Wahoos End Homestand With Three Homers, Blowout Win Over Clingstones

June 9, 2025

written by Willie Phaler

An offensive explosion carried by three home runs combined with stellar pitching helped put the Blue Wahoos on top Sunday afternoon, as they defeated the Columbus Clingstones 9-2 for their largest margin of victory this season.

With home runs from Johnny Olmstead, Grant Richardson and Nathan Martorella adding up to seven of the team’s nine runs, it was a high-flying day for the Blue Wahoos offense as they have pushed their winning streak to four.

“The boys are feeling good,” reliever Alex Williams said. “We’re swinging the bats well, we’re pitching well. Hopefully, we can continue this streak and make a little noise here at the end of this first half.”

Williams, who was awarded the win to improve to 2-0 on the season with Pensacola, provided three innings of shutout pitching, while moving to a streak of 11 scoreless innings.

“Trusting the defense, and filling it up (the strike zone),” Williams said. “I know we’ve got a lot of guys behind me that are working hard and getting better every day. Just filling it up and giving my guys the best chance to win and continue what the starter’s doing.”

That was something Williams was certainly able to do on Sunday. After four innings of two-run ball from Orlando Ortiz-Mayr, Williams bridged the gap in the fifth, sixth and seventh, while Ricky DeVito cleaned things up with a scoreless eighth and ninth to secure the Wahoos’ win.

“Learning from a lot of the other guys that have been here and trying to continue what’s been going well all year, the bullpen’s been great,” Williams said. “The starters have been great, and just trusting the process and keep going.”

The Blue Wahoos’ bats got going early, putting up two runs in the first inning. The first baseman Martorella picked up an RBI with a single to right, scoring Cody Morrissette, while Richardson drove in a runner as he beat out a groundball to second to break up a potential double play, allowing Kemp Alderman to score.

These were the first runs given up by Columbus starter Brett Sears at the Double-A level, after dealing ten innings of shutout pitching in his first two starts in the Southern League.

Richards was unable to continue the success he had found in his first two starts, as his final line consisted of 5.0+ innings while allowing seven earned runs.

A three-run home run from Olmstead in the fourth, along with a two-run home run from Richardson, were catalysts in driving Richards out of the game. Olmstead’s was a team-leading seventh of the year, while Richards hit his second in as many days.

Martorella added insurance in the seventh with a two-run home run of his own, pulling one out to right field against Amos Willingham.

Columbus’s lone two runs of the day both came off solo home runs from Designated Hitter David McCabe. His first two at-bats in the second and fourth against Ortiz-Mayr provided runs for the Clingstones, but were the extent of the offense for the Braves affiliate.

After winning five of six at home to get back above .500, including four in a row, the Blue Wahoos will take their lone trip of the season to Madison, Alabama, to take on the Rocket City Trash Pandas for six.

GAME NOTABLES

— With the conclusion of Sunday’s game, there are now just two series and 12 games left in the first half schedule. The Biloxi Shuckers hold a commanding lead in the Southern League South Division race with a 34-22 record prior to Sunday’s game. The Blue Wahoos entered Sunday six games back in the division standings in third place. The Montgomery Biscuits (29-27) are in second place, trailing by five games before Sunday. The second half schedule along with a new divisional race, will begin June 24.

— Injuries and roster moves had the Blue Wahoos scrambling for additional players. The team added infielder Jesus Hernandez, 21, a third baseman from the Jupiter Hammerheads, the Miami Marlins’ Class-A affiliate. He joined the team on Saturday.

WHAT’S NEXT?
WHO: Blue Wahoos at Rocket City Trash Pandas.
WHEN: Tuesday through Sunday, June 15.
GAMETIMES: The games on Tuesday through Saturday all start at 6:35 p.m. The game on Sunday, June 15, is a 2:35 p.m. start time.
WHERE: Madison, Alabama.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News, Sports, TOP sports

Newcomer Richardson Shines Again, Bullpen Seals Third Consecutive Wahoos Win

June 8, 2025

written by Bill Vilona

The Blue Wahoos turned another game into a battle of the bullpens.

That scenario has worked well for them.

After twice tying the game from 2-run deficits, the Blue Wahoos manufactured an eighth-inning run and had dominant closer Josh Ekness finish the night for a 5-4 victory against the Columbus Clingstones, delighting the usual capacity crowd (5,038) on a Fireworks Saturday at Blue Wahoos Stadium.

In a game where each team’s pitching staff struck out 13 batters, the difference was Pensacola’s three relievers tossing scoreless innings, allowing just one hit, two baserunners and seven strikeouts in the final four innings.

