Martorella’s Clutch Hit Ignites Blue Wahoos Walk-Off Win
July 26, 2024
written by Bill Vilona
The Blue Wahoos’ game-winning celebration went all the way into right field.
Nathan Martorella was thrilled to run that far in jubilation.
Inserted two innings earlier as a pinch-hitter, Martorella broke through his recent struggles to deliver a two out, bases-loaded single in the 11th inning that capped a two-run rally and lifted the Blue Wahoos to a much-enjoyed 4-3 walk-off victory Thursday against the Biloxi Shuckers.
With about half the original crowd remaining at Blue Wahoos Stadium, Martorella reacted the split-second he connected on a slider, low-and-away, from Shuckers closer Justin Yeager and sent it opposite field into left-center for the game-winner.
It happened on a night when Pensacola (51- 40 overall) took on its alternate identity as the Pensacola Mullets on “Mullet Thursday” – a switch that has them 7-2 this season in those Thursday uniforms.
Biloxi (45-46), the second-half divisional leader, had taken a 3-2 lead in the top of the 11th on a leadoff single from Lamar Sparks, scoring placement runner Dylan O’Rae. But Blue Wahoos reliever Tyler Eckberg retired the next three batters. That proved pivotal.
The Blue Wahoos loaded the bases with one out on singles from Paul McIntosh and Jacob Berry. Shane Sasaki, who led the way in Tuesday’s win against Biloxi, worked his way from an 0-2 count into a game-tying walk.
After Cody Morissette struck out swinging, Martorella delivered. He had been 1-for-9 this series, but on a tough pitch to hit, he produced an emphatic result.
This game started out with a double no-hitter into the sixth inning.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Blue Wahoos broke through against Shuckers starter Shane Smith. With two outs, Jakob Marsee walked. Zach Zubia broke up the Smith’s no-hitter with a double off the left field wall. McIntosh followed with a 2-run single.
Blue Wahoos starter Jonathan Bermúdez lost his no-hitter in the seventh inning after walking the first two batters and giving up an RBI double to Sparks for the Shuckers’ first run. Sparks then tied the game in the eighth on a sacrifice fly.
It was a tough no-decision for Bermúdez, who finished with a one-hitter in 6.1 innings with three strikeouts and five walks. Three of those walks, however, occurred in the seventh inning as he just missed the strike zone on several pitches.
The Blue Wahoos were unable to deliver a game-winner after their closer, Austin Roberts, twice had scoreless innings in the ninth and 10th.
But when Martorella singled, his teammates raced from the dugout as he rounded first and turned right, going into the outfield where he was doused with ice water.
It continued Pensacola’s noteworthy success in these kind of games with eight wins in nine extra-inning games.
McIntosh was the Blue Wahoos’ lone multi-hit batter, going 2-for-5 to boost his average to .250.
The fourth game of the series will be Friday at 6:05 p.m.
Blue Wahoos Blanked By Strong Pitching As Shuckers Even Series
July 25, 2024
written Bill Vilona
In Bradley Blalock’s three previous starts against the Blue Wahoos, the righthander didn’t make it past the third inning.
He crafted a far different impression Wednesday.
Blalock worked into the sixth inning, allowing just four hits, as the Biloxi Shuckers picked up a 3-0 win against the Blue Wahoos in the second game of this week-long series at Blue Wahoos Stadium.
A crowd of 4,203, the second-largest Wednesday crowd this season, stayed through the game to see the final mid-week, summer fireworks show.
The display was the game’s highlight for the home crowd.
The Blue Wahoos had baserunners in six of the nine innings, but were unable to string together hits or produce an extra-base hit among the five hits in the game.
Three Shuckers relievers held the Blue Wahoos to one hit and combined for five strikeouts as Biloxi (45-45, 15-8 in second half) evened their overall record and won for only the second time this year in Pensacola.
The Blue Wahoos (50-41, 12-11) were shutout for the ninth time this season.
