UWF Mourns Loss Of Hall Of Fame Member, Supporter Darrell Gooden
July 10, 2026
The University of West Florida is mourning the loss of Charles “Darrell” Gooden, a proud alumnus, local business leader, and the largest donor in the history of UWF Athletics. Gooden passed away peacefully on Tuesday, June 30, 2026, with his wife, Deborah “Debbie” Gooden, by his side following a battle with metastatic adenocarcinoma. He was 74.
His passing comes at a historic juncture for his alma mater. This fall, UWF Athletics officially elevates to NCAA Division I competition, joining the Atlantic Sun Conference as a multi-sport member and the United Athletic Conference (UAC) for football. Anchoring this new era is the construction of the $50 million Darrell Gooden Stadium on campus, a state-of-the-art multi-use venue made possible by his monumental lead gift of more than $10 million. While the full 7,500-seat facility is scheduled to open in the fall of 2027, fans will get their first taste of the upgrade this fall with a new 85-foot-by-30-foot HD LED video board in the end zone, which will be operational for the inaugural Division I season while construction continues around PenAir Field.
In a statement, the university expressed profound gratitude for his lasting legacy: “UWF mourns the loss of Darrell Gooden, a proud alumnus and supporter whose extraordinary generosity has helped transform UWF Athletics and fund numerous student scholarships. Our thoughts go out to the Gooden family and all those who had the privilege to know him.”
“Darrell’s extraordinary generosity and commitment to UWF has created opportunities for generations of students and has transformed our campus through investments in scholarships, athletics and student success,” remarked Manny Diaz Jr., UWF president.
A Pensacola native, Gooden graduated from UWF in 1973 with a bachelor’s degree in accounting. He channeled his business acumen into the local housing market, founding Gooden Homes, Inc. in 1980. Under his leadership as CEO, the company built more than 3,000 homes across the Pensacola area, earning numerous Parade of Homes awards—including multiple honors for Outstanding Home—and culminating in Gooden being named Builder of the Year by the Home Builders Association of West Florida in 2009.
While his business footprint shaped the local landscape, his philanthropy transformed the university campus. Gooden was a member of the Sword & Shield Council and the UWF Foundation Board of Directors, becoming a Platinum UWF Football Founder in 2016 when he joined the initial push to launch the university’s football program. He also established an endowed scholarship to support UWF Football student-athletes.
His financial contributions completely reshaped the campus sports infrastructure. His initial lead gift funded the construction of the Darrell Gooden Center, which opened in 2018 to provide a home locker room for the football team and a sports performance center for all student-athletes. Gooden later helped spearhead fundraising for an expansion to the facility, adding the Sandy Sansing Sports Medicine Center and a new football coaches’ suite. In recognition of his extraordinary contributions, Gooden was inducted into the UWF Athletics Hall of Fame in November 2025.
Gooden was able to attend the official stadium groundbreaking ceremony on February 11, 2026, celebrating a venue designed to host not only Division I football but also concerts, high school championships, and major community events.
Gooden is survived by his beloved wife of 17 years, Debbie Gooden; his sister, Debra Axley (John); nephews John Charles Axley (Page), Jason Christopher Axley (Amy), and Nicholas Gooden Woosley (Brittany); alongside several grandnieces, grandnephews, extended family members, and close friends. He was preceded in death by his parents, Charles Theodore Gooden and Cornelia Hassebrock Gooden.
In accordance with Gooden’s wishes, no formal services will be held. The family has expressed deep gratitude for the community’s influx of love, prayers, and support. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be made to Valerie’s House.
Photo courtesy UWF for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Hernández The Hero As Wahoos Win Another Walk-Off
July 10, 2026
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos won their fourth game in a row on Thursday night, beating the Montgomery Biscuits 4-3 on a walk-off single from Cristian Hernández.
It marked the third late-inning comeback in a row for the Blue Wahoos, and their second walk-off in three games after Fenwick Trimble’s game-winning single on Tuesday and a five-run eighth inning rally sparked by Hernández on Wednesday.
Though the Biscuits scored the first run of the game on a Mac Horvath double, an interference call and a Caden Bodine sacrifice fly in the top of the first inning, Brendan Jones leveled the score for the Blue Wahoos with a solo homer in the bottom of the second.
Luis Palacios allowed just an unearned run over 3.1 innings in his start for the Blue Wahoos, and fellow lefty Christian MacLeod was outstanding in long relief with six strikeouts over 2.2 scoreless frames.