The other difference-maker was new Blue Wahoos outfielder Grant Richardson. His two-run homer tied the game in the fifth inning and his eighth-inning single set up Mark Coley II producing a go-ahead single for the winning run.

Richardson, 25, began the season in the New York Yankees organization before getting released. He was back home in Fishers, Indiana this week when the Miami Marlins called to sign Friday to a free agent contract.

Richardson, a former 17th round draft pick by the Yankees from Indiana University, then drove from Indiana to Pensacola and was called into play Friday night when Blue Wahoos left fielder Shane Sasaki got injured when leaping for a ball against the left field wall.

After producing a pair of hits Friday, he was in the starting lineup Saturday and helped change the game. He now has four hits in two days.

“It’s awesome to be part of this,” he said during the on-field, post-game interview. “These guys have welcomed me in with open arms since I got here and being around the clubhouse and all the guys, I’m very blessed to be able to be here and be with all the fans and be so welcomed by everyone.”

While in the Yankees organization, he was managed in 2022 by Rachel Balkovec, now the Marlins director of player personnel, who became the first woman in history to manage an affiliated minor league team connected to Major League Baseball.

“It’s an opportunity and I am going to try and capitalize on every opportunity I get,” Richardson said. “And I’m very thankful the Marlins are giving me this opportunity, so it is an unreal feeling.”

The win became the Blue Wahoos’ third consecutive victory – the first time that has happened since April 25 – clinched the series. It got the Blue Wahoos back to a .500 overall record (28-28) following their 11-game losing streak last week.

Columbus scored the game’s first run off Blue Wahoos starter Dax Fulton in the second inning. The Clingstones, the new Atlanta Braves affiliate from Columbus, Ga., made it 2-0 in the fifth after a leadoff walk and run-scoring double by right fielder Stephen Paolini.

But in the bottom of the inning, Johnny Olmstead drew a one-out walk and Richardson blasted a pitch from starter JR Ritchie over the left-center wall. It was the Blue Wahoos first hit in the game.

After Columbus got two more runs off Fulton in the sixth, reliever Jesse Bergin was summoned with two outs and the bases loaded. He struck out Cody Milligan to end that inning in what became a pivotal moment.

In the seventh, the Blue Wahoos tied the game with a pair of walks, two stolen bases, an RBI groundout by Jared Serna and a two-out single by Cody Morissette.

Olmstead’s two-out walk in the eighth began the winning sequence. He moved to second on Richardson’s single, then scored on Coley’s single to center.

Ekness retired the Clingstones in order in the ninth to earn his sixth save and create a jubilant mood for the fireworks show.

The Blue Wahoos are now 5-1 on Fireworks Saturday games.

WANT TO GO?
WHO: Columbus Clingstones vs. Blue Wahoos
WHEN: Sunday. 4:05 p.m.
WHERE: Blue Wahoos Stadium.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News, Sports, TOP sports

Olmstead Homers Late And Dashes Home for Wild Walk-Off Wahoos Win

June 7, 2025

With a 5-4 walk-off win in the tenth inning, Friday night’s game between the Pensacola Blue Wahoos and the Columbus Clingstones turned out to be the Johnny Olmstead show.

With runners on second and third with no one out in the bottom of the tenth, Clingstones right-hander Luis Vargas sailed a pitch that ran inside to Wahoos newcomer Grant Richardson, getting by catcher Chandler Seagle and allowing Olmstead to score the winning run.

“We’re just counting on Grant (Richardson), our new guy who we just got today, to do his job,” Olmstead said. “Once I saw it hit the backstop, I just took off and won the game.”

Olmstead’s heroics didn’t start there for the Blue Wahoos, who were donning their red Pensacola Pok-Ta-Pok jerseys inspired by the Copa series.

Trailing the Clingstones 3-1 in the seventh, Olmstead came to the plate with runners on first and second as the first batter to face right-handed reliever Blane Abeyta.

Abeyta entered after starting pitcher Blake Berhalter went six shutout innings, before allowing three hits in a row in the seventh, one of which was an RBI single from catcher Ryan Ignoffo for his first Double-A hit.

On the second pitch Olmstead saw from the Clingstones’ new arm, he sent a ball around the left field foul pole to vault the Wahoos to a 4-3 lead.

“When you can put together some team at-bats and come through for the boys, there’s nothing better,” Olmstead said.

This was the third three-run homerun in June for the Blue Wahoos, after hitting only one in the season’s first two months.

