Free NFL Punt, Pass & Kick Program
August 21, 2009
The Escambia County Recreation Division will host the NFL Punt, Pass & Kick program on Sunday, August 23 at 2 p.m. at the Ensley football fields at John R. Jones Athletic Park, 555 East Nine Mile Road. Boys and girls, ages eight through 15 are eligible to participate and admission is free.
Established in 1961, the NFL Punt, Pass & Kick program is the oldest NFL youth football program. Girls and boys in four separate age divisions (8-9, 10-11, 12-13, and 14-15) compete against each other in punting, passing and place-kicking in a fun and engaging forum.
With more than four million boys and girls from around the country participating in the NFL Punt, Pass & Kick competition each year, it is one of the world’s largest youth sports participation programs.
Local children have an opportunity to move on to the sectional competition and possibly visit New Orleans for the Team Championships.
No football shoes, turf shoes, cleats or bare feet are allowed. Please come dressed in appropriate gym attire.
For more information or to register, please contact the Escambia County Recreation Division by phone at 850-475-5220, by email at recreation@myescambia.com or visit us on the web at www.myescambia.com.
Pelicans Lose To Captains Tuesday Night, 3-2
August 19, 2009
The Captains defeated the Pelicans 3-2 on Tuesday in a game that saw Pensacola score first. Jimmy Heard earned the win for Shreveport-Bossier while Randy Beam was tagged for the loss.
The Pelicans earned the game’s first run in the top of the third. Lou Palmisano led off the inning with a walk and moved up to second on Dallas Christison’s sacrifice bunt. Kevin Reynolds drove Palmisano in with a double and the Pelicans were on top 1-0.
The Captains rallied back for three runs in the bottom half of the inning. Angelo Fermin walked to start, stole second and third, and scored on Bryan Sabatella’s double. After Chris Garcia walked, Andres Rodriguez scored both runners with a double of his own and the Captains had a two-run advantage.
The Pelicans rallied for a run in the seventh, but left a man at third base. Marcos Rodriguez started the inning with a base hit. After Rodriguez advanced to second on a wild pitch, Chase Burch flied out to centerfield, allowing Rodriguez to tag and move to third. Rodriguez scored on a wild pitch to pull the Pelicans within one. With two out, Lou Palmisano doubled and moved to third on a passed ball. Dallas Christison succeeded him and lined a ball up the middle, but second baseman Luis Guance stabbed the ball in a diving catch to the end the inning and the threat.
Starter Randy Beam pitched six innings, allowing three runs on five hits and four walks, striking out eight. The Pelicans brought in Francisco Butto to pitch the seventh. With one out, White singled, Garcia walked, and Rodriguez singled. The bases were loaded, but Butto induced Alavarez to ground into a 4-6-3 double play to escape the jam.
The Pelicans threatened again in the top of the ninth, when Chase Burch hit a double with one out. Adam Darby singled, but Burch held at third. A strikeout and fly out later the ballgame was over and the Captains won. With the win, Shreveport-Bossier pulls into a tie for second place with the Grand Prairie Air Hogs, three games behind the first place Pelicans.
The Captains will look for the sweep tomorrow, as Drew Coffey pitches for Shreveport-Bossier against the Pelicans’ Aaron Jackson. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 with all the action live on NewsRadio 1620 and online via SportsJuice.com.
Teams Are Still Needed For Coed Softball Tournament This Weekend
August 18, 2009
Teams are still needed for a coed softball tournament this weekend in Century sponsored by the Northview High School Quarterback Club.
The tournament will take place Saturday at Showalter Park beginning at 8 a.m.
The entry fee for the double elimination tournament is $200 per team. The proceeds will benefit the football program at Northview High School.
Organizers are encouraging all businesses, churches and local organizations to support the football program at Northview High School by organizing a team and joining in a great day of fun.
For complete details and contact information, click here (pdf).
Bad News: Pelicans Grounded By Captains 9-0; Good News: Still In First Place
August 18, 2009
Salazar handled the Pelicans for six innings, allowing just three hits while striking out a season-high nine Pelicans. The Captains supported their starter with four runs in the first inning.
A two-out first inning rally would provide all the runs the Captains would need in the ballgame. Chris Garcia singled, Andres Rodriguez repeated, and Alvarez hit safely to bring in Garcia. Jose Torres doubled to score Rodriguez, and Luis Guance doubled to drive in two runs.
The Captains added another run in the second when Angelo Fermin reached on an error by the first baseman, stole second, and reached third on an error by the catcher. Dwayne White singled and Fermin scored.
