Grzelakowski Delivers Walk-Off Winner In 1-0 Victory Over Mobile

About the only missing element in the Pensacola Blue Wahoos fast start this season was a walk-off win.
With one clutch ninth-inning swing Wednesday night, Taylor Grzelakowski checked that off the list.
Gzelakowski slashed a two-strike curve ball just beyond the diving attempt by Mobile second baseman Jahmal Jones, scoring Caleb Hamilton from second and lifting the Blue Wahoos to a 1-0 win against the BayBears in the final game of this homestand.
The base hit ignited the crowd of 3,444, along with the players into celebration at first base. Reliever Dusten Knight, who kept the game scoreless in the top of the ninth, changed his customary backflip into a front flip, as he raced to join teammates in the mob of joy.
"It's big," Grzelakowski said. "I really needed that. We really needed that."
The Blue Wahoos (14-6), who built their best record in the Southern League with steady run production, suddenly had their bats in a freezer. The ninth-inning run was their first in 18 innings, after the Blue Wahoos scored a combined 20 runs in winning the first three games of the series.
The BayBears (7-12) beat the Blue Wahoos 1-0 Tuesday night for their only win in the five game series.
"We had so many chances," said Blue Wahoos manager Ramon Borrego. "This time we finally did it. That's great."
A couple hours earlier, Grzelakowski joined reliever Ryan Mason signing autographs for fans, 45 minutes before the game, inside the Bait & Tackle Team Store at Blue Wahoos Stadium.
So how fitting that he would produce the signature hit.
"Hey, I will sign autographs tomorrow," he said, laughing.
The Blue Wahoos are traveling by bus Thursday to Jackson, Tenn., where they open a five game series Thursday night against the Jackson Generals.
"Best feeling ever," Grzelakowski said of the win. "Now we are okay with getting on a bus at 7:30 in the morning. But that's all part of the minors."
The game became another pitching showcase. The Blue Wahoos' Griffin Jax, who has allowed just one earned run in four starts was in command. The Air Force Academy grad threw 5.1 innings, allowing just two hits, no walks, four strikeouts. With tonight's effort, he lowered his already league-leading ERA to 0.41.
Mobile's combination of starter Adrian De Horta and reliever Patrick Sandoval had checked the Blue Wahoos with three infield singles, along with Drew Maggi's fifth inning double.
But after Knight retired Mobile in the top of the ninth, following a leadoff single and a two-out walk, the walk-off stage was set.
Hamilton's leadoff walk was followed by Ernie De La Trinidad moving him to second on a sacrifice bunt. Maggie then grounded out. The left-handed swinging Grzelakowski was facing a two-strike pitch from lefty Sandoval.
"I'm just trying to stay loose," he said. "See a pitch I can hit and hit it. That's really the thing. Just try to clear my head. Because the more you think the worse off you are.
"They had been burying changeups and curve balls to me all weekend. So I was thinking he was going to throw a curve ball. I was trying to see it up out of his hand."
Grzelakowski, 25, played at Madona University in Michigan, the only school which offered him a scholarship out of high school. He was playing for the Utica Unicorns in the Independent League when the Minnesota Twins signed him.
"Being here two years later, that's indescribable," he said.
Borrego is hoping Wednesday's walk-off shakes Grzelakowski from a slow start. He had been in a 3-for-30 slump before going 2-for-3 tonight.
"I feel great for him," Borrego said. "When you are in a slump a little bit, you feel like you don't help the team. But finally he got a chance to put the team in a good situation and he is happy right now."
BALLPARK MEMORIES

• The National Anthem was performed by Titus Culbreth, 37, who is retiring in three months from the U.S. Navy, after 19 years of service.
• The pregame autograph session before the game is something that will be repeated at times throughout the season with different players.
• This was the first Wine and Sign Wednesday with wine drink specials during the game, along with Social Media Wednesday where fans received prizes for selected social meeting posts.