The Blue Wahoos took their first lead of the game in the bottom of the fifth, as Dylan Jasso singled, advanced to third on a Cam Cannarella base hit, and scored on an errant throw when Cannarella stole second base.
Staked to a 2-1 lead, Blue Wahoos reliever Jack Sellinger allowed an unearned run in the seventh when Gregory Barrios tripled and scored on a passed ball from catcher Ryan Ignoffo.
In the top of the eighth, Nigel Belgrave (W, 3-5) allowed a leadoff double to Bodine and nearly got out of the jam, recording a pair of outs before Theo Gillen grounded a single to right field to give the Biscuits a 3-2 lead.
For the third consecutive game, the Blue Wahoos mounted a late rally against the Montgomery bullpen. Beleaguered Biscuits reliever Tommy McCollum (L, 2-7) surrendered a game-tying homer to Juan Matheus in the eighth, and returned for the ninth after Belgrave kept the game tied in the top half of the inning. Jones led off with a walk, advanced to second when Payton Green was hit with a pitch, and gave up the walk-off single to Hernández for a 4-3 final.
The Blue Wahoos continue their series against the Biscuits on Friday.
written by Erik Bremer
Four More Homers And A Big Inning Lead to Comeback Win For The Wahoos
July 9, 2026
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos completed their second consecutive come from behind win by a final score of 8-7 over the Montgomery Biscuits.
The Biscuits wasted no time getting the scoring going against Alex Williams. Two batters into the game, Montgomery took a 2-0 lead after a leadoff single from Austin Overn and a two-run home run off the bat of Brayden Taylor. An inning later, Taylor would strike again in the second inning when he brought home two more runs on a two-run single to give the Biscuits an early 4-0 lead.
Pensacola struck back in the third inning thanks to a Payton Green homer off of Biscuits starter Santiago Suarez. Green’s seventh blast made it a 4-1 game, and the Wahoos offense continued to chip away at Suarez to climb back into the game. They grabbed another run back in the 5th on an RBI single from Jay Beshears and then one more in the 7th courtesy of Connor Caskenette sending his third homer of the year out to left-center to bring the score to 4-3.
Santiago Suarez left in line for the win after pitching a career high 7.0 innings, but Livan Reinoso kept the Wahoos within a run, pitching a scoreless 6th and 7th. Kade Bragg (W, 5-2) entered to pitch the 8th and struggled through the bottom of Montgomery’s order. After retiring the first two batters on two pitches, the Biscuits added two insurance runs on Mac Horvath’s RBI-triple and Gregory Barrios’ RBI-single to bring the Biscuits lead to 6-3. But the Wahoos had been here before and were ready for the challenge.
Cam Cannarella led off with a walk and Cristian Hernández proceeded to absolutely demolish a 2-run blast into Pensacola Bay to bring the Wahoos within a run. Following a groundout, Fenwick Trimble got in on the home run action by launching a no-doubter to left-center field to tie things up at 6-6. Brandon Compton then singled and Connor Caskenette grounded into what looked like an inning ending double play, but he was called safe at first because first baseman Xavier Isaac brought his foot off the bag when making the catch. The safe call proved to be huge when Brendan Jones ripped a double off the top of the wall in center field to score Caskenette and give Pensacola a 7-6 lead. Payton Green added an insurance run on an RBI single.
Holt Jones (S, 2) gave up one run in the 9th, but ultimately locked down his second save of the year, securing the team’s second straight comeback victory with an 8-7 final. Andrew Lindsay (L, 1-1) was tagged with the loss for Montgomery and the Biscuits dropped to 39-44 overall and 4-10 in the second half while the Wahoos improved their record to 44-39 overall and 8-6 in the second half.
The Blue Wahoos continue their series against the Biscuits on Thursday.
written by Charlie Hobert
Trimble’s Walk-Off Elevates Wahoos To Victory
July 8, 2026
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos topped the Montgomery Biscuits by a final score of 6-5 in a 10-inning contest on Tuesday night
Some shaky defense behind Wahoos starter Jacob Miller allowed the Biscuits to jump out to an early lead, when a two-out error committed by Dylan Jasso in the second inning came around to score on an Austin Overn single to shortstop. An inning later, Jadher Arienamo cranked a homer to left, his second off of Miller this season, and Xavier Isaac ripped an RBI single to give Montgomery a 3-0 lead.