In the bottom of the third Jose Torres reached on the second baseman’s first error, stole second, and moved to third on a Guance groundout. Kevin Griffin lifted a sac fly to left and Torres scored.
The Captains added two more runs in the fourth, as Dwayne White reached on the second baseman’s second error. Garcia reached on a fielder’s choice, and Andres Rodriguez reached on the first of two errors by the shortstop. Jorge Alvarez reached on a fielder’s choice, and on the play White scored. Garcia came home on the next play that saw Torres reach on the second error by the shortstop.
Dane DeValk had a respectable start, pitching seven innings, and allowing just four earned runs, though eight scored on his eight hits. Four strikeouts capped his performance.
Joey Wedner pitched the eighth and Kevin Griffin led off with a single. Fermin knocked a base hit, and Sabatella reached on a fielder’s choice. With Griffin at third, White reached on a fielder’s choice and Griffin scored to make the game 9-0.
At the plate, Leandro and Christison both went 2-4, with Palmisano adding the other Pelicans’ hit. Both Leandro and Christison had a stolen base.
The Pelicans will face the Captains again on Tuesday, with Pelicans’ LHP Randy Beam looking for his tenth win. He will face the Captains’ RHP Jimmy Heard. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
Free Hunter Safety Course
August 17, 2009
Escambia County Extension Services and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission are offering a free hunter safety course.
Both traditional classroom style and online training are available. The traditional hunter safety course, which covers the knowledge, skills and attitude needed to be a safe hunter, is 12 hours of classroom instruction with a test and three hours on the range. The online version allows students to learn a majority of the knowledge portion of the course via computer with the remainder of the course covered in a four-hour classroom setting followed by a test and three hours on the range.
Participants must be 12 years of age or older. Children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult at all times.
The hunter safety course will be held at the Langley Bell 4-H Center, 4810 West Nine Mile Road. Classes will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. on September 15, 17, 22 and 24 with the range portion held September 26 from 7 to 10 a.m.
Information and registration is available online here or by calling the FWC’s regional office in Panama City at (850) 265-3676. You may also call Libbie Johnson at your local Escambia County Extension Services, 850-475-5230 or email libbiej@ufl.edu.
Pensacola Sweeps El Paso with 11-7 Win
August 17, 2009
The Pensacola Pelicans are rolling, topping the Diablos 11-7 on Sunday night to complete a series sweep. Ron Hill earned the win in Pensacola’s fourth straight, their nineteenth win in their last 26 games. The W, coupled with a Captains’ loss, extends the Pelicans lead in first place to 4.5 games.
The Pelicans came from behind again Sunday evening, watching as the Diablos put up four runs in two innings against Pelicans’ starter Adam Brandenburg. Kennard Bibbs walked and moved to second on a wild pitch. David Washington walked, and both runners moved up on a passed ball. Alvarez reached on an error by the third baseman, and Bibbs scored on the play. Even though Juan Camacho grounded into a double play, Washington scored from the third, and the Diablos were up by two.
El Paso added to their total with two more in the bottom of the second. Eddy Rodriguez singled and Bobby Andrews did too. Bibbs walked to load the bases, and David Washington walked to force in a run. With the bases still loaded Juan Camacho walked as well, giving the Diablos a 4-0 lead. Brandenburg struck out Mike Provencher to end the inning, but that would be the last batter he faced, lasting two innings, allowing four earned runs on three hits, walking five and striking out three.
The Pelicans earned a run an inning from the third through the fifth. Adam Deleo singled to start the third, moved to second on a Dallas Christison bunt-single, and made it to third base on Francisco Leandro’s base hit. Antoin Gray lifted a sacrifice fly to right field for his seventieth RBI of the year, plating Deleo.
In the fourth inning Marcos Rodriguez led off with a single, advanced to second on Adam Darby’s bunt-single, and came home when Deleo hit him in. An inning later the Pels scored again when Leandro started the inning with a walk. He moved to second on a groundout by Marshall McDougall, and came home on Marcos Rodriguez’s base knock. The Pels had made it a one-run game.
Bubba Nelson pitched for the Pelicans from the third through the sixth. Nelson was brilliant, allowing no hits, walking four and striking out four. Ron Hill pitched the seventh and eighth, yielding just two hits while striking out three. Hill was on the line for the win when the Pelicans scored five in the top of the eighth.
