In Day of Running, Jeffers Provides Walk-Off
July 26, 2019 - Southern League (SL1)
Pensacola Blue Wahoos News Release
Pensacola Blue Wahoos celebrate Ryan Jeffers' walk-off home run
(Pensacola Blue Wahoos)
Ryan Jeffers had already traveled nearly 600 miles Thursday from Fort Myers, after learning of his promotion to Pensacola.
He left around 6 a.m. with car packed, emotions churning, driving through rain storms, thick traffic and seemingly endless miles of interstate highway, all knowing a Double-A level debut soon awaited with the Blue Wahoos.
But it was a final drive about 17 hours later that Jeffers won't soon forget.
The catcher put a perfect swing on a two-out fastball he thought was coming, driving it less than a foot out of the ballpark, but good enough for a last inning, run-scoring, walk-off, first-Double-A hit to lift the Blue Wahoos into a 3-2 win against the Mobile BayBears and sweep of Thursday's doubleheader.
"I thought it was going out," said Jeffers of his two-strike launch to the left-center power alley, scoring Trevor Larnach from first base. "But when I saw it hit the top of the fence and fall, it was a good feeling, no matter what. I'm just glad (BayBears left fielder Brendan Sanger) didn't catch it (off top of the fence).
"It has been a long day with the drive up here from Fort Myers, but it was worth it. I'm in Double-A now. I'm excited for Pensacola being my home the rest of the season."
Those dramatics perfectly capped a day for the Blue Wahoos (53-50 overall, 15-18 in second half), highlighted by outstanding pitching and defense, to attain a four-game win streak.
They won the first game 2-1 behind Edwar Colina's, seven-inning, complete game gem where he allowed just three hits and struck out 10 Mobile batters.
In two games, the Blue Wahoos pitchers yielded just eight hits, racked up 17 strikeouts and occasionally escaped jams against the BayBears (40-61 overall, 13-20 second half).
"That is huge for us. Especially since our bullpen was a little thin after that last series," said Blue Wahoos reliever Tom Hackimer, the second-game pitching star, who earned his second win in this series. "It was real big we got through this using so few pitchers."
The Blue Wahoos will wrap up their five-game, homestand Friday night (6:35 p.m.) with a Christmas in July promotion event and post-game fireworks. It will be the final time the BayBears will play as a franchise in Pensacola.
The Blue Wahoos will do it with a team that has now been near-completely overhauled since the opening day roster in April.
Jeffers and touted pitcher Jhoan Duran both joined the Blue Wahoos Thursday from the Fort Myers Miracle, the Minnesota Twins' Advanced-A affiliate in the Florida State League.
Jeffers, 22, was the Minnesota Twins' second-round pick in 2018 from the University of North Carolina-Wilmington. He is the Twins' No. 17-rated prospect by MLB Pipeline.
Duran, 21, who did not pitch Thursday, is a Dominican Republic native, whose fastball nears 100 mph from his 6-foot-5 frame. Rated as the Twins' No. 8 prospect, Duran has struck out 95 batters and posted a 3.23 earned run average.
Both players, along with fellow, recent newcomers like Colina and outfielder Trevor Larnach, were part of a Fort Myers Miracle team that won the first half FSL division crown and leads all of levels of professional baseball with 16 shutout wins.
"Every pitcher we threw (Thursday), I have caught them in Fort Myers, so I was comfortable with all their stuff," Jeffers said. "That helped me behind the plate."
At the plate, Jeffers had struck out twice and grounded out in his first three at-bats in his Blue Wahoos' debut.
"I felt really good up there," he said. "I had opportunities early in the game. I just missed on a couple balls."
After Larnach reached on a fielding error by Mobile first baseman Jhoan Urena, Jeffers fouled off a slider from reliever Luis Pena. The next pitch, Jeffers jump on with hard contact.
"(BayBears) had been coming back hard at me, trying to finish me with fastballs, so I was got ready for a fastball and I put a good swing on it," Jeffers said. "I tried to treat the game like another baseball game.
"Yeah, it's a new scene and a new level, but I was treating like it like another game. That's what helped me stay calm up there."
What ensued afterward was a double dousing of ice water. The first occurred at second base while mobbed by teammates. The other happened during a quick, on-field interview with the Blue Wahoos' in-game emcees.
"My last (walk-off) was last year on a walk," Jeffers said. "This is fun."
All of the second-game joy was made possible by clutch relief from Hackimer. He inherited a bases-loaded situation in the fifth inning, but escaped on two ground ball outs, the first a force at the plate. The second was a slow roller that hit the runner going to third, triggering automatic out on runner's interference.
The BayBears had taken a 2-0 lead on hits earlier that inning. The Blue Wahoos tied the game 2-2 in the bottom of the fifth when loading the bases themselves and getting an RBI single from Alex Kirilloff and sacrifice fly RBI from Lewin Diaz.
Hackimer then overcame back-to-back hit batters in the sixth, another in the seventh to get out of the innings and continue his solid relief efforts.
"My freshman year of college (at St. John's University), right after I dropped down throwing sidearm, I hit 17 batters in 23 innings," Hackimer said. "So, I was hitting them at a clip of one an inning. I have gotten used to it.
"It does not faze me as much as it used to. It's like, "All right we misfired on one, now we can get two outs in one pitch there.' My goal is to always keep (teams) off the board, however you can."
In the first game, the Blue Wahoos got both of their runs in the first inning on a single from Mark Contreras, a double by catcher Ben Rortvedt, then rode it to victory behind Colina's pitching.
BALLPARK MEMORIES
The doubleheader theme was a play on the Area 51 and alien social media craze sweeping the nation.
There were Area 51 and UFO theme contests and Blue Wahoos in-game entertainment featured employees in alien costumes and green hair. Some fans were in on the frivolity with aluminum foil designed hats.
Amy Maddow sang the National Anthem before the second game.
Images from this story
 Pensacola Blue Wahoos celebrate Ryan Jeffers' walk-off home run |
 Pensacola Blue Wahoos celebrate Ryan Jeffers' walk-off home run |
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