Through the first 4.0 innings, Montgomery’s starter Garrett Edwards kept Pensacola off the board. He had allowed just five baserunners on four singles and a walk. But that changed in the 5th, when Payton Green smashed his 6th home run of the year to get the Blue Wahoos in the run column. Two more basehits to follow would see the end of Edwards day before Chris Clark came in and stranded the Wahoo runners.
The Biscuits would keep applying pressure in the 6th when a throwing error from Ryan Ignoffo allowed Émilien Pitre to score from 3rd and make it a 4-1 game. But a solo bomb from Brandon Compton, his fourth homer in seven games, cut the lead in half. A scoreless 7th from Nigel Belgrave brought the Wahoos to the plate with a 4-2 deficit. With one out, Dylan Jasso sent his second single of the night into center field to make Cam Cannarella the tying-run. Well, Cannarella took that role to heart and sent his 9th home run of the year out to right field to tie things up at four.
Two batters later, Juan Matheus replicated Cannarella’s success with a solo shot to right-center field to give the Wahoos their first lead of the game at 5-4. Blegrave pitched a 1-2-3 8th inning to give Jack Sellinger (BS, 4) a chance to close it out and earn the save in the 9th. But Sellinger faltered. After a leadoff walk and an infield single, Sellinger induced two popouts to bring Pensacola one out away from victory. What followed was Sellinger’s 2nd and 3rd walks of the inning to walk in a run and tie the game at 5-5. Manager Nelson Prada went to Colby Martin (W, 3-4) to work out of the bases loaded jam with a huge strikeout.
Martin got through the 10th inning, thanks in part to Juan Matheus gunning down Rays top prospect Theo Gillen at home to keep the score tied. Then, in the bottom of the 10th with one down and Cristian Hernández on second, Fenwick Trimble ripped a game-winning walk-off single into left-center to give the Wahoos a 6-5 victory and their second walk-off of the year.
Hayden Snelsire (L, 3-3), who surrendered the game-winning run in the 10th, took his third loss of the year. The Wahoos moved up to 43-49 and 7-6 in the second half while the Biscuits fell to 39-44 and 4-9 in the second half.
The Blue Wahoos continue their series against the Biscuits on Wednesday.
witten by Charlie Hobert
Dishmey Flirts with Perfecto As Wahoos Win Chippy Rocket City Finale
July 6, 2026
Eliazar Dishmey took a perfect game through 5.2 innings, allowed just three hits over 6.1 scoreless frames, and led the Pensacola Blue Wahoos through four ejections to an eventful 5-2 win over the Rocket City Trash Pandas on Sunday afternoon.
The Blue Wahoos took an early lead against Rocket City starter Eybersson Polanco (L, 3-5) with a Juan Matheus RBI single in the third inning. They added another in the fourth when Fenwick Trimble doubled and scampered home from third base while Brandon Compton was caught in a rundown between first and second in a double steal.
Staked to a 2-0 lead, Dishmey (W, 1-1) was nearly flawless. He worked 5.0 perfect innings on only 57 pitches, and didn’t allow a baserunner until Mac McCroskey softly lined a single to center field with two outs in the sixth. He ultimately tied a career high with 6.1 scoreless, three-hit innings to earn his first Double-A win.
In the top of the seventh, Cam Cannarella was hit by a pitch from Rocket City reliever Leonard Garcia. Cannarella tossed his bat in frustration, shared sharp words with Garcia, and prompted a benches-clearing altercation. In a fracas that saw four flare-ups but little physical contact over the span of 15 minutes, both Cannarella and Garcia were ejected. Blue Wahoos third baseman Ian Lewis Jr., reserve outfielder Emaarion Boyd and injured outfielder Dillon Lewis were also ejected for their role in the altercation.
After some lineup shuffling that saw the Blue Wahoos use all of their possible bench options and place Matheus in left field for the first time in his professional career, the game resumed. Compton added a two-run single in the seventh, and relievers Colby Martin and Kade Bragg each allowed a run but successfully protected the Pensacola lead for a 5-2 final.
After an off day Monday, the Blue Wahoos return to action Tuesday as they begin a six-game home series against the Montgomery Biscuits.
written by Erik Bremer
Despite Home Run Barrage, Wahoos Fall To Trash Pandas On Festive Fourth
July 5, 2026
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos hit four homers, including a pair from red-hot Cam Cannarella and a dramatic go-ahead shot in the eighth inning from Fenwick Trimble, but a bullpen blow-up cost the club in a 14-8 defeat to the Rocket City Trash Pandas on Saturday night.