Joe Klein relieved El Paso’s Justin Mallett, allowing a leadoff single to Chase Burch. Adam Darby followed him with a single, and Adam Deleo made his third hit of the night a big one: Deleo connected for a two-RBI triple to score Burch and Darby, and the Pelicans had the lead. Pensacola added insurance by scoring Deleo on a Dallas Christison sacrifice fly. Reynolds singled, Leandro walked, and Antoin Gray had a double that scored both men, giving the Pelicans an 8-4 lead.
The Pelicans added three more runs in the top of the ninth against El Paso’s Mike Cervera. Adam Darby notched his fourth hit of the night, and Dallas Christison reached on an error by the third baseman. Kevin Reynolds made it to first on an error by the shortstop, and both Darby and Christison scored on the play. Reynolds would score the Pelicans’ last run when the pitcher made an error throwing to first on a Leandro comebacker. The Pelicans led by seven to enter the last of the ninth.
Hunter Davis came in for the ninth, and added a little excitement. David Washington singled to start, and with one out, Camacho doubled to score Washington. Provencher followed with a single to plate Camacho, and Jeff Vincent walked. Eddy Rodriguez reached on an error by the second baseman to load the bases, bringing Jerry Verastegui to the plate. He walked and Provencher scored. With one out, Andrews came to the plate as the tying run. Davis struck him out, and the game was up to Kennard Bibbs. Bibbs popped up to the second baseman, and the ballgame was over.
The Pelicans head to Shreveport four and a half games ahead in first place, five games up on the Captains. The Pelicans start the three-game series on Monday, with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Central Time.
Pelicans Acquire 2009 Caribbean Series MVP
August 17, 2009
The Pensacola Pelicans announced today that they signed right handed pitcher Francisco Butto. Butto, a 6’1” 200 pound reliever was the 2009 Caribbean Series MVP. Butto sported a 1.96 ERA with double-A Reading before the Pelicans acquired him.
The Venezuelan was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2009 Caribbean Series, saving four games and posting a 2.70 ERA in the February contest. After the Series, Butto was named to the Venezuelan roster for the World Baseball Classic.
Butto bounced back and forth between double-A and triple-A this year, playing eight games for triple-A Lehigh Valley of the International League this season. The rest of the year Butto pitched for the second place Reading Phillies of the Eastern League.
Butto, originally signed by the Philadelphia Phillies in 1999 as an undrafted free agent, advanced as high as triple-A in 2006 for the Yankees’ Columbus affiliate. Butto played the 2007 and 2008 seasons in the triple-A Mexican League, finishing the 2008 season with a career 3.33 ERA and 651 strikeouts.
Francisco Butto joins the Pelicans as they hunt for their first playoff spot since 2005. Currently leading the American Association South Division, the Pelicans clash in their last seven home games against tough division rivals clawing for a piece of the playoff puzzle. The Pelicans duel the Shreveport-Bossier Captains for a three game road series before returning home on Friday, August 21 against the powerful offense of El Paso for three meaningful games. The following weekend, the Pelicans close the regular season against the division-rival Captains in a critical four-game series.
The upcoming three-game home stand features the Pelicans celebrating the birthday of their mascot, Scoop, on Friday, with cake for all sponsored by The Cake Shop. Saturday is College Football Night sponsored by Extended Stay Hotels, and Sunday is Kids Day: all Kids Club members gain free admission when wearing their 2009 Club t-shirts.
Tickets are very affordable, beginning as low as $7. Tickets are available at Pensacola-area Circle K locations, or online at www.pensacolapelicans.com. Phone orders may be placed by calling (850) 934-8444.
Pelicans Comeback to Defeat Diablos
August 15, 2009
With a 9-4 win over the El Paso Diablos Friday night, the Pelicans now lead the American Association South Division by three and a half games. The Pelicans erased a 3-0 Diablos lead by putting up four runs in the fourth inning, and five runs in the eighth.
The Diablos jumped out to an early lead in the bottom of the first by scoring Jorge Alvarez on a Juan Camacho double. An inning later, El Paso added two more runs by plating Mike Provencher and Jerry Verastegui. Provencher reached on an error by the second baseman, Verastegui walked, and Kennard Bibbs brought both home with a single.
Enter the Pelicans.
With two out in the top of the fourth, Marshall McDougall walked. Marcos Rodriguez followed with a RBI double. Chase Burch hit Rodriguez in with a single, and Burch scored when Adam Darby hit a triple. Lou Palmisano brought Darby in with a triple of his own, and the Pelicans led 4-3 after the fourth inning.
