Dean’s All-Around Night Not Enough in M-Braves 6-4 Loss to Blue Wahoos

Dean with three hits, two doubles, and a tremendous catch

By Jack Sadighian

July 30, 2022

PENSACOLA, FL - Justin Dean dominated at the plate and in center field, but the Mississippi Braves (46-49, 17-9) fell late to the Pensacola Blue Wahoos (48-42, 13-13) in front of a sellout crowd of 5,038 on Saturday night at Blue Wahoos Stadium. Dean dominated throughout the game, going 3-for-5

PENSACOLA, FL - Justin Dean dominated at the plate and in center field, but the Mississippi Braves (46-49, 17-9) fell late to the Pensacola Blue Wahoos (48-42, 13-13) in front of a sellout crowd of 5,038 on Saturday night at Blue Wahoos Stadium.

Dean dominated throughout the game, going 3-for-5 with two doubles and an RBI. In five games this series, Dean is 7-for-19 with a homer, two doubles, four walks and seven RBI.

Facing Miami’s No. 1 prospect, RHP Eury Perez, the M-Braves wasted no time putting the bats to work.

In the first frame, Dean smashed an RBI double to the gap in right field to make it 1-0.

Jalen Miller smacked his seventh homer of the season out to left field, a solo shot to extend the lead to 2-0 in the second.

Leading 2-1 in the fourth, Dean preserved the lead with a tremendous diving grab in right center. He then doubled off the runner at second base to retire the inning.

RHP Alan Rangel tossed five innings of one-run ball with seven strikeouts. In 19 starts, Atlanta’s No. 19 prospect is 4-4 with a 5.33 ERA in 97 innings.

After leading off the sixth with a double, Trey Harris scored on a wild pitch to make it 3-1. Riley Delgado added a hit in the inning, going 3-for-4 to extend his hit streak to five games.

The Blue Wahoos brought across three runs to take a 4-3 lead in the sixth.

Logan Brown tied the game at 4-4 with a sacrifice fly in the eighth.

In the bottom of the inning, Griffin Conine blasted a two-run home run to retake the lead for Pensacola 6-4. Dean nearly made another unbelievable catch, leaping over the wall and nearly bringing the ball back. The baseball bounced off his glove in the attempt.

The M-Braves went down in order in the ninth inning.

The final game of the series is on Sunday at Blue Wahoos Stadium. LHP Dylan Dodd (0-0, 2.53) makes the start for Mississippi against RHP AJ Ladwig (5-3, 4.27) for Pensacola. The first pitch is at 4:05 pm CT, with coverage starting at 3:50 pm CT on 103.9 WYAB, First Pitch App and MiLB.tv.