The Trash Pandas rewarded their sellout holiday crowd of 7,219 by rallying for eight runs in the bottom of the eighth, spoiling Pensacola’s Independence Day heroics and sending the Blue Wahoos to their fourth loss in a row.
Brandon Compton opened the scoring for the Blue Wahoos with a solo homer in the second, his third long ball in five games since joining the club on Tuesday. Cannarella launched a solo homer of his own, his seventh of the season at Double-A, in the third as the Blue Wahoos and Trash Pandas exchanged volleys in the early innings.
Trailing 4-2 in the top of the fifth, the Blue Wahoos started a two-out rally with a pair of walks before Cristian Hernández laced an RBI double down the left field line. Juan Matheus followed with a grounder that would have ended the inning if not for a throwing error from Trash Pandas third baseman Jake Munroe, scoring a pair of runs to give the Blue Wahoos a 5-4 lead.
Holt Jones relieved Blue Wahoos starter Luis Moreno, escaping a threat in the bottom of the fifth but surrendering a pair of runs in the sixth to put the Trash Pandas back in front 6-5.
Cannarella evened the score in the seventh with another opposite-field homer, his second of the night, and Trimble put the Blue Wahoos in front 8-6 in the top of the eighth with a two-run homer.
Kenyon Yovan (W, 4-2) limited the damage after Trimble’s homer, stranding two Pensacola runners on base, and Jack Sellinger (L, 1-3) was unable to protect the late lead. Out for a second inning after a quick 1-2-3 seventh, the Blue Wahoos lefty walked the first two men he faced in the eighth before giving up an RBI single to Raudi Rodriguez and a game-tying RBI double to Munroe.
Tucker Flint, who had briefly put Rocket City in front with an RBI single in the sixth, gave them the lead for good in the eighth with a two-run single off reliever Livan Reinoso. Run-scoring hits from Jake Thompson and Juan Flores followed, ultimately adding up to an eight-run inning and a 14-8 lead. Yovan returned to the mound for the top of the ninth to seal the win for the Trash Pandas.
The Blue Wahoos wrap up their series, and their two-week road trip, against the Trash Pandas on Sunday afternoon.
written by Erik Bremer
Rocket City Rain Dampens Wahoos’ Bats In 4-1 Loss
July 4, 2026
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos dropped their third game in a row on Friday night, enduring a long pregame rain delay before falling 4-1 to the Rocket City Trash Pandas.
The contest began at 8:01 after a 1-hour, 26-minute rain delay, and Rocket City immediately jumped ahead against Blue Wahoos starter Orlando Ortiz-Mayr (L, 2-3) in the first inning. Nick Rodriguez singled, Raudi Rodriguez doubled, and Tucker Flint brought them both home with a two-run single. The Trash Pandas added two more in the third inning with a Flint RBI double and a Caleb Bartolero RBI triple for a 4-0 lead.
The Blue Wahoos couldn’t solve reigning Southern League Pitcher of the Week Nate Snead (W, 2-3), who worked 6.0 innings of three-hit ball. The only Pensacola run came on a solo homer from Connor Caskenette in the top of the fifth inning.
Ortiz-Mayr picked up the taxed Pensacola bullpen by completing 6.0 innings, and Luis Palacios contributed 2.0 scoreless innings of relief, but the Blue Wahoos bats couldn’t get anything going against the Rocket City relievers. Luke Murphy (S, 15) finished off a 4-1 final with a flawless ninth, earning his league-leading 15th save.
The Blue Wahoos continue their series against the Trash Pandas on Saturday night.
Written by Erik Bremer
Big Inning Downs Wahoos In 16-6 Loss To Rocket City
July 3, 2026
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos fell to the Rocket City Trash Pandas in a marathon game by a final score of 16-6 on Thursday night.
The Wahoos started off hot. Cam Cannarella, Cristian Hernández, and Fenwick Trimble all reached in the first inning to load the bases for new-comer Brandon Compton. And Compton delivered by crushing an opposite field grand slam to give Pensacola a quick 4-0 lead. It was the second grand slam of the season for the Blue Wahoos and the second grand slam of Compton’s career.
After the first inning was played, the game would go into a rain delay that would last one hour and 43 minutes before the game would resume again. Once the field was ready for action, Rocket City grabbed two of those runs back on an RBI single from David Calebrese and a run-scoring single from Nick Rodriguez. That made the score 4-2.
The Wahoos extended their lead in the 4th when Cristian Hernández hammered a 2-run homer, his second straight game with a longball, to bring the lead back to four and the score to 6-2. This would be the last of the Pensacola offense for the night.
