Blue Wahoos Have 4-Game Streak End, But Overflow Crowd Treated To Special Moments

Pensacola, Fla. - The Blue Wahoos were unable Saturday to extend their week-long winning streak.

But the game wasn’t lacking for notable moments.

An overflow crowd, which packed the party decks and went rows deep on the concourse, saw the Biloxi Shuckers rally from an early deficit in the middle innings to produce a 4-3 victory at Blue Wahoos Stadium, ending Pensacola’s four-game win streak that was the longest of the early season.

Aside from that aspect, however, the crowd of 5,038 watched a 3-year-old boy who overcame a heart defect throw a ceremonial first pitch and an 8-year-old girl who survived a life-saving procedure take a “Home Run for Life” trip around bases.

And then, following post-game fireworks provided by Kia Autosport-Pensacola, fans from the stands helped clean up the fireworks debris on the infield.

It was that kind of special night, even without the desired scoreboard result.

The Blue Wahoos took an early lead in the game when loading the bases on consecutive singles by Zach Zubia and Sean Roby, plus a Cody Morissette fielder's choice play with an error on a force out attempt.

Bennett Hostetler hit into a double play that scored Zubia, then a strikeout ended the inning.

In the third inning, Zubia hit a bases-loaded sacrifice fly to score Shane Sasaki, who led off with a single. Roby flew out to end that inning, and both of these early opportunities for big innings proved pivotal later in the game.

Morissette made it 3-1 in the fourth inning when he lined a home run inside the foul pole down the right line – a feat more pronounced with the wind blowing in from the bay at a brisk pace.

The Shuckers tied the game with a two-out rally in the sixth inning. They produced three consecutive doubles, the first two off Blue Wahoos starter M.D. Johnson, who otherwise had a solid night. He had two walks, three strikeouts and pitched out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the first inning with two big breaking pitches.

Reliever Jeff Lindgren relieved Johnson and yielded a two-strike double to Andy Yerzy that tied the game.

Back-to-back doubles in the ninth from Darrien Miller and Mike Boeve gave the Shuckers their first lead of the night. The Shuckers bullpen recorded four hitless innings from three relievers to seal the game. The Blue Wahoos' Paul McIntosh went 2-for-4 as the team’s only multiple-hit batter Saturday on a night where Pensacola was held to six hits.

The teams will conclude this six-game homestand on Sunday with pregame activities and ceremonial first pitches starting at 3:45 and the actual game first pitch set for 4:05.

GAME NOTABLES

--- Zara Spencer leaped onto home plate, excited for her “Home Run For Life” moment that thrilled the crowd. What seemed an earache worsened into an emergency room visit to the Studer Family Children’s Hospital at Sacred Heart. Physicians discovered she had a mastoiditis infection and an abscess on the brain. Zara was immediately rushed into surgery.

Nine days later, she was released and the life-saving procedure returned her life to normal. With family watching, the bubbly 9-year-old raced around the bases Saturday night in a heartwarming moment.

--- On a busy Saturday with pregame activities, there were seven ceremonial first pitches, including a 3-year-old boy, Henderson Woods, who was born with a congenital heart defect. But he is now a normal toddler and had the crowd reacting his first pitch.

--- Rachel Balkovec, the Miami Marlins new director of player development, addressed season-ticket holders in the first base lounge reserved for those with season tickets. She also took several questions from the audience. Balkovec, 36, an Omaha, Nebraska native, became in 2022 the first female manager of an affiliated MLB team when she managed the Tampa Tarpons, the New York Yankees Low-A affiliate in the Florida State League.

WANT TO GO?

WHO: Biloxi Shuckers vs. Blue Wahoos

WHEN: Sunday, 4:05 p.m.

WHERE: Blue Wahoos Stadium

PROMOTION: Family & Military Sunday. Co-sponsored by WKRG News5 and Great Clips, the promotion enables children 12-under to run the bases one time following the game and families to toss soft baseballs in the outfield for 30 minutes. In addition, all active and retired military receive a ticket discount when tickets are purchased at the stadium box office.

TICKETS: Available at www.bluewahoos.com and the Blue Wahoos box office which will open at 12 p.m. Sunday.

AUDIO BROADCAST: Available on www.bluewahoos.com or the MiLB app.

LIVE TV: The game will be available on a video stream through Bally Live and MLB.TV (subscription required).