El Paso tied it with a run in the bottom of the fifth when Jeff Vincent tripled and Provencher doubled. The run would be the Diablos’ last, as the Pelicans strung another rally together in the eighth.
Leandro led off the eighth inning with a single. He stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. McDougall walked, and Marcos Rodriguez followed him with a triple to put the Pelicans up by two. Burch hit another single to score Rodriguez again, and Adam Darby thanked Burch by hitting his fourth homer of the year to bring the score to Pelicans 9, Diablos 4.
The score would hold, as Tyler Wilson pitched the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings to earn his fifth victory of the year. Wilson allowed one hit and struck out three in relief of starter Aaron Jackson. Jackson went five innings, allowing four runs, though just one was earned. He walked two but struck out three. Ulysses Roque entered the game in the ninth inning and allowed a leadoff hit, but shutdown the next three batters, including a strikeout to end the game.
The Pelicans won, Fort Worth lost, and Grand Prairie beat Shreveport-Bossier to put the Pelicans’ lead in the division to three and a half games, with the Air Hogs in second, the Captains a half game behind them, and Fort Worth five games back in fourth place. El Paso is six games back in the cellar.
The Pelicans will face the Diablos again on Saturday in the middle game of this three game series, with Pensacola starting RHP Dane DeValk against the Diablos’ RHP Josh Neitz. First pitch is scheduled for 8:05 p.m. Central Time. Fans can listen live on NewsRadio 1620 or online via SportsJuice.com.
Sid Wheatley Named New Northview High School Head Football Coach
August 14, 2009
Call him the chief of the Chiefs — Sid Wheatley has officially been named the new Northview High School head football coach.
Wheatley was named interim head coach after Cody Keene resigned in mid-July to accept a coaching job at Hooper Academy in Montgomery. Wheatley was hired as the head football coach this week.
“I’m excited about it,” Wheatley said from his new office Thursday afternoon. “We have a good group of kids, and a good group of seniors. We are working out now, and they look good.”
After four years as an assistant coach, Wheatley said he knows the players and they know him from working together. That allowed him to hit the ground running when he took over as interim head coach.
On the defensive side, Wheatley plans to stick with a 4-3 scheme and push for focus on the ball.
“We’ve got to have 11 guys swarm the football,” he said.
On the offensive side — that one he is keeping to himself, other than to say he plans to throw in a “few wrinkles”.
“We’re working on ball control and wearing down the offense.”
The Chiefs are a classification lower this year, having dropped into Class 2A District 1 with Jay, Baker, Vernon, Sneeds, Freeport, Holmes County, South Walton and Bozeman.
“We are excited about the new class; it will bring a lot of excitement,” Wheatley said. “It is going to be a very competitive district. We are going to work and put ourselves were we want to be.”
There are 20 seniors on this year’s lineup, and Wheatley said those seniors have already been instrumental in providing leadership and motivation for the entire team. Seniors to watch, he said, include John Sellars, Anthony Pierce, Brian Knight and Austin Cooper.
Chris Sheets and Dustin Yuhasz are two others to watch this year, he said.
The new coach said that in the quarterback position, “we have two that are battling it out right now” — senior Brad Lowery and sophomore Brandon Sheets.
“It’s going to be a good year,” Wheatley said.
“We are going to go all the way; we look forward to the playoffs” Principal Gayle Weaver said. “Coach Wheatley was a good choice. He represents the school well, both on and off the field.”
Wheatley was selected for the head coaching job by a selection committee. He had served as Keene’s assistant coach since the 2005 season, most recently coaching the offensive line and defensive backs last season.
Wheatley has served as Northview’s baseball coach since 2005, and he also teaches history at the school. Wheatley attended the University of Southern Mississippi where he received a Bachelor’s degree in coaching and sports administration.
This is not the first time Wheatley has served as a head football coach — he led Loyd Star High School in Brookhaven, Miss. from 2002 to 2003. He’s also served as an assistant football coach at various other schools in Alabama, Florida and Mississippi.
Tate Grad Jayce Boyd Picks FSU Over MLB
August 14, 2009
Tate High grade Jayce Boyd is heading to Florida State. He was drafted by the Texas Rangers during the Major League Baseball draft, but he decided to play college ball before heading to the majors.
Boyd, a former Aggie third baseman, was chosen in June in the 19th round of the MLB amateur draft. He was expected to be picked in the first five rounds, but fell over concerns that he wanted too high of salary. His asking price was reportedly equal to a full scholarship to FSU where he is already signed to play next year.