The Trash Pandas grabbed a run in the 4th thanks to a sac-fly from Jake Munroe and then proceeded to unload an 8-run inning in the 6th, punctuated by a grand slam from former Blue Wahoo Jake Thompson. This blast made it an 11-6 ballgame at the time, but Rocket City wasn’t done. They would put two more up in the 7th and three more up in the 8th to bring the score to a merciful 16-6. Because of the rain delay, Eliazar Dishmey, Pensacola’s starter, did not return after the first inning, meaning all 16 runs were allowed by the Wahoo bullpen. Colby Martin (L, 2-4, BS, 2) took the loss while Lucas Mahlstedt (W, 2-0) grabbed the win.
The Blue Wahoos continue their series against the Trash Pandas on Friday night.
written by Charlie Hobert
Hernández’s Homer Not Enough In 7-1 Wahoos Loss
July 2, 2026
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos saw their four-game winning streak come to an end on Wednesday, falling 7-1 to the Rocket City Trash Pandas.
Cristian Hernández opened the scoring in the first inning with a solo homer, but that would be one of only three hits mustered by the Pensacola offense on the night. Ryan Costeiu (W, 6-4) worked 6.0 solid innings, allowing two hits and striking out five, in a dominant start for the Trash Pandas.
Rocket City ambushed Blue Wahoos starter Alex Williams (L, 4-7) in the home half of the first inning, as Nick Rodriguez doubled and came in on a Jake Munroe RBI single. Back-to-back RBI doubles from Caleb Bartolero and Jake Thompson with two outs in the inning put the Trash Pandas ahead 3-1.
Neither team scored again until the bottom of the seventh, when the Trash Pandas loaded the bases against Jack Sellinger. Tucker Flint was hit by a pitch to force in a run, and Thompson lashed a two-run single that ended up emptying the bases thanks to a throwing error from third baseman Juan Matheus. Thompson, who played for the Blue Wahoos from 2023-25 and was recently signed by the Angels out of independent ball, was 2-for-3 with three RBI in his Trash Pandas debut.
Blake Weiman, Chris Cortez and Luke Murphy finished off the Blue Wahoos with an inning each of scoreless relief from the Trash Pandas bullpen.
The Blue Wahoos continue their series against the Trash Pandas on Thursday night.
Blue Wahoos Blast Rocket City For Fourth Straight Win
July 1, 2026
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos continued to punish Southern League pitching on Tuesday night, opening up their six-game road series with a 9-2 win over the Rocket City Trash Pandas.
After scoring 12 runs in each of their past three games last weekend in Chattanooga, the Blue Wahoos didn’t quite live up to that pace. They did, however, add four more home runs and made a couple of stellar defensive plays to win their fourth game in a row.
Rocket City struck first in the bottom of the second, as Juan Flores lined an RBI double off the warning track in center field for a 1-0 Trash Pandas lead. The Blue Wahoos would counter in a big way in the top of the third, racking up four runs on six hits against Trash Pandas starter Eybersson Polanco (L, 3-4) to take the lead for good.
Payton Green led off with a double, and scored on a long two-run homer from Dylan Jasso. Cam Cannarella followed with a solo homer of his own, his sixth in the past week and a half, to give the Blue Wahoos a 3-1 lead. Consecutive singles from Juan Matheus, Fenwick Trimble and Brandon Compton added another for a 4-1 advantage.
Flores greeted Blue Wahoos reliever Holt Jones (W, 2-0) with a solo homer in the bottom of the fourth, but that would be the extent of the damage against the Pensacola bullpen. Cannarella made a leaping catch at the right field wall to rob Mac McCroskey and end the fourth, and catcher Ryan Ignoffo picked off Nick Rodriguez straying too far from third base to end the fifth. The Trash Pandas collectively went 0-for-12 with men in scoring position on the night, leaving nine men on base.
Green added a solo homer in the sixth inning, and Compton capped a three-hit night in his Double-A debut with a solo homer to lead off the bottom of the eighth. With two walks and a hit batsman to load the bases, Juan Matheus contributed a finishing kick later in the inning with a two-run single for a 9-2 lead.
Jones, Kade Bragg and Livan Reinoso all protected the lead with effective relief for the Blue Wahoos before Huntsville native Christian MacLeod ended the game with a scoreless ninth inning.
The Blue Wahoos continue their series against the Trash Pandas on Wednesday night.
written by Erik Bremer