Leadoff batter Jakob Marsee had the team’s best night at the plate. He reached base three times with a walk and two singles and had three stolen bases – a team high this season.
Blue Wahoos starter Tristan Stevens, making his first home start, absorbed the loss after working five innings, allowing seven hits with four strikeouts and no walks.
The Shuckers got all the runs they needed when Ernesto Martinez singled, Connor Scott doubled and Casey Martin hit a two-out, two-run single off Stevens in the second inning. Lamar Sparks then doubled home Martinez, who had doubled in the fourth inning for the other run.
Blalock, originally drafted by the Boston Red Sox, is the Milwaukee Brewers No. 17 overall prospect as rated by MLB pipeline. He pitched one inning in relief for the Brewers in June. He made his 16th start for Biloxi on Wednesday.
The teams will continue their series on Thursday, a Mullet Thursday, with the Blue Wahoos’ Jonathan Bermúdez on the mound.
WANT TO GO?
WHO: Biloxi Shuckers vs. Blue Wahoos
WHEN: Thursday, 6:05 p.m.
WHERE: Blue Wahoos Stadium
Tate Aggies Volleyball Attends Florida Gators Camp
July 24, 2024
The Tate High School volleyball team recently attended a volleyball camp with the University of Florida Gators in Gainesville. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Blue Wahoos Seize Big Inning, Sink Shuckers To End Four-Game Slide
July 24, 2024
written by Bill Vilona
The Blue Wahoos shook off recent struggles to begin a new week in a big way.
Taking advantage of erratic pitching, the Blue Wahoos seized the game with a five-run fourth inning and cruised to an 8-4 win Tuesday night against the Biloxi Shuckers to open their week-long homestand at Blue Wahoos Stadium with a good feeling.
The Blue Wahoos led 8-0 into the ninth. They broke open the game in the fifth by scoring their first three runs without putting a ball in play to score. It was a welcome boost to end a four-game losing streak that began with a loss July 14 before the All-Star Break.
“We tried to flush last week as much as possible,” said right fielder Shane Sasaki, who reached base three times and helped to ignite the five-run rally. “Starting off this week with a win is good for the clubhouse. The vibes are always high when we win.
“We still stick together when we lose, but it’s a lot easier to carry that momentum, getting that first win out of the way… And it we just look forward to the next game.”
The Blue Wahoos got the first run in the third inning when Jakob Marsee produced a one-out double, then stole third and scored on throwing error.
In the fifth, they erupted against starter Jacob Misiorowski, the Milwaukee Brewers’ No. 2 prospect, who has faced the Blue Wahoos five previous times this season.
After Nathan Martorella led off the fifth with a single and Sasaki walked, Misiorowski went awry with pitch command. With one out and the bases loaded, he plunked Marsee to force in the second run, then gave up a wild pitch to score another run and walked in a third run. Paul McIntosh and Jacob Berry then followed with RBI singles before a double play ended the inning.
“When things aren’t going your way, it is really tough to scratch runs,” said Sasaki, who returned to the Blue Wahoos last Friday after missing 62 games with an injury.
“And I know everybody in the lineup was really focused on manufacturing runs somehow,” he said. “We don’t need that one big hit sometimes and just like (Tuesday) we stayed ready, tough at-bats and good things happen from that.”
Good things have happened to the Blue Wahoos (50-40 overall, 12-10 in second half) this season when facing Biloxi. This was their 13th win against the Shuckers (44-44, 14-7), who entered this week with the best second-half record in the league.
McIntosh smashed a two-run homer in the sixth inning, his eighth of the year, that enabled him to tie Griffin Conine for most runs scored (125) in Blue Wahoos franchise history.
The Shuckers got four runs in the ninth off Anderson Pilar before he ended the game and the team could enjoy their first home win since July 3, when they beat Montgomery to win that shortened home series before a 16-day gap between home games.
