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MLB

10 Moments that Defined Pensacola’s 2022 Championship Season

By Erik Bremer
November 2, 2022

The 2022 Pensacola Blue Wahoos season was filled with unforgettable moments, culminating in the second Southern League Championship in franchise history. Here, in chronological order, are 10 moments that defined Pensacola’s title-winning campaign.

The 2022 Pensacola Blue Wahoos season was filled with unforgettable moments, culminating in the second Southern League Championship in franchise history. Here, in chronological order, are 10 moments that defined Pensacola’s title-winning campaign.

April 29: Eury Perez strikes out 12, earns Pitcher of the Week award

When Eury Pérez was named Pensacola’s Opening Day starter in early April, he put the Southern League on notice. Not only was he the youngest player in the circuit, he was the first teenager in Blue Wahoos history. While he had his growing pains in his first taste of Double-A, he put things together for the first time in a late April start in Biloxi.

Pérez fanned 12 Shuckers batters over 5.0 scoreless, one-hit innings, earning his first Double-A win in a 4-0 victory. A few days later, he would win the first of his two Southern League Pitcher of the Week honors for his dominant performance.

May 15: Victor Victor Mesa walks it off after a three-hour rain delay

Everything went right for the Blue Wahoos in their series against the Rocket City Trash Pandas in mid-May, earning their first six-game sweep in franchise history against a team that would end the season with the best record in the league. No win was more improbable than their Sunday homestand finale.

With rain in the forecast and a stiff breeze blowing out, the Trash Pandas jumped on Jeff Lindgren for four runs in the first inning. Though the Blue Wahoos got a run back in the fourth, the rain arrived in the top of the fifth and triggered a three-hour weather delay. Had the rain arrived just an inning later, the game would have been called early. Instead, players and fans waited out the longest delay of the season and resumed play after sunset.

With a chance to hit the reset button, the Blue Wahoos kept the game within reach before exploding for four runs in the bottom of the ninth. Victor Victor Mesa dealt the final blow:

June 3-4: Troy Johnston catches on fire

It took a few weeks for his bat to get going, but nobody put together a hot streak quite like Troy Johnston’s scalding week against Biloxi in early June. The first baseman delivered clutch hit after clutch hit, culminating in a torrid two-game stretch in which he hit three home runs and a walk-off single.

On Friday night, Johnston hit a game-tying home run in the seventh inning to kickstart a five-run frame. When Biloxi answered back with a three-run ninth to tie the game 8-8, it was Johnston’s turn again in the ninth to play the hero.

The very next night, Johnston turned it up another notch. He homered in his first at-bat, then came up again in the bottom of the ninth with the Blue Wahoos trailing 7-4. After a J.D. Orr infield single, José Devers hit an RBI triple to bring Johnston to the plate representing the tying run. Once again, Johnston came through.

With the hometown crowd in a frenzy, Griffin Conine drew a walk before Paul McIntosh doubled and Luis Aviles Jr. ended the game with a walk-off sacrifice fly.

June 5: Blue Wahoos win on four hit batsmen

Blue Wahoos Stadium had turned into a house of horrors for the Biloxi Shuckers in early June, suffering three walk-off losses at the hands of the Blue Wahoos in the span of five games. They might’ve thought they could escape Pensacola with a win in their Sunday finale, but the strangest walk-off of them all was awaiting them in the ninth inning.

The Blue Wahoos trailed 6-2 heading to the seventh inning stretch before scratching and clawing their way back into the game. Luis Aviles Jr. hit an RBI single in the seventh and J.D. Orr brought home another run with a groundout in the eighth, trimming the deficit to 6-4 in the ninth. What followed has to be seen to be believed.

The incredible sight of four consecutive hit batsmen to end a game quickly made the rounds on social media, and solidified Pensacola’s firm grasp on the South Division lead.

June 23: Blue Wahoos clinch 1st half title

Entering the final week of the first half, the Blue Wahoos needed only one win in their six-game series in Biloxi to punch their ticket to the playoffs. The Shuckers put up a fight, winning the first two games in close and late fashion, before a wild game finally saw the Blue Wahoos pop the champagne.

Zach McCambley turned in a dominant performance, keeping Biloxi off the scoreboard through five innings and allowing the offense to put up a 5-0 lead thanks to run-scoring hits from Bubba Hollins, Devin Hairston, Paul McIntosh and Cobie Fletcher-Vance. A 5-2 lead ballooned to 10-2 in the ninth as the Blue Wahoos broke the game open.

