After Low Point, Blue Wahoos Have Ignited Way Into Division Leaders

One of the worst moments of the Blue Wahoos season reversed into this team’s surge toward a playoff spot.

The Blue Wahoos endured a 19-10 loss on August 9 against the Montgomery Biscuits – a game they trailed 19-3 before scoring seven runs in the ninth inning. It put a damper on an extended homestand that week at Blue Wahoos Stadium.

Since then? The Blue Wahoos have wowed and widened their first-place lead.

They have won 11 of their last 12 games heading into Wednesday’s game at Montgomery which is part of a two-week road trip before Labor Day on Sept. 7.

“I think everything started in the ninth inning that day (Aug. 9),” said Blue Wahoos manager Nelson Prada, “When you have a team losing 19-3, a lot of teams would give up. We didn’t.

“We had already beaten (Biscuits) four times that week (one was a makeup game) so it would be easy for our guys to say, ‘Hey, we already won the (seven-game) series. We already had a positive week. That’s not how they acted.

“After that game, I thanked the guys for that. They kept fighting.”

And right now, the Blue Wahoos keep winning.

Their 7-6 win Tuesday at Montgomery to begin a two-week road trip opened a 6.5 game lead over the Columbus Clingstones in the Southern League South Division second-half race. The Biscuits are 7.5 games behind. The Blue Wahoos (34-17 in second half) are now pushing for their first postseason trip in three seasons.

The regular season concludes at home Sept. 8-13 against Biloxi, the first-half winner, at Blue Wahoos Stadium. If the Blue Wahoos win the second half, they will turn around and face the Shuckers in a best-of-three divisional series that will start in Pensacola on Sept. 15, then the final two games in Biloxi.

The Blue Wahoos ignited their charge by sweeping the Shuckers all six games of a road series Aug. 11-16. It was only the second time in club history the Blue Wahoos swept a six-game road trip.

“I don’t think anything changes in our approach,” said outfielder Ethan O’Donnell, who homered and made a specatular, over-the-wall, lead-saving catch in the eighth inning of the Blue Wahoos’ 4-3 win against the Knoxville Smokies – the Chicago Cubs affiliate – in the Aug. 23 series finale.

“You just go out and go play baseball the way you are capable of,” O’Donnell said. “There are guys in this locker room that have played in the postseason, played in the championship series, won championships before (on other teams), so there’s experience with that.”

The Blue Wahoos (70-50 overall on Aug. 26) have the best overall record in the Southern League, the fourth-best among 30 Double-A teams in Minor League Baseball.

They have won with solid pitching, an improved bullpen and one of the most prolific power offenses in the club’s 14-year franchise history.

Led by top slugging outfielder Brandon Compton, part of the Miami Marlins’ stellar 2025 Draft class, they are blasting home runs at such a pace that another one ties the franchise record of 163 set in the 2023 season. Compton’s 12 homers in July were a franchise record and he’s blasted 20 bombs, so far, since joining the Blue Wahoos on June 30.

Miami Marlins outfielder Griffin Conine, son of Marlins’ great Jeff Conine, set the Blue Wahoos single-season home run record of 24 in 2022.

On the basepaths, this team has stolen 270 bases, already shattering the club record of 200 steals in 2025.

They’ve done all of this despite having 13 players on the injured list at one time, including four of their top players – infielder Aiva Arquette – the Marlins top pick in 2025 - outfielders Dillon Lewis and Fenwick Trimble and catcher Ryan Ignoffo.

“It’s a long year with the heat and everything else that happens… guys going up and down,” said Trimble, rated as the Marlins’ No. 26 overall prospect. “But we have a really good squad right now. It’s been a lot of fun, seeing everyone come together at the right time.

“Our pitchers have been killing it. They really have been locking it down lately and then the hitters are all a bunch of good players. It’s a really good lineup all together and everyone is having fun.

“It’s in our control now (division race) and we just have go out and win games.”

With 17 games left in the season, heading into the Wednesday game, Prada will reinforce a message.

“Don’t relax,” he said. “Every week is different. We approach every week differently.

“Three weeks ago when we went to Knoxville (on July 28-August 3) we started approaching as if this were playoff competition. We won four of six games that week. And we try to break this down into sets of three games each, because that’s how the playoffs (best of three) will be.

“I think we are in a good spot. Our starting rotation has been good. We’ve gotten guys back and we got even better as a team. But also, the players we had in our lineup before getting those injured guys back did a great job to keep us in first place.”

Helping the Blue Wahoos surge have been moments like the game Aug. 23 when O’Donnell leap above the left field wall to take away what would have been a go-ahead 2-run homer.

“I think I’ve had some plays in big moments, but that was kind of the perfect storm… windy day, sun straight in my eyes and I didn’t see (the ball) at first,” O’Donnell said. “It popped out of sight, but I was just able to get there perfectly at the wall. It’s a play you don’t get often, but glad to have made it.”

Those are the kind of plays that have been difference-makers this season.

WHAT’S AHEAD?

This Week: Blue Wahoos at Montgomery Biscuits (Aug. 26-30)

Next Week: Blue Wahoos at Columbus Clingstones (Sept. 1-6)

Final Week: Biloxi Shuckers at Blue Wahoos (Sept. 8-14).

Southern League Divisional Playoffs: Sept. 15, then Sept. 17-18.