The Walk-Off Sports Report

The 2019 Southern League baseball season is less than 100 days away. With the exception of coaching staffs and roster announcements, news could be a little slow during the final 100 days before the season kicks off. The biggest news entering the season is with the affiliation changes of the Chattanooga Lookouts and Pensacola Blue Wahoos. Both teams swapped their affiliations with Pensacola picking up the Minnesota Twins and Chattanooga picking up the Cincinnati Reds. The two teams seasons couldn't have been any different as the Blue Wahoos competed in the playoffs for the second straight season while the Lookouts failed to defend their 2017 co-championship finishing last in the North Division for the first time since 2013. Koelle:  Chattanooga Lookouts Looking to Avoid First Last Place Finish Since 2013 The change of affiliations could make for an interesting 2019 season for both teams and could see the two battle for the Southern League Championship at the end of the season....

The entire seven-inning game was as equal as possible and then the bats lit up as fans were sitting down from the seventh inning stretch. Chattanooga entered the ninth inning with a 4-1 lead against the Jumbo Shrimp. Home field advantage normally benefits ... well, you know the home team but that wasn't the case on Saturday Night. The visiting Jumbo Shrimp loaded the bases and when Sharif Othman hit a single, two runs scored knocking the deficit down to one. A force out pushed another run across the plate tying the ballgame. Brian Miller punched a double scoring the winning run snapping the Chattanooga Lookouts two-game winning streak.

CHATTANOOGA, TN. - In front of a hometown crowd of 4,415, The Chattanooga Lookouts secured their second straight victory in the first game of the series against the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 4-3. Chattanooga scored three runs in the first inning but slowly, Jacksonville made a comeback. One run in the second inning and two runs in the third made it a tie game. Just after Thursday's game against Montgomery went to extra innings for Chatanooga and a doubleheader against Birmingham this game looked like it could've gone to extra innings. In the sixth inning, Luis Arraez drove in the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly to put Chattanooga on top by one. Chattanooga pushed Jacksonville to three scoreless innings with the team ultimately picking up the victory. A combined 12 strikeouts highlighted the night amongst Jorge Alcala, Sam Clay, and Devin Smeltzer. Clay would secure his 20th career victory in the Minors and second of 2018. Smeltzer picked up his second consecutive save D...

Two doubleheaders highlighted Thursday's slate of games and the final game of all of the series' of the week. The week was a weird one highlighted by multiple changes in the playoffs picture. It also builds the intensity as all ten teams play someone new beginning on Friday. The intensity is about to boil over with just 10 games remaining. North Division Playoff Picture  Chattanooga returned the favor from Wednesday's comeback by the Biscuits by forming a comeback on their own on Thursday night. Montgomery had scored two runs through six innings and entered the ninth inning with a two-point lead. Two runs scored by Chattanooga gave us extra baseball. Andy Wilkins hit a two-run home run in the 10th to give Chattanooga the victory, keeping their tiny playoff chances alive. Chattanooga plays Jacksonville beginning on Friday while Montgomery stays home and plays Tennessee.  The Jackson Generals handed the Tennessee Smokies their third straight loss...

The series against Montgomery for the Chattanooga Lookouts had started out with two positives but when Montgomery took the reigns, the horse was full throttle. The Biscuits won Sunday's series starting game 6-2 but on Monday Night the Looks kicked off their small winning streak with two straight victories against Montgomery.  Thursday nights game looked to be going the right direction for Chattanooga but two mistakes in the eighth gave Montgomery the lead and ultimately the victory snapping the two-game winning streak. In the series-deciding game on Thursday night, an even affair took place in Montgomery. Forrest Snow took the mound in his debut as a Montgomery Biscuit. In five innings Snow had five hits on him with one walk and four strikeouts. Jesus Sanchez scored on a single by Miles Mastrobuoni in the second inning to put Montgomery on top 1-0 and Lucius Fox scored on a single by Brett Sullivan in the sixth inning to put Montgomery up 2-0. Chattanooga made a comeba...

The Los Angeles Angels will continue to be the Major League affiliate of the Mobile BayBears through the 2022 season. The two have signed a four-year Player Development Contract (PDC) that will remain in effect when the BayBears move to Madison, Alabama following the 2019 season. "We look forward to continuing our affiliation with the Los Angeles Angels over the next four years, with the final season at Hank Aaron Stadium in Mobile and our future home in North Alabama," said Ralph Nelson, the Managing Partner & CEO of BallCorps. "The Angels ownership, front office, coaches, medical staff, and players are all quality individuals who have made this partnership successful over the past two years. We have seen continued success from the Angels organization, which will bring a high quality of baseball to North Alabama beginning in 2020." The agreement between the Los Angeles Angels began in 2017 the Mobile BayBears have a 126-137 record. The BayBears are currentl...