Prior to the Wahoos’ four-run frame in the seventh, the game had been all Clingstones. They got on the board in the fourth against Pensacola starter Adam Laskey, as Stephen Paolini hit a two-run home run to left to open the scoring. The longball was the first Laskey had allowed in 2025.

After a scoreless fifth from Laskey, the Clingstones struck once again against left-hander Luis Palacios. Third baseman David McCabe reached on a double to left-center after Mark Coley II missed a diving attempt, and was driven in by Geraldo Quintero.

After the RBIs from Olmstead and Ignoffo in the seventh, the Clingstones knotted it up at four in the top of the eighth on a sacrifice fly from Drew Compton to right field, scoring Cody Milligan after he reached on a leadoff double.

Pensacola’s Dale Stanavich navigated the ninth and tenth, providing two scoreless innings of relief while tight-roping a bases-loaded situation in the extra frame.

“Those kinds of games are the ones you want to win,” Olmstead said. “Just trying to keep the good vibes going now and keep on rolling.”

With a 3-1 series lead, the Blue Wahoos will send lefty Dax Fulton to the mound tomorrow night, taking on JR Ritchie for the Clingstones.

WANT TO GO?
WHO: Columbus Clingstones vs. Blue Wahoos
WHEN: Saturday and Sunday.
WHERE: Blue Wahoos Stadium.
GAMETIMES: The game on Saturday starts at 6:05 p.m. Sunday’s game starts at 4:05 p.m.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News, Sports, TOP sports

Zamora’s Big Blast, Rosario’s Defense Lead Wahoos To Win Over Clingstones

June 6, 2025

The Blue Wahoos had their best run production Thursday in three weeks.

On a night with the first home-game rain daily this season – exactly one hour — it proved to be a good time for that to happen.

After scoring a pair of runs without a hit, Pensacola got a 3-run homer from Josh Zamora an inning later in the fourth to further build a lead and hold off the Columbus Clingstones 7-4 to take the team’s first mid-week lead in a series since April at Blue Wahoos Stadium.

A crowd of 3.948 on Mullet Thursday, which settled in seats after the rain ended and a brilliant rainbow was cast over the outfield, saw the team taking on its customary alternate identity as the Pensacola Mullets. The fans watched several pleasing elements.

The Blue Wahoos (26-28) received a shining start from Evan Fitterer, who worked six innings, allowed just two hits, one run and struck out five for his best outing since April 24.

His efforts carried into the offense, which had seven batters reach base on seven hits, plus five stolen bases – one off the team record. It was the kind of complimentary production the Blue Wahoos have strived to seek, after picking up their third win in the last four games.

“There’s nothing like it,” said Zamora in an on-field post game interview. “One through nine it’s phenomenal when we all get going.”

Also phenomenal was a catch made by Blue Wahoos left fielder Dalvy Rosario, who got a late jump on a blast by catcher Adam Zebrowski. As the ball was going over the left field wall, Rosario perfectly timed his leap and came down with the ball in one of the best home-run-robbing catches seen in this ballpark.

Rosario also had a big night at the plate, reaching base three times, scoring two runs and driving in another run.

With none out, two on in the fourth inning, Zamora jumped on a first-pitch fastball from Columbus starter Lucas Braun, one of 10 Clingstone players rated among the Top 30 in the Atlanta Braves organization. He sent it 385 feet over the left field wall with an exit speed of 99.3 mph off the bat.

That home run, his fourth this season, provided a 5-1 lead.

“Just (looking for) something over the plate,” he said. “Trying to be aggressive and score some runs for the boys.”

The lead expanded 7-1 after seven innings, then got shaky.

A rare hiccup from the Blue Wahoos bullpen occurred when reliever Nigel Belgrave gave up three runs in the eighth inning. Columbus then had the tying run at the plate with two-on in the ninth when reliever Jesse Bergin ended the game by getting third baseman Keshawn Ogans to hit into a double-play.

It was the most runs the Blue Wahoos had scored since a 9-6 win May 15 at home against Rocket City.

The runs began in the second with consecutive walks to Johnny Olmstead and Mark Coley. The Blue Wahoos then pulled off a double-steal, including only the ninth home plate steal in club history, to get the first run. Coley then scored when he swiped third base and came home on a throwing error.

In the fourth, Kemp Alderman and Nathan Martorella produced consecutive singles before Zamora’s homer.

In the fifth inning, Alderman’s two-out single scored Rosario for the sixth run. In the seventh, Rosario drove home Coley.

