Velez Masterful As Blue Wahoos End Home Schedule With Good Vibe 

The team had unfurled a thank you banner the night before appreciation of Blue Wahoos fans.

And then on Sunday, the Blue Wahoos took a bow by completing their five month home schedule in a desired way.

In a game which best crystalized their entire season, the Blue Wahoos received stellar, starting pitching – this time again from Anthony Velez -- solid relief and produced just enough runs to beat the Biloxi Shuckers 3-2 in the final, regular-season home game of the 2021 season.

The win improved the Blue Wahoos (56-53) position for an overall winning record heading into their final series of the season on the road, beginning Tuesday night against the Rocket City Trash Pandas in Madison, Alabama.

But losses in the first four games of their past six-game homestand dampened hopes for reaching the Double-A South playoffs.

“It’s always good when you can bookend a series with a couple of wins,” said Blue Wahoos manager Kevin Randel, whose team beat Biloxi 6-0 Saturday night to end the losing streak.

“Obviously it is sort of a letdown, losing those first four and kinda dropping our chances to get into the playoffs. But it’s always nice to finish strong.”

The weather held up Sunday for a crowd of 3,444 to watch Velez, 24, a left-hander and former Florida State pitcher, to make his third consecutive quality start since joining the team August 17 from the Beloit (Wisc.) Snappers, the Miami Marlins’ High-A affiliate.

Velez, a Miami native and former Tampa Bay area high school star, gave up just four hits in six complete innings. He did not walk a batter and struck out nine to lower his earned run average to 0.50 in Double-A.

“He was really good,” Randel said. “He caught a stretch in Beloit and still is kinda riding that high. He’s a guy that throws strikes and changes speed and if you do that, you’ll pitch for a long time.”

The Blue Wahoos know they may have missed chances earlier in the series for more wins and closer position in for a playoff spot.

The Birmingham Barons (62-52) have continued their red-hot play to control second place. They swept the Rocket City Trash Pandas to maintain a 3.5-game lead over Pensacola in the race for the other playoff spot. The Barons finish the season on the road against the Montgomery Biscuits.

The Mississippi Braves have clinched first place in the Double-A South. The two teams with the best overall record in the Double-A South will meet in a best-of-five championship series starting Sept. 21.

The Blue Wahoos finish against the Trash Pandas, whose manager, former major league star Jay Bell, is a Tate High grad and one of the all-time best players from the Pensacola area.

The teams played way back on May 18-23 in Pensacola with the Blue Wahoos winning five of six.

“Our chances got limited pretty good,” said Randel, referring to the week. “But you try and win some ballgames (against Rocket City) and hope for the best and the other guys kinda battling it out. If we can just take care of business, hopefully, we’ll get some help and sneak into the playoffs.”

But if not, Randel has good memories of his first season in Pensacola, after coming into Blue Wahoos Stadium in past seasons as visiting manager with Jacksonville, then the Double-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins.

The Blue Wahoos home record (33-27) was their fifth consecutive season with a winning home record. One-third of the home games (20) featured sellout crowds, including the final one on Saturday.

“Playing in Pensacola is great,” Randel said. “We have played well here at home. We had a good home record, one of the better ones in the league.”

GAME NOTABLES

--- The Blue Wahoos and Birmingham are the only two teams playing all 60 home games. Rocket City has a chance to be the other team if all six games are played this week.

“It’s fun playing here in Pensacola. The weather held up for us, we ran into some tropical storm issues, and we’re able to play some doubleheaders,” Randel said.

--- The Blue Wahoos’ service dog-in-training, Watson, visited for the final home game. The black Labrador pup is now five months old and steadily growing in adult-size status.

WHAT’S NEXT?

WHAT: Final 2021 Series

WHO: Blue Wahoos vs. Rocket City Trash Pandas

WHEN: Tuesday through Sept. 19.

WHERE: Toyota Field, Madison, Alabama.

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