Wednesday night was a good night for some teams and a bad night for others. The Biloxi Shuckers put up their fifth straight victory putting the Shuckers on top in the South Division. While in the North, Montgomery is one game away from making the Chattanooga Lookouts the first team to be eliminated from the playoff picture. Intensity is picking up and the level of importance of games is heightening. North Division Playoff Picture As noted above, Montgomery snapped Chattanooga's streak at two games defeating the Lookouts 3-2 setting up a series-deciding game on Thursday Night. On top of that, Montgomery has three teams behind them who could make a run including the Tennessee Smokies who play the Biscuits starting Friday.  The Smokies dropped Thursday's game to the Jackson Generals resulting in the two being tied going into the series-deciding game five.  As noted Tennessee travels to Montgomery on Friday while Jackson travels to Birmingham.  Birmingh...

Chattanooga had the upper hand on the Montgomery Biscuits through eight innings after scoring two runs in the first but a wild throw by pitcher Tyler Jay caused Nathan Lukes to score giving Montgomery the lead and ultimately the victory in game four of five in Montgomery. The last two games for the Lookouts have been the wake-up call for both teams involved in this series. Chattanooga kicked off Wednesday's battle the way they had the previous two nights, by putting points up on the board in the first inning. Jaylin Davis belted a two-run home run in the first, his fifth home run since joining Chattanooga, matching his total from earlier in the season with Fort Myers. Miles Mastrobuoni singled on a line drive in the fifth to put Montgomery on the board but from that point, Chattanooga kept the bleeding from getting out of control that was until the eighth inning. Tyler Jay had two issues in the eighth which resulted in Jake Cronenworth and Lukes scoring during the mistakes pu...

Tuesday night wasn't a good night for the leaders of the North Division and saw the Biloxi Shuckers and Pensacola Blue Wahoos add an extra level of intensity for the final two games of their series. With that being said, no teams clinched their playoff spots and time is ticking for teams to make it happen. North Division Playoff Picture For the second straight night, the Chattanooga Lookouts made a statement that they won't be put down easily. The Lookouts defeated the division-leading Montgomery Biscuits easing the sting on the losses by Tennessee and Birmingham.  Jackson defeated Tennessee putting them back in the second-half championship discussion after the team already punched their playoff ticket in the first half. Birmingham lost to Jacksonville pushing Montgomery's magic number down to eight. North Division Standings - Games Behind - Elimination Number Montgomery Biscuits - 0 GB Tennessee Smokies - 4 GB - 8 Birmingham Barons - 5 GB - 8 * Jackson Gen...

Don't give up on the Chattanooga Lookouts yet. Brent Rooker was the star of the show on Tuesday night as the Lookouts secured their second straight victory of the series. Rooker smacked a grand slam in the top of the fourth inning to put the Lookouts up 4-0. Jordan Gore hit an RBI-double in the top of the sixth to add the fifth run of the night.  Brett Sullivan hit a home run to kick off the eighth inning and it could've been the comeback by the Biscuits but the Lookouts kept them at bay and earned their 59th victory of 2018. Game four is slated to kick off at 6:35 p.m. CT in Montgomery. The Chattanooga Lookouts will look to earn their first series victory since month opening series against Mississippi (8/2-8/6). Benton Moss (6-5) will take to the mound for Montgomery while Clark Beeker will get the call from Fort Myers. Beeker is 18-13 in his career as a pitcher since his debut in 2016. Since joining Fort Myers in April, he's 4-7.  

The elimination number for the Chattanooga Lookouts was three before Monday's game against Montgomery. A strong night for Chattanooga keeps the number from dropping to two as the Lookouts defeated the Biscuits 6-2. Unlike the previous games the last two weekends, Chattanooga fired first and kept the pressure on throughout the entire game. Luke Raley and Jimmy Kerrigan both belted homers in the victory while great offense on the rest of the team and great defense put the Lookouts on top for the first time since last Thursday against Mississippi. Tyler Wells (1-2) put in a stellar performance en-route to his first victory as a Chattanooga Lookout. In five innings pitched Wells had seven hits on him, two runs, and three strikeouts during the game. Everything clicked with the pitchers after Monday's performance giving Chattanooga their 58th victory of 2018. The work is only just beginning for Chattanooga as last week, the Lookouts lost the series against the Mississippi Brave...

The Southern League is going down an interesting road in the form of playoffs. Here is a look at how August 19th, 2018 affected the playoff picture.  North Division Playoff Picture The North Division-leading Montgomery Biscuits snapped their two-game losing streak by defeating the Chattanooga Lookouts Sunday in Montgomery. With the victory, Montgomery is three wins away from eliminating the Chattanooga Lookouts from playoff contention.  Montgomery wasn't the only team to win Sunday night. Tennessee defeated Jackson 3-1 moving Tennesse back into second and Jackson back into third. Birmingham defeated Jacksonville 6-3 putting them in third. Montgomery needs nine victories to clinch their spot in the North Division playoffs.  North Division Standings - Games Behind - Next Game - Elimination Numbers Montgomery Biscuits - 0 GB - vs. Chattanooga  Tennessee Smokies - 5 GB - vs. Jackson - 9 Birmingham Barons - 6 GB - vs. Jacksonville - 9 Jackson Generals - 6...

