For a split second, the crowd at Blue Wahoos Stadium fell into a collective groan.
The game’s final play began as a scorched line drive down the third baseline. But the ball thudded into the glove of third baseman Ian Lewis Jr, who calmly stepped on the base to complete a double play and preserve the Blue Wahoos’ 6-5 victory Wednesday night against the Columbus Clingstones.
A different twist, or turn, and it could have been a tie game or worse. The go-ahead runner was on first base and could have scored if the ball sailed down the line. Instead, that night it became a win that pushed the Blue Wahoos to a winning record for the first time this season.
A night later on Thursday, it went the other way. The Clingstones thwarted a bases loaded situation with a game-ending double play on a grounder up the middle to win 4-3.
“There is always a luck aspect in baseball, but we believe in the long run, it goes both ways,” said pitcher Alex Williams, who earned his first win Wednesday with a strong outing – six innings pitched, three hits, two runs allowed. “We’re on the other side of it too and you are going to have those heartbreaks, but we just have to go out and play our brand of baseball every day and hopefully keep stacking wins.”
After a struggling start, losing the first five games of the season and carrying a 6-12 record on April 23, the Blue Wahoos are a different team a month later.
They are now smack in the thick of the first-half race in the Southern League South Division, trailing the Montgomery Biscuits by 1.5 games heading into the Memorial Day weekend.
With four weeks remaining, the Blue Wahoos (21-21) entered the final three games of their homestand against Columbus knowing it’s up for grabs among all four teams in the division.
“I feel like we are finally catching our stride, playing good baseball and we’re just going to keep going out doing our thing and hopefully the wins follow and we’re right in there at the end,” Williams said.
Since dropping the first three games of the previous homestand against Rocket City, getting outscored 26-10 in those games, the Blue Wahoos are 8-4 in this two-week stretch. Three of the losses were decided by one run; the other a two-run loss.
“Personally, I have not been part of a playoff team since I have played professional baseball,” said Williams, an 11th-round selection by the Miami Marlins in 2022, after being the Pac-10 Conference pitcher of the year at Stanford and second-team All-American.
“So it feels good to be in the hunt,” Williams said. “We are winning a lot of games and it’s real exciting. There’s good energy in the clubhouse and obviously that keeps us more upbeat. We love being right in this, so hopefully we’ll make a big run and win the first half.”
What’s changed? Start on the mound. The Blue Wahoos starting rotation has delivered consistent strong outings, led by the team’s top prospect, Karson Milbrandt, who pitches again on Saturday against Columbus.
“I think with myself and all of us (on pitching staff), the first couple weeks of the season we just didn’t our best job,” Milbrandt said. “We got behind (in ball-strike count) on a lot of the hitters. Since then, we’ve all started throwing the ball pretty well, the hitters are starting to really get going, and we have a good clubhouse. It’s a great group of guys.”
Milbrandt, only 21, named earlier this week as the Southern League pitcher of the week, has now gone 17 innings without allowing a run. He has completed six innings in four straight starts. His 1.24 earned run average and 51 strikeouts lead the Southern League.
Brandon White, elevated this week to Triple-A Jacksonville had a 2-1 record and 3.00 ERA. The bullpen has also progressed with Colby Martin emerging as a closer.
“I have to give my hat off to Karson,” Williams said. “And B-White. Those guys have been holding it down for the starters. Really showing us what winning pitching looks like.
“I have been talking to (Jacob) Miller (who started in Tuesday’s win against Columbus) about this. You start on Tuesday and you set the tone for for us. Now, the momentum is growing for pitchers and hopefully we keep it going.”
Offensively, the Blue Wahoos have scored four or more runs in six of their past 12 games. Outfielder Dillon White has been a big part of that surge. He’s become the first Blue Wahoos player in club history to hit nine home runs by this point in a season.
The other element players credit is the managerial style of Nelson Prada. In his second year as Blue Wahoos skipper, he has believed in an even-keel approach to the natural ups-and-downs of a season.
“Nellie is the man. I love him,” Williams said. “He’s a great manager. He is the same guy, win or lose. He shows up, brings good energy to the ballpark. He works real hard and even when we are losing, he knows we have a good group of guys.
“You know you are going to go through a rough patch at some point of the year. You just can’t let the lows get too low or the highs get too high. Play good baseball and let the wins follow.”