GAME NOTABLES
— The Blue Wahoos honored the Gulf Breeze High beach volleyball team that recently won its second consecutive state championship and finished ranked No. 1 nationally by MaxPreps.com, which is a national outlet devoted to high school sports. For the Dolphins, it’s back-to-back titles and No. 1 rankings. The 17-member team, including six seniors were honored along with head coach Chelsea Kroll and her two assistant coaches. Adding to the school’s feat, the beach volleyball team was started only three years ago without any prior history in the sport.
— The city of Crestview had its own special night Thursday at the game. Crestview mayor JB Whitten threw out a ceremonial first pitch, along with Crestview’s “citizen of the year” award winner. The Crestview chamber of commerce had 60 guests the city of Crestview had more than 200 guests.
— The W.S. Neal baseball team from Brewton, Alabama had its outing.

WANT TO GO?
WHO: Columbus Clingstones vs. Blue Wahoos
WHEN: Friday Thru Sunday.
WHERE: Blue Wahoos Stadium.
GAMETIMES: The games on Friday and Saturday will start at 6:05 p.m. Sunday’s game will be a 4:05 p.m. start time.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News, Sports, TOP sports

Northview Names Justin Raley As New Head Baseball Coach

June 5, 2025

Northview High School has named Justin Raley as their new head baseball coach.

Raley is a familiar name in area 1A baseball — Justin Raley has been an assistant coach for the past three seasons at Jay, under the leadership of his father Duane Raley. Jay has made it to the regional finals in the past couple of seasons, after falling to Northview in the regional semifinals in 2022.

Raley said he took the Northview job with the blessings of his father.

“He told me that if I wanted the job to take it,” he said. “I felt like it was time for me to step out and do my thing.”

“I’m excited to get back in there and get rolling with the guys,” Raley said. “I know we’ve got a good group of guys; I coached many of them in middle school at Ernest Ward, so I’m excited to get with them and establish my philosophy of coaching and my philosophy of baseball.”

“I want our pitchers to be able to really compete on every count. I want us to be able to throw any pitch anytime. Our hitters to be known as guys that battle in the box, even in bad counts< he said. “We still fight for a quality of that to get a job done. I really I want to go in there and pretty quickly kind of establish my standard and my philosophy on the game.”

Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News, Sports, TOP sports

Blue Wahoos Honor Northview Lady Chiefs Softball Before 3-2 Loss To Clingstones

June 5, 2025

The Pensacola Blue Wahoos honored the Northview Lady Chiefs softball team before a 3-2 Wednesday night loss to the Clingstones.

The Chiefs reached the FHSAA Rural Softball State Championship game for the first time in school history, bringing home the state runner-up trophy. The young team with just one senior also won the first regional title ever for the school as they went 22-7 under the leadership of head coach Amy Holland.

Lady Chief Bailey Burkette and Mikayla McAnally threw out ceremonial first pitches for the Wahoos.

For a photo gallery, click here.

Snelling Strong, but Late Rally Falls Short in 3-2 Loss to Clingstones
Game summary by Willie Phaler

With two of the top arms in the Southern League taking the mound in Wednesday night’s game, a 3-2 win in favor of the Columbus Clingstones lived up to be a pitcher’s duel.
Pensacola’s Robby Snelling (L, 2-5) and Columbus’s Ian Mejia (W, 5-0) opened up the game with three scoreless innings, but the Clingstones were able to break through in the fourth.

With runners on first and second with two outs, Geraldo Quintero sent a single to right for an RBI, while Kevin Kilpatrick Jr. drove in a pair with a single of his own to put the Clingstones up 3-0.

The three runs in the fifth were all the damage the Braves’ affiliate was able to run up against Snelling, but also all they needed in the 3-2 win to even the series.

The highly touted southpaw’s line on the night consisted of 5.0 innings with three earned runs and three hits while punching out three hitters.

Kemp Alderman put the Blue Wahoos on the board in the bottom of the seventh, sending his sixth home run of the year out to left field. The longball extends Alderman’s hitting streak to 10 games, the longest by a Blue Wahoos player this year.

The scoring in the seventh didn’t stop there for Pensacola. After a Nathan Martorella double against Mejia, Columbus manager Cody Gabella went to the bullpen for sidearming right-hander Jose Cuas. Mark Coley II sent a triple to left-center on the third pitch from Cuas, scoring Martorella and bringing the Wahoos within one.

After walking Johnny Olmstead to give Pensacola runners on the corners with one out, Cuas escaped after picking up a strikeout and a flyout to center.

Lefty Hayden Harris entered for the Clingstones in the eighth and picked up his third save of the year as he provided two innings of hitless ball to shut down the Blue Wahoos.

Pensacola’s bullpen shined once again, as the trio of Luis Palacios, Lane Ramsey and Ricky DeVito combined for four innings of shutout pitching, allowing just one hit in relief.

