Wahoos Break Through Late, Win Fifth In A Row Over Smokies
July 26, 2025
witten by Erik Bremer
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos won their fifth game in a row on Friday night, beating the Knoxville Smokies 5-1 in a game that was scoreless until the late innings.
Blue Wahoos starter Orlando Ortiz-Mayr and Smokies starter Grant Kipp matched each other with 5.0 scoreless innings, and reliever Austin Roberts (W, 2-0) weathered a bases-loaded threat in the sixth inning to send the game to the seventh in a scoreless tie.
After a leadoff walk to Nathan Martorella, Ryan Ignoffo got the Blue Wahoos on the board with an RBI double on a sinking liner that skipped past Knoxville left fielder Andy Garriola. Two walks loaded the bases for Shane Sasaki, who laced a two-run double down the left field line for a 3-0 Blue Wahoos lead. A passed ball from catcher Casey Opitz capped a four-run frame that proved to be decisive.
With light rain falling in the final innings, the Blue Wahoos took advantage of erratic control from Smokies reliever Jacob Brentz to score an insurance run in the ninth with two walks and two balks. Josh Ekness (S, 9) earned the rare three-inning save, allowing an unearned run in the bottom of the ninth but locking down a 5-1 final.
The five-game winning streak matches Pensacola’s longest of the season, set previously on June 5-10 with wins over Columbus and Rocket City.
The Blue Wahoos continue their series against the Smokies on Saturday night.
Another Ninth-Inning Comeback Sends Wahoos To Wild 10-7 Win
July 25, 2025
written by Erik Bremer
Down to their final strike in the ninth inning, the Pensacola Blue Wahoos drew on recent history for another improbable comeback and a 10-7 win over the Knoxville Smokies on Thursday night.
Smokies closer A.J. Puckett (L, 2-6), the Southern League’s saves leader, was given a chance to atone for a rare blown save in Tuesday night’s 13-inning Pensacola win. Once again, one out away from victory, the Blue Wahoos had other plans.
Trailing 7-6, Johnny Olmstead led off the ninth inning with a double. Two outs later, he was still at second base as Michael Snyder battled back from an 0-2 count. The Pensacola left fielder finally got a pitch he could handle, lining a sharp grounder past the Knoxville shortstop Jefferson Rojas to score Olmstead and tie the game 7-7.
Jared Serna followed with a go-ahead RBI double into the left field corner, scoring Snyder from first base for an 8-7 lead. Kemp Alderman and Nathan Martorella added on with RBI singles, capping a four-run ninth inning that sent the first-place Blue Wahoos to their fourth win in a row.
The game started on shaky ground for the Blue Wahoos, who got only 1.1 innings from starter Dax Fulton. The lefty allowed a season-high seven runs, leaving in the middle of a five-run second inning that gave the Smokies a 7-3 lead.
Pensacola’s first reliever, Justin King, faced only two batters before leaving with an apparent injury. Evan Fitterer entered on short notice to get the final out of the second, and ultimately steadied the waters with 4.1 scoreless innings of one-hit relief.
Aside from a three-run second inning highlighted by a Mark Coley II RBI double, the Blue Wahoos didn’t get much done against Smokies starter Tyler Schlaffer. That changed as soon as Knoxville turned the game over to their bullpen, as Nathan Martorella began the comeback in the sixth inning with a solo homer, his team-leading 10th, off Frankie Scalzo Jr. to cut the deficit to 7-4.
Jake Thompson delivered a two-out RBI single in the seventh inning, and Alderman doubled and scored on a Josh Zamora sacrifice fly in the eighth inning to draw the Blue Wahoos to within a run.
Jesse Bergin worked 1.2 hitless innings of relief before Will Kempner (W, 3-1) got the final out of the eighth to keep the deficit to 7-6. After Pensacola’s ninth-inning rally, Kempner worked a quiet ninth to lock down the win.
The Blue Wahoos have now scored 20 ninth-inning runs in their past 11 games after scoring just eight in their first 81 games of the season.
The Blue Wahoos continue their series against the Smokies on Friday night.
Serna’s Big Blast Sends Wahoos To 5-2 Win Over Smokies
July 24, 2025
written by Erik Bremer
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos won their third in a row on Wednesday night, defeating the Knoxville Smokies 5-2 on the strength of a Jared Serna three-run homer.
With two on and two out in the fifth inning, Serna turned around a 2-0 offering from Smokies starter Sam Armstrong (L, 2-7) and sent it into the left field bullpen to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 lead.
The blast followed a positive trend for the Blue Wahoos, who have now hit eight three-run homers since June 1 after hitting only one in the season’s first two months.
The Smokies jumped ahead 1-0 in the second inning, turning a Felix Stevens leadoff walk into the game’s first run on an RBI single from Ethan Hearn. Blue Wahoos starter Ike Buxton labored through 3.0 innings, walking five batters but allowing only one run on one hit before departing.