Almost a half-hour after the game was slated to begin, Montgomery and Chattanooga went to war. A rain delay gave both Chattanooga and Montgomery and opportunity to rest after a night of travel. Montgomery was coming back home from Jackson, Tennessee while Chattanooga traveled from Pearl, Mississippi. Chattanooga lost their five-game series against Mississippi while Montgomery and Chattanooga split the series three wins apiece. Both Chattanooga and Mississippi entered the night with a two-game losing streak on their heels meaning one team would snap their losing streak tonight. Chattanooga fired first with Jaylin Davis and Chris Paul capitalizing on a double by Brian Navarreto to put Chattanooga up 2-0 but Montgomery began chomping away at their lead one by one until the Biscuits had a two-point lead following the third inning. Chattanooga failed to pull any more offense during the remainder of the game but kept a good defense until the eighth inning where Montgomery...

The Chattanooga Lookouts fell short in both games of Saturday's (August 18th) doubleheader in Pearl, Mississippi. Chattanooga lost to Mississippi in the first game 1-0 and lost in the second game 10-7. The first game was a pitching game with only a total of eight hits among both teams. Travis Demeritte was the only player who scored during the game giving Mississippi their first shutout victory since August 1st against the Birmingham Barons. It's the first shutout loss since June 30th against Tennessee for the Lookouts. It is the first loss for Sean Poppen since July 9th against Jacksonville. Poppen is now 5-6 as a pitcher for the Chattanooga Lookouts. Game two was a hit fest with a total of 24 hits combined among both teams. Capitalization was the key in game two as Mississippi capitalized on 10 of those 12 hits to earn their 58th victory of 2018. The Lookouts kicked off the second game with an early lead scoring two runs in the first. A four-run third innin...

Game four between the Chattanooga Lookouts and Mississippi Braves has been postponed to Saturday (August 17th). The Lookouts will play the Braves in a doubleheader tomorrow with two seven-inning games. First pitch for game one is slated for 4 p.m. while game two will begin immediately following game one. Sean Poppen (5-5) will take the mound for the Chattanooga Lookouts while Kyle Muller (2-0) will take to the mound for the Mississippi Braves in game one. In game two, Jorge Alcala (0-2) will take the mound for Chattanooga while Michael Mader (3-3) takes the mound for Mississippi. Photo Credit: Mississippi Braves Twitter (@mbraves) The Walk-Off Sports Report Playoff Watch With the postponement of Saturday's race in Pearl, Mississippi, Chattanooga wasn't able to make up as much ground as wanted but with the Montgomery Biscuits falling to the Jackson Generals, Chattanooga is now just 9.5 games behind first place.  17 games remain for the Chattanooga Lookou...

The Chattanooga Lookouts have spent the majority of the second half of the season on a roller coaster. The Minnesota Twins affiliated team started the second half off with a victory against the Biloxi Shuckers but then followed it up with three straight losses and a total loss of that series. June and July weren't too friendly to the team as they fell all the way to last place in the North Division. On Thursday night a glimmer of hope shined for the Lookouts as they faced the Mississippi Braves, who sit third in the South Division. The Lookouts were able to tally five runs in the third, three runs in the sixth, and two runs in the ninth to top the Braves 10-1. Luis Arraez kicked off the third inning with a walk. Jimmy Kerrigan singled a line drive to right field pushing Arraez from first to third. Jordan Gore would come up hitting a ground ball to left field scoring Arraez putting the game to 1-0. During the third inning, Gore, Jimmy Kerrigan, Brent Rooker, and Luke Raley wou...

After losing the first-half Championship to the Jackson Generals, the Chattanooga Lookouts came back home to start the second half with a vengeance. On Thursday night, the Lookouts were looking to start off the second half with a statement victory and they did just that. The Lookouts defeated the South Division First-Half Champion Biloxi Shuckers 12-2. Lewis Thorpe, Chattanooga Lookouts pitcher, only allowed one hit in seven innings. Thorpe struck out 12 batters during the game putting his season-total to 86 strikeouts, the most on Chattanooga's pitching staff. Chris Paul tallied three hits and six RBI's, the most for the Lookouts this season. Jimmy Kerrigan, who made his AT&T Field debut went a perfect 4-for-4 with two RBI's and four runs scored. It all started with a 3-0 lead in the first inning and just built from there. Chattanooga scored one run in the second, two in the fourth, two in the sixth, and four in the seventh propelling the team over Biloxi. The Ch...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Nashville Sounds Baseball Club has announced its weekly promotions for the 2018 season. The 70-game home schedule at First Tennessee Park includes player-inspired t-shirt giveaways, fireworks shows, ticket discounts, food and drink discounts, social media guests, special jerseys, musical guests, military appreciation, and family days. Opening Day at First Tennessee Park is scheduled for Tuesday, April 10 when the Sounds host the Iowa Cubs at 6:35 p.m. Kroger Plus Mondays and Music City Mondays (9 Occurrences): Score a “Family 4-Pack” of Select section tickets, 4 hot dogs and 4 fountain sodas for just $44 when showing a Kroger Plus card at the Sounds Box Office. Additionally, the Sounds will sport their black “Music City” jerseys to represent Nashville’s rich music heritage. Takeover Tuesdays (7): Special guests and/or fans take over the entertainment and social media at First Tennessee Park. Features include anthem performances, meet-and-greets, autograph ...