Lorenzen (4-5, 2.56) to the mound and the Generals have tabbed LHP Tyler Pike (3-2, 6.29) as their starting pitcher.
by Tommy Thrall
Escambia County Athlete Honored With Special Olympics Of Florida Award
August 9, 2014
A very special Escambia County athlete was recognized with a Special Olympics of Florida award.
Stacy Barnes has been participating in Special Olympics for 17 years. She had focused on bowling and bocce competition but made a New Year’s resolution to try tennis.
Barnes’ hard work paid off – this summer she took home a gold medal in tennis.
For eight years Barnes has also served in several leadership roles through Special Olympics, including being elected to represent her county and promote national campaigns. Barnes represents Special Olympics Florida in her community by emphasizing the abilities of the athletes, not their disabilities when she makes speeches and participates in public events.
Pictured top: The Florida Special Olympics Torch run begins each year in Century. Pictured inset: Stacy Barnes. Pictured below: The Escambia County Special Olympics Spring Games are held each spring at Tate High School. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Wahoos Top The Generals 5-1
August 9, 2014
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos (19-29, 50-68) took game three of the series 5-1 over the Jackson Generals (21-26, 52-64). With their second straight victory, the Wahoos took a 2-1 series lead over the Generals. RHP Jon Moscot (W, 7-10) shined for the Wahoos, earning his seventh win of the season.
Moscot worked efficiently in the game; he pitched 7.0 innings on 85 pitches, 58 of which were strikes. The righty allowed only three hits, struck out four batters and didn’t surrender a walk all night. It was Moscot’s 14th quality start in 24 appearances this season with the Wahoos.
Seth Mejias-Brean got the Blue Wahoos on the board first for the fourth straight game with his third home run of the season in the second inning. Pensacola was aided by three unearned runs over the third and fourth innings to take a 4-0 lead. For the second straight night, the Wahoos were able to capitalize on Jackson’s miscues to gain an early advantage.
The Wahoos scored in their fourth straight inning when Mejias-Brean got his second RBI of the contest with a run scoring single to give Pensacola a 5-0 lead. The Generals didn’t strike until the Wahoos went to their bullpen in the eighth inning. Carlos Gonzalez allowed a run and exited the game with the bases loaded.
RHP Ben Klimesh (S, 1) came on and struck out Pat Kivlehan to end the threat in the eighth inning. Klimesh finished off the Generals in the ninth inning, earning his first save with Pensacola.
Ross Perez was held hitless tonight snapping his 13-game hitting streak, the second longest in team history. Despite going 0-for-4 at the plate, he won off the field by proposing to his girlfriend Smirna Flores before the game as part of a ceremonial first pitch. She said yes and the two shared a moment before the start of Friday night’s game.
RHP Stephen Landazuri (L, 6-4) took the loss for the Generals. The Generals’ right-hander went 5.0 innings and allowed 5 R/2ER on five hits. The Wahoos scored five runs, so use promo code WAHOOS on PapaJohns.com on Saturday for 50% off pizza.
The Blue Wahoos have tabbed RHP Robert Stephenson (5-8, 4.29) as their starting pitcher for game four on Saturday. The Generals will send RHP Victor Sanchez (6-4, 3.62) to the mound.
by Tommy Thrall