GAME NOTABLES
— This week’s series is the final meeting between these teams in 2024. The Blue Wahoos are now 13-5 against the Shuckers this season, including 6-1 at home… This year, the Blue Wahoos play the Shuckers less times than other division foes Montgomery and the Mississippi Braves.
WANT TO GO?
WHO: Biloxi Shuckers vs. Blue Wahoos
WHEN: Wednesday, 6:05 p.m.
North Escambia Athletes Place In USA Volleyball Beach National Championships
July 23, 2024
Three athletes from North Escambia participated in the 2024 USA Volleyball Beach National Championships Sunday in Fort Lauderdale.
Hartlie Bowman of Molino, who attends Beulah Academy of Science, and her partner Lily Hassell of Gulf breeze places first in the 12U bracket.
Emma Bowman of Molino, who attends Northview High School, and her partner Jayla Templeman from Beulah, who attends Tate High School, finished tied for fifth place in 14U.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
New Name, Same Fish: Largemouth Bass Are Now Florida Bass
July 23, 2024
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says genetics studies confirmed what many anglers and biologists have believed for a long time – Florida bass are special.
Florida’s most popular freshwater game fish has a new name. The American Fisheries Society established the Florida bass as a separate species from the largemouth bass. This means that in most of Florida what was known as a largemouth bass is now called a Florida bass.
The name change will affect how the fish is referred to in regulations and other communications. However, it will not affect anglers fishing for this iconic freshwater sport fish.
According to the recent research publication by Yale University, the study used advanced genetic analysis and determined Florida bass to be its own species. The research also identified the range of Florida bass to be larger than once believed, including not only Florida, but also parts of Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.
The scientific names of these two bass also changed. Largemouth bass, previously Micropterus salmoides, is now the scientific name for Florida bass. Largemouth bass are now Micropterus nigricans.
M-Braves Sweep Blue Wahoos
July 22, 2024
written by Bill Vilona
The weather broke favorably all weekend for the Blue Wahoos.
That became the best fortune of a rough return home.
The Mississippi Braves completed a three-game sweep Sunday, erupting with four runs in the 11th inning for a 5-1 win that included a pair of unwelcome records in Pensacola’s first homestand in 16 days at Blue Wahoos Stadium.
They struck out 22 times, surpassing the Blue Wahoos franchise record of 20 whiffs, which occurred twice – the last time in 2021.
A crowd of 4,737, just shy of a third consecutive capacity crowd at Blue Wahoos Stadium, watched the M-Braves righthander Drue Hackenberg – the Atlanta Braves’ second round draft pick in 2023 — produce his best professional outing. He struck out 16 of the 25 batters he faced, allowing just three hits and no walks in seven innings.
It was two strikeouts shy of the Southern League record set in 1979 by former long-time major league veteran Mike Boddicker. Hackenberg’s 16 Ks marked the most strikeouts against the Blue Wahoos by an opposing starter in franchise history.
Hackenberg, whose brother, Christian, was a former Penn State star quarterback who played in the NFL, and another older brother, Adam, is now in Triple-A with the Chicago Cubs organization, threw 67 strikes in 90 pitches.
Sunday’s game became a pitching-defense duel. Blue Wahoos starter Adam Laskey had a quality outing with five hits allowed in five innings with six strikeouts and no walks. The next four relievers who followed all put up zeroes.
But a familiar malady was the Blue Wahoos’ inability to get run production.
After the M-Braves scored a first-inning on a double by Cal Conley and Justin Dean’s single, Laskey got out of the inning with a double play and then did not allow two base runners in any inning the rest of his day.
The Blue Wahoos’ best inning at the plate occurred in the third. Sean Roby led off with a single. Dalvy Rosario followed with a single and Jacob Berry drove home Roby with his single. Berry had two of the Blue Wahoos’ five hits in the game.
Austin Roberts gave the Blue Wahoos a chance to win in walkoff style after recording two strong scoreless innings. When that didn’t work out in the ninth, the Blue Wahoos failed to deliver in the 10th with placement runner Zach Zubia stranded on third base with two outs.
