Eury Perez may have just left a lasting impression with the Blue Wahoos.
If so, it became a memorable one.
Perez, ranked as the top prospect in the Miami Marlins minor league system, was the starter in two games last week during the Blue Wahoos’ six-game homestand against the Mississippi Braves. Both resulted in team wins.
Sunday, he overcame a first-pitch home run to start the game, then matched his best start of the season, as the Blue Wahoos hung on with their bullpen in the ninth inning for a 5-4 victory.
A crowd of 4,567 at Blue Wahoos Stadium watched the home team win for the fifth time last week and record a 10th win in the past 12 games, It enabled the Blue Wahoos (16-11) to finish the first month of the season with the best record in Southern League.
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They completed a homestand that included a pair of sellout crowds on Friday and Saturday, the team’s first game as the Pensacola Pok-Ta-Pok as part of Minor League Baseball’s salute to the Latin/Hispanic heritage, a massive turnout of school kids for an Education Day game and large group outings at games.
The Blue Wahoos began a six-game road series Tuesday night against the Birmingham Barons.
With Perez, 20, a 6-foot-8 righthander, who effortlessly throws a fastball near 100 mph or plus, there is a possibility he could be elevated to a higher level this week, or before the Blue Wahoos return for the next homestand.
Sunday was his third consecutive strong outing. In the two starts against the M-Braves, Perez worked a combined 11 innings and recorded 20 strikeouts while yielding just two earned runs.
He is rated the No. 11 overall prospect in Minor League Baseball by MLB Pipeline. After giving up a first-pitch home run Sunday to M-Braves leadoff batter Cal Conley, he dazzled by retiring the next 12 batters in order.
He threw just 39 pitches through four innings. He then pitched out of a two-on, none out jam in the fifth inning, then bases loaded with two out, to get out of the inning when Conley was called for runner’s interference on a slow roller that Perez fielded.
That became the game’s pivotal moment.
Perez (3-1, 2.32 ERA) finished the sixth inning throwing 79 pitches in the game, 51 for strikes with nine strikeouts and two walks. In the sixth inning, he threw a 100 mph fastball, followed by a 99-mph fastball to strike out M-Braves slugger Drew Lugbauer, the club’s all-time home run leader, for the final out and final batter Perez faced.
All of this could lead into a possible promotion.
Wahoos notables
SCHOOL DAZE – The Blue Wahoos welcomed more than 2,700 students from 20 different schools in various grade levels on May 3 for the team’s second Education Day game.
The schools were led by Pensacola’s NB Cook Elementary, which had 667 tickets and Dixon Primary, which had 512. The schools included both Escambia and Santa Rosa County, along with schools in Elberta, Bay Minette, Geneva and Spanish Fort in Alabama. The throng included more than 40 school busses pulling up to the stadium.
“There were a lot of kids who were obviously excited to be here,” said Blue Wahoos general manager Steve Brice. “The energy level was very high. I had several teachers come up to me and say, ‘Hey, thank you so much for doing this.” I also had two season-ticket members tell me they hoped we do it again.”
Next year, the Blue Wahoos will do it again. The field trip outing last week followed the one on April 19 as the first time in franchise history that the Blue Wahoos held an 11 a.m. matinee game in mid-week to provide an opportunity for area students to see a baseball game. Each student was provided lunch, along with a worksheet to fill out as an educational component of the game.
The two events brought more than 3,500 students to the stadium.
Several teachers from rural schools in the region said it was the first time for many of their kids to be at the stadium, be in Pensacola, and in some cases, the first time for some children traveling on an interstate highway.
“That may be the biggest positive of all, doing something like this for kids,” Brice said.
Tori Perkins, one of the Blue Wahoos group sales executives, said the NB Cook school began with around 500 and added the other 167 tickets once more people found out about the trip.
“All of the chaperones and all of the teachers decided they wanted to come, too, because they were so excited about it,” she said. “It was kindergarten through fifth grade. They called in February to say they wanted to do. It was so cool to see all the kids in the ballpark.”
Team president Jonathan Griffith said next year will likely be a one-day event that best fits the schools’ academic calendar.
“We’ll work with the school systems to see what day works best,” he said. “We’ll take a look at our schedule and the school testing schedule and then pick the best day to do it.”,
LEWALLYN LAUDED – Former pitcher Dennis Lewallyn, who went from Escambia High School to playing in the Major Leagues, then became a long-time pitching coach, was saluted May 6 by throwing out a ceremonial first pitch. It was part of Escambia’s 50-year class reunion that got delayed due to Covid-19 concerns and other issues the past two years.
Lewallyn was drafted in 1971 out of high school by the Atlanta Braves in the third round. He chose to play a college season at Chipola College in Marianna, then was taken in the first round of the 1972 draft by the LA Dodgers – the team he made his MLB debut with in 1975.
He was a pitching coach with the Mississippi Braves prior to his retirement following the 2021 season.
WARDROBE CHANGES: The Blue Wahoos wore a different uniform in all six games last week against the M-Braves, including two for the first time. They transformed into the Pensacola Pok-Ta-Pok on May 5 for a Cinco de Mayo Day game where they were part of Minor League Baseball’s Copa de la Diversion initiative. They will wear the Aztec uniforms two more times this season.
On Saturday, they were part of the Marvel “Defenders of the Diamond” series in MiLB. Those jerseys were auctioned during the game. They were also the Pensacola Mullets in their tradition Thursday game transformation.
THIS WEEK: The Blue Wahoos traveled late Monday afternoon to Birmingham, where they began a six-game series Tuesday at Regions Field against the Birmingham Barons.
The Barons took four of six games that week, before the Blue Wahoos started their current success. This will be the first of two trips to Birmingham for the Blue Wahoos. They will return on July 14-16 for a three-game weekend series that follows a break for the MLB All-Star game that week. The Barons won’t play again this season in Pensacola.
Want to follow
WHO: Blue Wahoos vs. Birmingham Barons
WHERE: Regions Field, Birmingham, Ala.
WHEN: Tuesday, May 9 through Sunday, May 14
GAMETIMES: Tuesday at 6:05 p.m., Wednesday at 11:09 a.m., Thursday at 7:05 p.m., Friday,7:05 p.m., Saturday at 6:30p.m., Sunday at 4:00 p.m.
LIVE STREAM – A live audio broadcast of all games are available on www.bluewahoos.com, the MiLB First Pitch App, along with video streaming on Bally Live and MiLB.tv.
NEXT HOMESTAND: The Blue Wahoos will begin a six-game home series on May 16 against the Tennessee Smokies at Blue Wahoos Stadium.
Southern League Standings
(Through Games On May 7)
NORTH DIVISION
Tennessee Smokies (Chicago Cubs) – 15-12
Chattanooga Lookouts (Cincinnati Reds) – 14-13
Rocket City Trash Pandas (LA Angels) 14-13
Birmingham Barons (Chicago White Sox) – 11-16
SOUTH DIVISION
Pensacola Blue Wahoos (Miami Marlins) 16-11
Biloxi Shuckers (Milwaukee Brewers) 15-12
Montgomery Biscuits (Tampa Bay Rays) 14-13
Mississippi Braves (Atlanta Braves) 9-18
Bill Vilona is a retired Pensacola News Journal sports columnist and now senior writer for Pensacola Blue Wahoos. He can be reached at bvilona@bluewahoos.com.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Wahoos Weekly: Pensacola Blue Wahoos hit the road after strong homestand