Serna’s homer made a winner out of Luis Palacios (W, 2-2), who turned in 3.1 innings of effective relief with only one unearned run allowed. It was the 22nd career win for Palacios in a Blue Wahoos uniform, the most in team history.
Palacios allowed a two-out RBI double to Corey Joyce in the bottom of the fifth, but right fielder Grant Richardson gunned a throw home to cut down B.J. Murray Jr. trying to score the tying run from first base. With the lead still intact, Palacios and Nigel Belgrave (S, 2) stranded Knoxville runners in scoring position in the next three innings before a Michael Snyder two-run single in the top of the ninth extended the Pensacola advantage to 5-2.
Belgrave got the final eight outs to lock down the Blue Wahoos win, finishing with a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth inning.
With a win and a Columbus Clingstones loss, the Blue Wahoos now lead the South Division by 3.5 games in the second half race.
The Blue Wahoos continue their series against the Smokies on Thursday night.
File photo.
Wahoos Outlast Smokies In Marathon 13-Inning Win
July 23, 2025
written by Erik Bremer
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos defeated the Knoxville Smokies 6-4 in 13 innings on Tuesday night, rallying several times in extra innings before ultimately securing their most exhausting win of the season.
Pensacola’s first game at brand-new Covenant Health Park was their longest game by innings since 2021, and at 4 hours and 15 minutes was their longest game by time since 2018, prior to the implementation of MLB’s modern pitch clock rules.
The Smokies scored the game’s first run in the first inning, as Pedro Ramirez walked and scored on a Corey Joyce infield single when Blue Wahoos starting pitcher Alex Williams uncorked an errant throw into foul territory. Williams would recover to turn in 5.0 solid innings, but left trailing 1-0.
The Blue Wahoos managed only two hits through the first eight innings against five different Knoxville pitchers, and trailed 1-0 with two outs in the ninth inning before pinch hitter Ryan Ignoffo blasted his team back to life with an opposite-field, two-run triple that gave the Blue Wahoos a 2-1 lead. It marked Ignoffo’s first appearance since a concerning hit-by-pitch in Friday’s game.
On for the save in the bottom of the ninth, Josh Ekness instead blew his first opportunity of the season. Two singles and a misplayed fielder’s choice loaded the bases for BJ Murray Jr., who narrowly missed a walk-off grand slam and settled for a game-tying sacrifice fly as Pensacola right fielder Kemp Alderman made a leaping catch at the wall.
Ekness stranded the potential winning run at second base to force extras, and repeated the feat in the bottom of the 10th after the Blue Wahoos failed to score their placed runner in the top half of the inning.
In the 11th, Jake Thompson put the Blue Wahoos back in front 3-2 with a two-out RBI single to score pinch runner Grant Richardson from second base. Once again, the Smokies came back to tie it with a Felix Stevens sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 11th against Austin Roberts (W, 1-0).
In the 12th, Alderman lined a sacrifice fly to left field to bring home Ignoffo and give the Blue Wahoos another lead at 4-3. Another Smokies sacrifice fly, this time from Jefferson Rojas, again tied the game and forced a 13th inning.
Richardson, in his first at-bat of the night, laced an RBI single to center field to lead off the top of the 13th against Tyler Santana (L, 1-4). Alderman scored standing up on a close play at the plate, putting the Blue Wahoos ahead 5-4. Cody Morissette added insurance, scoring Richardson with an RBI single of his own for a 6-4 advantage.
Roberts, who was making his Blue Wahoos season debut after coming down from Triple-A Jacksonville earlier in the day, quickly found himself in more trouble in the bottom of the 13th as the Smokies put two runners in scoring position with one out. But the veteran righty, who led the Blue Wahoos with 15 saves in 2024, dug deep to retire Reivaj Garcia on a tapper and Stevens on a strikeout to end the game.
The Blue Wahoos used 17 players in the game, including five different pitchers. The Smokies used 19 players, including eight pitchers.
Though the Smokies scored three times on sacrifice flies in the 9th, 11th and 12th innings, they went 0-for-13 with men in scoring position.
The Blue Wahoos continue their series against the Smokies on Wednesday night.
Tate Cheerleading’s Lillian Abner Commits to D1 Morehead State
July 22, 2025
Lillian Abner is the Tate High School cheerleaders’ first college commit of the 2025-2026 season. She is set to continue her academic and athletic career at Morehead State. The NCAA Division I school is renowned for its 54 college national championships. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Robb Whitfield Named New Athletic Director At Flomaton High School
July 22, 2025
Robb Whitfield has been named the new athletic director at Flomaton High School and assistant principal at Flomaton Elementary School.
Whitfield is a Tate High School graduate and spent a total of 14 years coaching baseball and football at Tate and West Florida high schools.
