Fast Start At Plate, 19 Strikeouts On Mound, As Blue Wahoos Win Amid Overflow Crowd

On this Saturday, the Blue Wahoos started the show well before the fireworks.

Playing before an overflow, energized sellout crowd of 5,038, the Blue Wahoos lit up the scoreboard with runs in each of the first four innings, then had a trio of pitchers pop a combined 19 strikeouts in a 6-2 victory against the Rocket City Trash Pandas to clinch their weekend series.

It provided plenty of entertainment in a setting featuring the concourses crowded with fans and the outfield berm filled with families on every square foot of grass. The win was followed by the Saturday night, post-game fireworks display above Blue Wahoos Stadium.

“I think anyone would tell you, when you are playing on that field, you feed off the crowd,” said Blue Wahoos hitting coach Scott Seabol. “The crowd was awesome.”

Eight of the nine hitters in the Blue Wahoos lineup factored into the scoring. Three pitchers combined to allow just four hits and whiff 19 batters, led by winning pitcher Sean Guenther, who pitched three scoreless, middle innings, with no hits and eight strikeouts to earn his first Blue Wahoos win.

Guenther was a teammate at Notre Dame with Rocket City outfielder Torii Hunter Jr., who was also a former Notre Dame wide receiver.

Will Stewart started the game, working three innings with seven strikeouts. Tyler Stevens closed out the game with three scoreless innings and four strikeouts.

Lazaro Alonso blasted an opposite field homer over the left field wall in the fourth for the Blue Wahoos' final run and his first of the season.

Like so often this season, there was scoring efficiency. The Blue Wahoos had six runs on six hits, including RBI from the bottom third of the lineup. Five of the runs were produced on two-out hits.

“I feel like to this point in the season, we have been taking great at-bats and hitting the ball hard, but we were just missing that big two out, two-run single.”

That changed in the first inning when Tristan Pompey smashed a two-out, two-run single.

After Rocket City scored a pair of runs in the third, the Blue Wahoos answered in the bottom of that inning with RBI hits from Connor Justus and Devin Hairston.

Those clutch hits neutralized the 15 strikeouts recorded by Trash Pandas’ pitchers. The teams totaled a combined 34 strikeouts, but Pensacola held a 6-2 lead through the final five innings.

“I felt like our pitching staff has been doing a great job keeping us in games and then allowing to come back late,” Seabol said. “So it was nice to help them out early and take the pressure off a little bit.”

The Blue Wahoos end a two-week, 12-game homestand with Sunday’s series finale against the Trash Pandas. They have taken four of the first five games in a first-ever series between the teams and return of Pensacola’s Jay Bell as Rocket City manager.

Along with the game itself, there was plenty of other elements.

Before the National Anthem, amid an American flag unfurled in front of home plate, there was a moment of silence in memory of Ken “Squeaky” Parker, long-time Major League Baseball scout from Pensacola, who passed away earlier this month. Parker knew seemingly everyone in the game.

One of his many legacies was staging a free baseball clinic back in the 1980’s and early 1990’s, which featured Pensacola’s pro talent along with other MLB stars.

Among the spectators was David Anjeron, the general manager of the 2002 Pensacola Pelicans in their inaugural, championship-ending season. His name was flashed on the scoreboard and credited by Blue Wahoos owner Quint Studer for helping launch a return of professional baseball to the community.

The fifth-inning “Roach Run” featured hundreds of kids racing across the outfield. The previous inning, the Military Mascot race had two of the mascots upended by Kazoo waving a fishing net in a scene that was made for social media.

In the sixth inning, the first Ascension Sacred Heart “Home Run For Life” honored Mike Maddux, who ran the bases with family. Maddux fully recovered from a life-threatening stroke.

WANT TO GO?

WHAT: Blue Wahoos Homestand Finale

WHO: Rocket City Trash Pandas vs. Blue Wahoos

WHEN: Sunday, 4:05 p.m.

WHERE: Blue Wahoos Stadium.

RADIO: ESPN-Pensacola (Chris Garagiola on play-by-play) on 99.1 FM, 1330 AM.

PROMOTIONS: Military Sunday and Kids Run The Bases after the game.

TICKETS: Single game tickets are available online at www.bluewahoos.com or at the stadium box office.