Wahoos Drop Back And Forth Contest 4-3
May 22, 2026
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos would drop a topsy-turvy game to the Columbus Clingstones by a final score of 4-3.
Brendan Jones would draw a leadoff walk to begin the game and would quickly steal his team leading 20th base to get into scoring position. With two outs, Dillon Lewis would lob a single into left field to give Pensacola a 1-0 lead.
Wahoos starter Orlando Ortiz-Mayr would get some help defensively in the top of the third when third baseman Dylan Jasso would make an impressive backhanded stab and throw fading toward the third base dugout to retire Ethan Workinger. Workinger, however, would get his revenge in a big way in the bottom of the third. Leading the inning off, Sam Praytor would send a ball over the wall in left field, but Workinger would track it the whole way, leap, and snatch it back to rob Praytor of his second homer of the year.
That play kept the score at 1-0 until the top of the fourth. An opposite field single from David McCabe and a double from Luke Waddell would put runners at second and third with only one out. Jordan Groshans would follow those hits up with a sacrifice fly to center, scoring McCabe and tying the game at 1-1. The Wahoos would grab the lead back in the bottom of the fifth when Payton Green would snap an 0-10 rut with his fourth home run of the season and bring the score to 2-1. This is where the back and forth affair began.
The top of the sixth saw two Clingstone runs cross, Patrick Clohisy would lead off with a walk and steal of second to get into scoring position. Lizandro Espinoza would single him home a batter later to tie things up at 2-2. This would be the end of Ortiz-Mayr’s day, as Mason Vinyard (L, 1-1) would come in to relieve him. Espinoza would proceed to steal second and third before Luke Waddell would bring him in on a sacrifice fly to right field to put Columbus in front. Both runs were charged to Ortiz-Mayr. That lead would only last half an inning, thanks to a double from Cristian Hernández and an RBI single from Fenwick Trimble to tie things up once again, this time at 3-3. Blayne Enlow (W, 1-1) would shut things down after that.
The top of the seventh would yield the final run of the game when Ethan Workinger, who robbed Praytor’s homer earlier in the game, would bang one over the left field wall with room to spare, giving his team a 4-3 lead that would prove to be the deciding difference. Pensacola would load the bases in the bottom of the ninth off of closer Tyler LaPorte (S, 2), but after an intentional walk to Payton Green to load the bases, LaPorte would induce a 6-4-3 double play off the bat of Dylan Jasso to sink the Wahoos.
The Blue Wahoos continue their series against the Clingstones on Friday.
written by Charlie Hobert
Ransom Middle School’s Alyssa Bourn Wins Gold And Silver At Special Olympics State Games
May 21, 2026
Ransom Middle School eighth grader Alyssa Bourn won both gold and silver medals in bicycling at the Florida Special Olympics State Games in Orlando. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Alex Williams’ First Win Of The Season Lifts Wahoos Above .500
May 21, 2026
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos eclipsed the .500 mark for the first time in 2026 thanks to a 6-5 victory over the Columbus Clingstones on Wednesday night.
An unconventional bottom of the second inning got the Wahoos offensive day going. Jay Beshears would start things off with a walk, followed by an Ian Lewis Jr. single and a Garret Forrester walk. With the bases loaded, Columbus starter Shay Schanaman (L, 2-3) would send a wild pitch to the backstop, allowing Beshears to score. Moments later, Schanaman would balk bringing home Lewis Jr. to make it 2-0 and advancing Forrester to third base. Gage Miller would bloop an RBI single into center soon after, bringing the score to 3-0. A 2-out Brendan Jones single would advance Miller to second and bring Cristian Hernández to the plate. Hernández would send a single into left field, scoring Miller and extending the Pensacola lead to 4-0.
The runs kept coming in the third, when Dillon Lewis would hit his team leading 10th home run of the season. Lewis is the first Wahoo in team history to hit 10 homers before the end of May. Jay Beshears would follow with his second walk of the game and eventually come around to score on a Garret Forrester run-scoring double to make the score 6-0.
