Alderman's Bombs Power Wahoos to 10-5 Win

Pensacola, Fla. - This week for the Blue Wahoos outfielder Kemp Alderman had not gone so well.

He changed that Saturday in a huge way.

Alderman clouted two home runs, part of a four-hit night with five RBI, as the Blue Wahoos blasted the Montgomery Biscuits 10-5 on a fitting Fireworks Night for the home team that delighted a sellout crowd of 5,038 at Blue Wahoos Stadium.

“I was just trying to help the team win,” said Alderman, who entered the game with just two hits in 12 at-bats in this series. “Get pitches to hit and then just going out there, having fun, and play the game.”

Alderman, a former Ole Miss star who played a big role in the team’s 2022 College World Series championship, spent time Saturday working on a couple mechanical elements, trying to drive more pitches to the opposite field.

The extra work resulted in his first multi-homer game as a pro, both over the right field wall. It led to the Blue Wahoos scoring the most runs of their first eight games.

“It means a lot," said Alderman, the Miami Marlins’ second round draft pick in 2023, who has risen to the No. 11 prospect in the organization by MLB Pipeline. “Working on it (Saturday), I had been pulling off the ball, so I tried to make an adjustment and it worked for me.”

His homers were among a combined six clubbed by the teams Saturday. That was a prelude to the post-game fireworks provided by game sponsor, Pensacola company TEL Staffing and HR.

The game also featured the season’s first “Home Run For Life,” arranged by sponsor Ascension Sacred Heart and honoring a man, Renwick Avant, who became the first kidney transplant recipient in the hospital’s history.

It also included an annual company outing by the Northwest Florida portion of the Florida Power and Light Company, which filled all of the party decks in the stadium.

The win improved the Blue Wahoos to 6-2 and provided a chance to win the series against the Biscuits (4-3) in Sunday’s 1:05 p.m. finale that wraps up a nine-game, two team homestand to start the season.

The Blue Wahoos started Saturday in a big way.

The scored five runs in their first at-bat, highlighted by Alderman’s 3-run homer that landed just over the right field wall into the grass berm area. Jared Serna had led off the game by reaching on a strikeout that got past Biscuits catcher Ricardo Genoves. The second batter in the first inning, Joe Mack, was hit by a pitch.

Alderman then delivered the first of his two bombs. Later in the inning, third baseman Josh Zamora hit a two out homer over the left-center wall.

In the third inning, Alderman led off with another right field shot, this one high and inside the foul pole that left the ballpark. He then had a broken bat single in the fifth inning and followed with a run-scoring single in the seventh.

The Blue Wahoos then sent eight batters at the plate in the eighth inning, scoring three runs to blow open the game.

On the mound, starter Dax Fulton had his most successful outing since May 2023, before an elbow injury led to missing the rest of the that season and the entire 2024 season.

Fulton, a lefthander ranked as the Marlins’ No. 14 prospect, finished 5.1 innings, throwing 84 pitches to earn his first win in two years. He allowed just two walks, four strikeouts in a solid performance. Three relievers followed with closer Josh Ekness finishing the game with a strikeout on a 97 mph fastball.

Every Blue Wahoos batter reached base in this game. Zamora and Nathan Martorella both had two-hit games.

GAME NOTABLES

--- With three more stolen bases, the Blue Wahoos now have swiped 16 bags. They entered the game second in the Southern League in that category.

--- Florida Power & Light company outing attracted nearly 1,000 employees and their families from the Pensacola area. The company’s corporate executives flew into Pensacola for the day from the company headquarters in Juno Beach, located just north of West Palm Beach. The massive group filled the Publix Party Porch, Coors Deck, and Pepsi Pirate Deck. Sonny’s BBQ provided a catered meal for the group outing.

--- In addition, the FPL group had a massive tent and pregame party area for employees behind the right field area on the waterfront.

--- The National Anthem was performed by Brooke Woods.

--- There were three Pensacola area youth baseball teams participating in on-field recognition and team members running onto the field with Blue Wahoos players for the starting line. The teams were the Cantonment Reds with 124 total guests, Perdido Baseball and the Bill Bond Warriors.

WANT TO GO?

WHAT: Blue Wahoos Homestand Finale

WHO: Montgomery Biscuits vs. Blue Wahoos

WHERE: Blue Wahoos Stadium

WHEN: Sunday, 1:05 p.m.

PROMOTIONS:. Family & Military Sunday, sponsored by WKRG News-5 and Great Clips. The first 100 active or retired military members can receive a free standing-room-only ticket for Sunday’s game by stopping by the Blue Wahoos box office and showing proper ID. Children 12-under attending the game are permitted to run the bases following the game. Families are able to toss soft baseballs in the outfield for 30 minutes after the game.

TICKETS: Available at www.bluewahoos.com or at the stadium box office which opens Sunday at 12 p.m.

TV: The game will air on YurView (Cox subscribers only).

LIVESTREAM: www.milb.com (subscription required).

LIVE AUDIO: You can listen to all Blue Wahoos games through Blue Wahoos.com.