In the 11th, the M-Braves scored their go-ahead run on a stolen base and wild pitch from reliever Matt Pushard. And then, M-Braves designated hitter Tyler Tolve followed with a three-run blast off Pushard to provide the insurance runs.
The Blue Wahoos (49-40) will now turn attention to their next home series, a six-game set against the Biloxi Shuckers who have the best second-half record in the Southern League.
Despite the sweep, however, the Blue Wahoos had the weather break in their favor each of three days after morning and early afternoon thunderstorms gave way to sunshine and calm conditions.
Sunday’s game featured “Dino Day” with costume and dinosaur figures throughout the ballpark.
Drone Show Wows Sellout Crowd in 5-1 Wahoos Loss
July 21, 2024
by Bill Vilona
The game itself evolved with the Blue Wahoos limited to few opportunities in a 5-1 loss against the Mississippi Braves.
But Saturday night’s sellout crowd at Blue Wahoos Stadium remained in their seats to become wowed by a Sky Elements Drone Show, one of the few of its kind shown at a Minor League Baseball stadium nationwide and the first in this region of the country.
Blue Wahoos owners Quint and Rishy Studer became enamored with the idea of bringing such an experience to Pensacola, along with the Beloit Sky Carp’s ABC Supply Stadium in Wisconsin, which hosted a show July 10.
The Studers wanted to provide both communities a drone show event that has primarily occurred, so far, only at Major League Baseball ballparks.
They made it happen two weeks apart.
After the Sky Elements company performed a show Friday in Orlando, the company’s production team stopped in Pensacola on its way back to its Fort Worth, Texas headquarters to produce Saturday’s show at Blue Wahoos Stadium. The 15-minute display featured an outline of a Blue Angels plane, which drew a loud cheer, and an outline of Florida with a baseball stopping at Pensacola’s location.
It became another unique event for the ballpark, featuring approximately 100 drones staged on the grass fronting the amphitheater located behind right field on the bayfront.
The show followed a game where M-Braves starter Lucas Braun held the Blue Wahoos to one hit and four walks in his six innings of work to record his second win. Braun was the Atlanta Braves’ sixth round draft pick in 2023 out of Cal State-Northridge.
Braun’s teammates gave him a 2-0 lead. Justin Dean scored an unearned run in the fourth inning after reaching on an infield error and scoring on a sacrifice fly.
Dean scored again in the sixth inning when he singled, stole second and scored on Keshawn Ogans’ single off Blue Wahoos starter Patrick Monteverde.
It was a hard-luck loss for Monteverde (1-1, 4.76 ERA), who allowed no walks, struck out five and was effective in his six innings, but received no run support.
The M-Braves broke open the game in the ninth inning by scoring three runs against Blue Wahoos reliever Woo-Suk Go, a 25-year old from South Korea, pitching for the first time in Pensacola. He was among the four prospects sent to the Miami Marlins from the San Diego Padres in exchange for MLB star and former Blue Wahoos player (2019) Luis Arraez, who has won the American League and National League batting titles.
The Blue Wahoos got a run in the ninth on Cody Morissette’s double that scored Zach Zubia.
The win enabled the M-Braves (42-46 overall, 11-9 in second half) to win the weekend series against the Blue Wahoos (49-39, 11-9) heading into Sunday’s series finale.
GAME NOTABLES
— The crowd Saturday broke into loud cheers for 6-year-old Abraham (Bram) Cook, who circled the bases on his “Home Run For Life” to celebrate being cancer-free after being diagnosed with stage 3 Burkitt Lymphoma, an aggressive form of lymphoma which affects white blood cells.
After four rounds of treatment at the Studer Family Children’s Hospital at Ascension Sacred Heart, which occurred last December, Cook returned home on Christmas Eve after showing good progress. In March, Bram rang the bell, surrounded by family and friends, to celebrate the end of his treatment. He is now in remission and was even able to return to school to finish Kindergarten with his classmates.