Pensacola starter Alex Williams (W, 1-4) would work his best outing of the year, pitching his first 5.0 innings with nobody scoring. He would blink in the sixth when he’d hit Ambrioris Tavarez with a pitch and then immediately allow a 2-run home run to Patrick Clohisy, cutting the lead to 6-2. But Williams would maintain his composure and go on to retire the next 3 hitters to complete 6.0 innings and a quality start for his first time in 2026.
The Clingstones would continue to battle back, scoring on an RBI single from Tavarez off of Livan Reinoso in the 7th and a Jordan Groshans RBI triple off of Kade Bragg (H, 3) in the 8th to cut the lead to 6-4. Nigel Belgrave (S, 4) would come on for the save in the ninth, and Columbus would not make things easy for him. A leadoff walk to Cal Conley would come around to score on a 1-out single from Ambioris Tavarez. After a single and stolen base from Patrick Clohisy, the Clingstones had men on second and third trailing 6-5 with Lizandro Espinoza at the plate. He would proceed to rip a line drive right at the third baseman Ian Lewis Jr. who would make the catch and step on third to double off the runner and seal the victory.
With the win, the Wahoos would move to 21-20, bringing their record above .500 for the first time all season and keeping themselves in the hunt for the southern division crown.
The Blue Wahoos continue their series against the Clingstones on Thursday.
written by Charlie Hobert
Northview Lady Chiefs Fall In Extra-Inning State Semifinal To Liberty County
May 20, 2026
The Northview Lady Chiefs hope of a softball state championship ended on Tuesday afternoon with an extra-inning Rural Division 10-8 semifinal loss to Liberty County.
The Bulldogs and Chiefs were tied at six headed into the seventh before LCHS took the eighth.
Peyton Womack led the Lady Chiefs at bat, going 3-5, and Riley Brooks went 2-4. Northview had one hit each from Kylee Langham, Daviona Rudolph, Addysen Bolen, Mikayla McAnally, and Aubrey Hadley.
Northview finished the season at 20-6.
Photos Gallery: Northview Beats Jay For Regional Title
Photo Gallery: Northview Beats Jay for District Title
Liberty County will play Trenton for the state championship on Wednesday.
It was the second-ever trip to the Final Four for the Lady Chiefs, falling to Trenton last season in the state final.
Two starters, Womack and Brooks, will graduate next week, but much of the team will return next season, looking for redemption and a third chance in the Final Four.
NorthEscambia.com photo/graphic, click to enlarge.
WFHS Jag John Hatch Signs With Baptist University Of Florida
May 20, 2026
West Florida High School’s John Hatch of Molino signed on Tuesday to continue his academic and baseball career with the Baptist University of Florida.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Lady Chiefs At State: Northview Chasing Championship Ring This Week
May 18, 2026
The Northview Lady Chiefs hit the road early Sunday morning on their way to the FHSAA Rural Division Final Four near Orlando.
On Tuesday, the No. 2 seeded Chiefs (20-5) will take on the No. 3 Liberty County Bulldogs (23-5) at 2 p.m. Central time at Boombah-Soldiers Creek Park in Longwood. The winner will advance to the state championship on Wednesday against either Trenton (23-3) or Madison County (19-3).
Trenton was Northview’s nemesis last year, when the Tigers defeated the Lady Chiefs 11-1 for the state championship.
For more photos from Friday’s Lady Chiefs practice, click here.
“They want another shot at Trenton. They want another shot at that ring,” Northview head coach Amy Holland said on Friday afternoon as the team wrapped up a final practice at Northview. “They’re excited; they want this really bad this year.”
In cooperation with the FHSAA, the NFHS network will stream the games on Tuesday and Wednesday (click here). There are no other video streams; any other service is a scam.
The NFHS network is $13.99 per month with immediate access. The subscription can be canceled prior to the end of the monthly period. Fans can also use the code UPGRADEANNUAL26 for $39.99 annual access and have live game streams next season across many Northview sports, including softball, baseball, football, and basketball.
Pictured top (submitted): The Northview Lady Chiefs left for Orlando early Sunday morning. Pictured inset and below: A final practice at Northview on Friday afternoon. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Brendan Jones’ Two Homers Not Enough In Series Finale
May 18, 2026
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos dropped the series finale against the Chattanooga Lookouts on Sunday by a final score of 5-3 at Erlanger Park.