On in a non-save situation, Colton Hock raised the blood pressure of Blue Wahoos fans when he allowed four Biloxi runs in the ninth. Just as the game was tightening up, Hock finished the job and locked in Pensacola’s first playoff berth since 2019.

July 14: Soler homers twice on Marlins rehab

Jorge Soler, the 2021 World Series MVP for the Atlanta Braves, was Miami's big ticket free agent signing prior to the season. Though his first year with the Marlins was derailed by injuries, he put on a show for Blue Wahoos fans in his July rehab assignment down in Double-A.

Soler flexed his muscle on July 14 against the Chattanooga Lookouts, sending a ball into Pensacola Bay in his first at-bat of the game.

He came to the plate again in the seventh inning for his final at-bat of the night, and went deep again despite getting jammed on an inside pitch. The Blue Wahoos cruised to a 7-3 victory over the Lookouts.

August 14: Blue Wahoos beat Barons’ knuckleballing position player in walk-off fashion

The 2022 Blue Wahoos had a knack for delivering dramatic wins in front of their home fans, with nine walk-off wins during the season. They didn’t save the best for last, though their final walk-off was certainly memorable in its own right.

In a see-saw game that saw eight lead changes and four blown saves, the Blue Wahoos tied Birmingham 9-9 with a two-out RBI single from Bubba Hollins in the bottom of the eighth, though José Devers was thrown out at the plate in a bid to put Pensacola ahead.

Dylan Bice was outstanding in relief for the Blue Wahoos, fanning six batters over a perfect ninth, 10th and 11th inning while stranding the placed runner in his final two frames. The Barons emptied their bullpen to do the same, holding Pensacola off the scoreboard and forcing a 12th inning.

Sean Reynolds had an uncharacteristically shaky outing in the top of the 12th, allowing three Birmingham runs. But the Barons had no more relief options to protect their 12-9 lead, instead sending infielder J.J. Muno to the mound to try and earn the save. With a little help, the Blue Wahoos feasted on a steady diet of knuckleballs to win the game in improbable fashion.

September 22: Nuñez homers to keep Blue Wahoos season alive

The Blue Wahoos had fallen to the Montgomery Biscuits in Game One of the best-of-three Southern League Division Series, and needed to win twice at home to avoid ending their season in disappointment. Things didn’t look good halfway through Game Two, as the Biscuits roughed up Eury Pérez and took a 5-0 lead to the bottom of the sixth. Sean Hunley had allowed only an infield single to the Blue Wahoos before Davis Bradshaw hit an RBI double to put Pensacola on the board. Thomas Jones followed with a momentum-shifting home run to cut the deficit to 5-3.

Bradshaw was back at it one inning later, connecting on a two-out, two-run single against former Blue Wahoos reliever Josh Roberson to tie the game 5-5.

Patrick Monteverde was brilliant in long relief, keeping the Biscuits off the board after their early runs, and Nasim Nuñez gave the Blue Wahoos their first lead of the series with his first Double-A home run in the bottom of the eighth.

Sean Reynolds earned the five-out save, setting up a dramatic Game Three the next night.

September 23: Thomas Jones saves the day, sends Blue Wahoos to Championship Series

In the decisive Game Three of the Southern League Division Series, the Blue Wahoos turned to 20-year-old lefty Dax Fulton for the biggest game of his professional career. Fulton soaked up the spotlight, fanning 13 Montgomery batters over 6.0 scoreless, one-hit innings.

The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the eighth, when Thomas Jones doubled and Norel González delivered a two-out RBI single to put the Blue Wahoos up 1-0.

Sean Reynolds came on to close it out for the second night in a row, and allowed a pair of two-out singles before pinch-hitter Jordan Qsar put a scare into Blue Wahoos Stadium with a deep drive to center field. Jones tracked it down just before crashing into the wall, ending the game and sending Pensacola to the Championship Series.

September 28: Blue Wahoos win Southern League Championship

Just as they did in the Division Series, the Blue Wahoos did themselves no favors in the best-of-three Southern League Championship Series against the Tennessee Smokies. Losing Game One at home, they headed to Tennessee needing two road wins to run the table and claim the title. They did their job in Game Two, riding a strong start from Patrick Monteverde and a wild seven-run sixth inning to coast to a 7-1 victory.

In Game Three, Eury Pérez capped a breakout campaign by striking out the first eight batters he faced. Though the Smokies led 3-2 going to the top of the fifth, Cobie Fletcher-Vance delivered Pensacola’s biggest hit of the year to turn the tide.

The Blue Wahoos added four more in the seventh and one more in the ninth, handing the ball to Sean Reynolds to close out Pensacola’s second league title in franchise history.