With his mother, Ashley, and father Aaron hugging and coaxing him into rounding the bases, Cook began running as players from both teams lined the baselines to high-five and congratulate him. It was a special moment at the end of the fifth inning.
— The Freeport Little League Association had a group outing of 100 people, including team members who were part of the on-field pregame events and ran out with players.
— Pensacola Christian College led a wide variety of faith organizations attending Saturday’s game with a 100-member group. Five church organizations were also in attendance.
— The sellout crowd of 5,038 was Pensacola’s 22nd capacity crowd in 43 home games.
WANT TO GO?
WHO: Mississippi Braves vs. Blue Wahoos
WHEN: Sunday, 4:05 p.m.
WHERE: Blue Wahoos Stadium
Blue Wahoos Return From Break; M-Braves Hold On For 5-4 Win
July 20, 2024
written by Bill Vilona
The Blue Wahoos returned home from their longest absence and were welcomed by a capacity crowd and a rare Friday night post-game fireworks display.
But opposing pitcher David Fletcher stole the show.
The former Los Angeles Angels infielder, whose teammates included two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani, picked up his first career professional win on the mound for the Mississippi Braves, bedeviling with his fluttering knuckleball to help produce a 5-4 victory against Pensacola at Blue Wahoos Stadium.
A crowd of 5,038 saw the first Blue Wahoos home game in 16 days, the largest gap at the bayfront ballpark in franchise history. The fans were treated to a variety of elements, but most notably how well Fletcher continued to fare pitching against the Blue Wahoos in his third start against them.
When Fletcher exited after six innings, the M-Braves had just rallied in the top of that inning. Tyler Tolve blasted a 3-run homer off Blue Wahoos starter Jeff Lindgren. Bryson Horne then followed with a one-out single to score Geraldo Quintero with the eventual winning run.
The Blue Wahoos were unable to dent the M-Braves bullpen, which finished the game by allowing just two baserunners in three innings.
Former Pensacola State College pitcher Patrick Halligan, a Virginia native, earned his second save by pitching the final two innings, recording three strikeouts and no walks.
After being gone for awhile, which included the Blue Wahoos having four days off from the Major League Baseball All-Star Game break
With Saturday’s game featuring a first-ever drone show, the Blue Wahoos opted to move the usual Saturday fireworks a day early.
And the crowd included two women, attired in special-made pink shirts, who are traveling the country visiting various minor league ballparks. The shirts included a checklist of cities on the back. They were visited during the game by Blue Wahoos owner Quint Studer.
After the M-Braves scored the game’s first run, the Blue Wahoos took a 3-1 lead when loading the bases without a hit. Fletcher walked Jakob Marsee, plunked Shane Sasaki, then hit Paul McIntosh to load the bases.
With two outs, Jacob Berry laced a two-run single, which became a three-run play when McIntosh scored on a throwing error.
In the fourth inning, Nathan Martorella homered off Fletcher.
But just as he had done in his previous two starts, Fletcher battled his way through innings and this time his teammates rallied to set him up for his first win in 13 starts since converting to a knuckleball-throwing right hander.
WANT TO GO/FOLLOW?
WHO: Mississippi Braves vs. Blue Wahoos
WHEN: Saturday, 6:05 p.m.
WHERE: Blue Wahoos Stadium
Catholic’s TJ McCants Drafted By Chicago White Sox
July 18, 2024
Pensacola Catholic High School graduate TJ McCants was selection in the 16th round of the 2024 MLB Draft by the Chicago White Sox.
McCants played college baseball at Ole Miss and Alabama. He went to the White Sox as the 469th overall pick.
In one season for the Crimson Tide, McCants made 56 starts for Alabama in the outfield. He had a .306 batting average with 17 home runs and 53 RBOs. McCants also had 14 stolen bases.