The Wahoos struck first in the third, when leadoff hitter Brendan Jones smacked his 5th home run of the year over the wall in right field off of Lookouts starter Javi Rivera. That 1-0 lead would quickly be matched though, when back-to-back doubles from Dominic Pitelli and Carlos Jorge would knot things up at 1-1 in the bottom of the third.
That score would remain until the 5th, when Jones would repeat his success from his first at-bat, knocking out his second homer of the game and his 6th of the season to put Pensacola back on top with a 2-1 score. They would add one more in the 6th, when Ian Lewis Jr. would be awarded home on a balk from Lookouts reliever Johnathan Harmon (W, 4-1) and extend their lead to 3-1.
Blue Wahoos starter Luis Moreno would pitch 5.0 complete innings, allowing just 2 hits, 1 run, 0 walks, and striking out 4. He would first be relieved by Jack Sellinger (BS, 1) who would pitch the next 1.2 innings and surrender the lead. Chattanooga would cut the lead to 3-2 on a Leo Balcazar longball. An inning later, they would tie things up when Austin Hendrick would follow up a Shane Sasaki triple with a run scoring single to make it a 3-3 game.
The Lookouts would deal the deciding blows off Logan Whitaker (L, 2-2) in the bottom of the 8th after Balcazar would lead things off with a double and Cam Collier would follow up with a double of his own, scoring Balcazar and bringing the score to 4-3. A Shane Sasaki RBI single later, Chattanooga had a 5-3 lead, and would hold onto it for a three up, three down 9th.
The Lookouts only used two pitchers, with Rivera going the first 4.0 and Harmon going the final 5.0. Pensacola still ended up with a series victory, taking 4 of the 6 games played and hitting 13 home runs while doing so.
The Blue Wahoos begin their home series against the Clingstones on Tuesday.
written by Charlie Hobert
Tate High Senior Alyssa Clarke Signs With Coastal Alabama Cheer
May 17, 2026
Tate High School seniorAlyssa Clarke has officially signed to continue her cheerleading career at Coastal Alabama Community College.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Milbrandt Marvelous As Wahoos Return To .500 With 6-2 Win
May 17, 2026
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos got another dominant start from top prospect Karson Milbrandt and secured a series win over the Chattanooga Lookouts on Saturday night, hitting three homers and cruising to a 6-2 victory.
Milbrandt (W, 3-1) tied a career high with 11 strikeouts over 6.0 scoreless, three-hit innings. He extended his scoreless streak to 17.0 consecutive innings dating back to May 2, and lowered his Southern League-leading ERA to 1.24.
With the win, the Blue Wahoos improved to 19-19 and returned to the .500 mark for the first time since Opening Day. They kept pace with first-place Columbus in the South Division race, and trail by only 0.5 games with 31 games to play in the first half.
Fenwick Trimble gave Milbrandt an early lead, hitting a three-run homer against Lookouts starter Easton Sikorski (L, 0-1) just three batters into the game. Garret Forrester hit a second-inning solo homer in his first at-bat since coming off the injured list, and Brendan Jones followed with an RBI triple for a 5-0 lead through two innings.
Jay Beshears added a solo homer in the fifth inning to extend the lead to 6-0. The Lookouts threatened with a pair of two-out singles in the bottom of the sixth, but Milbrandt fanned Chattanooga’s Cam Collier in a battle of two top prospects to finish 6.0 innings for the fourth start in a row and tie a professional career high of 11 strikeouts previously set in the Midwest League in 2025.
The Lookouts hit back-to-back doubles in the seventh, and Ruben Ibarra hit a solo homer in the ninth, but Pensacola relievers Nigel Belgrave and Kade Bragg recorded the final nine outs to give the Blue Wahoos their fourth win in five games against the team with the Southern League’s best record.
The Blue Wahoos wrap up their series against the Lookouts on Sunday.
written by Erik Bremer
Chiefs Shut Out Chieftains: Northview Dominates Chickasaw 38-0 In Spring Game
May 16, 2026
The Northview Chiefs beat the Chickasaw Chieftains 38-0 on Friday night in a spring game at Tommy Weaver Memorial Stadium in Bratt.
For a photo gallery, click here.
The Northview Chiefs will open the fall season at home against the Marianna Bulldogs.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