With the series tied at one apiece, Pensacola will take on their alternate identity, the Mulltets, and send out Evan Fitterer (2-4, 3.40 ERA) to take on Lucas Braun (3-1, 4.08 ERA).

For a photo gallery, click here.

WANT TO GO?
WHO: Columbus Clingstones vs. Blue Wahoos
WHEN: Thursday through Sunday.
WHERE: Blue Wahoos Stadium.
GAMETIMES: The games on Thursday through Saturday night will all start at 6:05 p.m. Sunday’s game will be a 4:05 p.m. start.

NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News, Sports, TOP sports

NWE 12U All-Stars Win At Regional Championships

June 4, 2025

The Northwest Escambia (NWE) 12U All-Star team won the gold bracket championship in the NCS Florida Panhandle All-Star Regional Championship. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News, Sports, TOP sports

Wahoos Recapture Winning Formula In Series-Opening Victory Over Clingstones

June 4, 2025

written by Bill Vilona

The Blue Wahoos have started June by replicating the elements which won in the past.

Getting stellar pitching and defense, combined with the kind of timely, two-out hits missing in May, the Blue Wahoos put back-to-back wins together following Tuesday’s 4-2 victory against the Columbus Clingstones to begin a homestand at Blue Wahoos Stadium.

After ending a franchise-record 11-game losing streak Sunday in Montgomery, the Blue Wahoos were again sharp when needed Tuesday.

They twice tied the game with solo runs, then got a go-ahead run in the sixth and another in the seventh.

Meanwhile, their bullpen was a beast. Three relievers, beginning with winning pitcher Josh White, who worked two innings with six strikeouts, combined to allow no hits, one walk and struck out nine of the last 12 Columbus batters they faced.

“Everything was working tonight, I was just trying to fill up the zone and now we’re on win streak,” White said.

Closer Josh Ekness earned his fifth save by striking out the three batters he faced with 11 strikes on 12 pitches. The Blue Wahoos have the lowest bullpen earned run average in the Southern League.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” White said. “Any guy that goes into the game is going to perform, going to do his role and we’re going to give our team the best chance to win.”

For perspective, the Blue Wahoos won back-to-back games just once in May, after doing it frequently in April.

“It’s good,” White said. “It was nice to end last week with a win and start this week with a win, so we’ll just try to continue it.”

The Clingstones, the Atlanta Braves’ new Double-A affiliate in Columbus, Georgia, are making their first trip to Pensacola as a relocated affiliate team.

They took a 1-0 lead in the third off Blue Wahoos starter Jacob Miller when Miller uncorked a wild pitch to score Kobe Kato, who had led off with a single and stole second.

The Blue Wahoos answered right back in the bottom half of the inning when Dalvy Rosario hit his second homer of the season over the left field fence.

Columbus regained the lead on a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning. In the fifth, the Blue Wahoos tied it when Jared Serna singled, stole second and third and scored on Kemp Alderman’s two-out single.

It was another big game for Alderman. He went 2-for-3, reaching on a walk as well, drove in two runs and made a sensational running catch in foul territory from right field in the eighth inning – hitting the netting to record the inning’s final out.

The Blue Wahoos got their lead in the sixth when Josh Zamora singled, and scored on Shane Sasaki’s double. Alderman then added an insurance run with his two-out RBI single in the seventh to score Serna, who had tripled with one out in the inning.

GAME NOTABLES
— Two Crestview middle schools, Shoal River and Davidson, combined to perform the National Anthem in a massive gathering of band members behind home plate. They had a group outing with parents and school faculty totaling 140 fans on one of the party decks.
— Tuesday’s game was the “One Price Tuesday” promotion where all ticket purchases received a voucher for a hot dog, chips and soft drink.
— For the second time this season, right fielder Kemp Alderman won Southern League player of the week honors. After struggling at the plate in recent weeks, Alderman went 11-for-23 during the series against Montgomery with a triple, homer, and three RBI, along with a stolen base. He first won the award on April 7, following the season-opening series.
— The Blue Wahoos were glad to see May go by. The team’s 7-20 record was their worst in any month since becoming a Miami Marlins affiliate in 2021 and was the second-worst percentage wise in club history.

WANT TO GO?
WHO: Columbus Clingstones vs. Blue Wahoos
WHEN: Wednesday Thru Sunday.
WHERE: Blue Wahoos Stadium.
GAMETIMES: The games on Wednesday through Saturday night will all start at 6:05 p.m. Sunday’s game will be a 4:05 p.m.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News, Sports, TOP sports