After three years at W.S. Neal Middle School, he moved to W.S. Neal High School as the assistant principal and athletic director for the past two years.
Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Snyder Lifts Wahoos To Walk-Off 4-3 Win
July 21, 2025
written by Willie Phaler
A Michael Snyder walk-off double capped a comeback 4-3 Pensacola Blue Wahoos victory over the Chattanooga Lookouts on Sunday afternoon.
With 5.0 innings of perfect relief and a one-run lead heading into the ninth, it seemed inevitable that the Lookouts would come out on top over the Blue Wahoos. The Wahoos’ bats had fallen silent after a two-run third inning, but came back to life in the bottom of the ninth.
A leadoff walk from Cody Morissette and a bunt single from Shane Sasaki to begin the ninth inning quickly signaled that this game was far from over. Josh Zamora came off the bench to work a pinch-hit walk and set the stage for Snyder.
“Hitting’s hard,” Snyder said. “Sometimes it takes a couple walks and finding a way on base. One good swing can change the course of a game.”
One good swing did change the course of the game, as Snyder connected on the third pitch from right-hander Arij Fransen (L, 2-3) to lace a line drive just inside the left field line. Morissette crossed home to tie it, and Sasaki’s run won it to give the Wahoos their 12th win of the second half and grow their division lead to 1.5 games.
“I was looking for a pitch to drive, something middle of the zone,” Snyder said. “Pretty simple right there. Just put bat on ball and good things happen.”
The Wahoos’ first two runs were put on the board in the third inning. Sasaki sent a line drive to center, driving in Jared Serna from third. Sasaki then swiped second as part of a double steal with Morissette, who beat a throw home for the tenth steal of home in Blue Wahoos history. This was Morissette’s third run-scoring thievery as a Wahoo after doing it in both 2023 and 2024.
Chattanooga’s offense got on the board in the top of the first for the third time this series, as Cam Collier drove in Edwin Arroyo with an RBI single up the middle.
The Lookouts also scored two runs in the third as Leo Balcazar and Jay Allen picked up RBI in the inning against Pensacola starter Jacob Miller.
Miller made his 14th start of the season for the Wahoos, and his first daytime start. Across 4.2 innings of three-run ball, the righty struck out six Lookouts. Miller’s outing ended on a sharp groundball to second by Collier, which Morissette gloved and fired home to prevent Arroyo from scoring an additional Chattanooga run in the fifth.
Former Blue Wahoos reliever Zach Willeman made the start for Chattanooga. A member of the 2023 Blue Wahoos, Willeman worked 3.0 innings of two-run ball in his return to Pensacola.
Both teams’ bullpens were excellent on Sunday afternoon. The Pensacola trio of Justin King, Nigel Belgrave and Josh Ekness (W, 3-1) compiled 4.1 innings of shutout work, while Brandon Komar tossed 4.0 perfect innings in relief for Chattanooga prior to Fransen’s difficulty in the bottom of the ninth.
The Blue Wahoos will head to Knoxville, Tennessee, for a six-game set with the Knoxville Smokies for their first trip to Covenant Health Park, the new stadium of the Cubs’ affiliate.
“[We] have a long road trip to Knoxville tomorrow, so [we] get some rest,” Snyder said. “[We are looking to] carry the momentum into the next week and have another good one.”
The Wahoos took four of six from the Smokies in late April in the first series between the teams. Right-hander Alex Williams (3-0, 2.10 ERA) is scheduled to get the ball in game one of the series for Pensacola.
WHAT’S NEXT?
WHO: Blue Wahoos vs. Knoxville Smokies.
WHEN: Tuesday Thru Sunday
WHERE: Knoxville, Tennessee.
BACKGROUND: This will be the Blue Wahoos’ first trip to the Smokies’ new ballpark in downtown Knoxville, located near the campus of the University of Tennessee. It opened in April, after the team formerly played in Kodak, Tennessee, located about 21 miles east. The team was known as the Tennessee Smokies, the Chicago Cubs’ affiliate.
NWE 12U All-Stars Finish Strong In Regional Tournament
July 20, 2025
Northwest Escambia 12U All-Star Baseball Team finished strong in the Cal Ripken Regional tournament on Saturday in Monroe, Louisiana.
Starting bracket play as the No. 3 seed, NWE placed fourth out of 14 teams, advancing further than any other NWE team in a regional tournament.
They fell just short of the semi-final game with an 11-8 loss to Daphne.
Team members are Hayden Batson, Hayden Hollingsworth, Parker Gilmore, Kayson Cooley, Jordan Ledkins, Nikko McAnally, Hendrix Ward, Walker Maughon, Cameron Gipson, Zach Hetrick, and Ridge Odom. Coaches are Matt Gilmore, Mike Cooley, and Wes Maughon.
Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Tate Grad Taite Davis Commits To LBW
July 20, 2025
Taite Davis, a 2025 Tate High School graduate, has committed to continue his academic and athletic journey at LBW (Lurleen B. Wallace Community College in Andalusia, AL). NorthEscambia.com photo/graphic.
Blue Wahoos’ Bats Silenced In 5-1 Loss To Lookouts
July 20, 2025
Thomas White left the mound shaking his head following one of his shortest starts this season. That became the kind of tough feeling his teammates experienced.
After slugging their way to a 16-3 rout a night earlier, the Blue Wahoos were held in check with two hits and one run in a 5-1 loss Saturday against the Chattanooga Lookouts before the customary capacity crowd of 5,038 on Fireworks Saturday at Blue Wahoos Stadium.
Making his second home start, White, 20, the Miami Marlins’ top-rated prospect, gave up a pair of runs on four hits before being pulled after throwing 64 pitches in the third inning. The 2.2 innings were the same as White lasted in his Double-A debut at home on June 20 against Montgomery. It was only his second true outing in a 20-day span. He didn’t pitch for the Blue Wahoos on their past road trip at Columbus, then worked one inning with former Blue Wahoos catcher Joe Mack last Saturday in the MLB All-Star Futures Game. Of his 64 pitches, 44 were strikes. White’s elevation to Double-A on June 17 brings a natural learning curve he is navigating.
His third pitch of the ballgame Saturday left the ballpark. Lookouts lead-off batter Austin Hendrick connected to send the ball caroming off the wall above the right field home run line. In the second inning, White gave up a leadoff single, then Ruben Ibarra followed with a run-scoring double. White worked out of that inning, then was lifted with two outs in the third.
The Blue Wahoos got their lone run on Nathan Martorella’s two-out RBI single in the bottom of the first, scoring Jared Serna. That hit proved the only hit the Blue Wahoos produced until the sixth inning. Chattanooga starter T.J. Sikkema retired the next 13 batters he faced before exiting after the fifth inning. The Blue Wahoos’ only threat occurred in the eighth inning when loading the bases with two out on an error and two walks.
But there were several crowd-pleasing elements in this game. The Blue Wahoos celebrated with one of their game-day employees on her “Home Run For Life.” Erika Brigman, a member of the RS3 Food and Beverage team overcame injuries sustained two years ago when struck by a drunk driver. The team wore specialty “Salute To Service” jerseys with U.S. Navy “call signs” as nicknames on the back. Most of the crowd stayed for the fireworks show.
This weekend series with Chattanooga, the Cincinnati Reds affiliate, concludes Sunday at 4:05 p.m. with the Blue Wahoos sending Jacob Miller (2-4, 4.34 ERA) against the Lookouts’ Zach Willeman (1-0, 0.90).
GAME NOTABLES
Blue Wahoos starting catcher Ryan Ignoffo was injured when hit on his hand by a pitch Friday night by Chattanooga’s Donovan Benoit, the former Pensacola Catholic High grad. Ignoffo’s status is yet to be determined.
In response to Ignoffo’s absence, the Blue Wahoos added catcher Nestor Rios from the Florida Complex League-Marlins, the developmental level team. The club also announced outfielder Fenwick Trimble was activated from the injured list.
The Blue Wahoos players again wore their Navy “call signs,” a military version of a nickname, on the back of their jerseys in Saturday’s game. Those jerseys were then part of a silent auction/live auction that happened during the game.
The game paused after the fifth inning to honor Pensacola resident Brigman in the Home Run For Life ceremony.
Brigman was on her way to lunch in 2023 when the car she was riding in was struck by a drunk driver along Pine Forest Road. Erika’s friend stayed by her side as she was rushed to Sacred Heart Hospital. The injuries she sustained included a broken right foot, right leg tibia, both kneecaps, her left upper arm and a punctured a lung. However, the major damage was done by the seat belt as it created numerous internal injuries and broke her back. Erika was treated by Ascension Sacred Heart’s emergency and trauma team – the only one in the area with Level I trauma status. After a few months in the hospital and rehab, she spent a year with her family in North Carolina before spending the last year back in Pensacola to continue recovering.
Two years later, Erika is now able to walk again without assistance.
WANT TO GO?
WHO: Chattanooga Lookouts vs. Blue Wahoos.
WHEN: Sunday, 4:05 p.m.
WHERE: Blue Wahoos Stadium.
Changes made:
Combined short, related sentences into more cohesive paragraphs.
Grouped the “GAME NOTABLES” and “WANT TO GO?” sections into bulleted lists for better readability.
Removed the “—” separator before each bullet point in the “GAME NOTABLES” and “WANT TO GO?” sections.
Added a line return between each paragraph for improved visual separation.
Added headings with horizontal lines above them for “GAME NOTABLES” and “WANT TO GO?” to structure the response better.