THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2018
NAVARRE PRESS / 5C
Argos Rewind: Dominant performance catapults Argos into national title game By Brian Lester brian@navarrepress.com One week from tonight the University of West Florida football team will open its 2018 season at home against Carson-Newman. The Argonauts are coming off a historic season, reaching the national championship game in their second year. The Navarre Press takes a look back at last year’s biggest moments. Never mind that UWF was playing a game in December in Pennsylvania. The Argos weren’t rattled by the cold or the pressure of battling the No. 1 team in the nation in Indiana (Pa.). They raced out to a 24-0 lead and held off a late rally by the Crimson Hawks to secure their first ever trip to the NCAA Division II national championship game. Along the way, the Argos ended the Crimson Hawks’ 18-game home winning streak and held an explosive IUP offense to just 242 yards, 229 fewer yards than they averaged on the season. That total included only 156 rushing yards, well under IUP’s 263 yards
UWF head coach Pete Shinnick guided the Argonauts to the national championship game last season. per game average. The rushing attack was on point for UWF, meanwhile, cranking out 224 yards. Chris Schwarz led the way with 29 carries for 175 yards. Both were new
school records. He had 141 of those yards by halftime. Mike Beaudry wasn’t bad either, connecting on 15 of his 23 attempts for 152 yards. He threw touchdown passes to Tate Lehtio
and Kevin Grant. UWF led the game 17-0 at halftime and found itself ahead 24-14 heading into the fourth. Seven players registered at least four tackles. Asante Griffin
Submitted Photo paved the way with nine. Andre Duncombe, who finished with five tackles, picked of a pass as well. On a 31-degree afternoon in front of a Miller Stadium crowd of 2,509,
UWF struck first on a 7-yard touchdown run by Schwarz. UWF never lost the lead as it stretched its win streak to six games. Did You Know? The yards Schwarz racked up in the playoff win marked the first time he’d ever gone over 100 yards rushing in a game in 2017. His previous best was 94 yards against West Georgia in the final game of the regular season. He finished the season with 858 yards and eight touchdowns. Game Time: UWF and Carson-Newman will square off Aug. 30 at Blue Wahoos Stadium in Pensacola. Kickoff is set for 7 pm. The two teams will be meeting for the first time and both are ranked nationally, with the Argos checking in at No. 2 and the Eagles checking in at No. 22. C-N is deep at quarterback, with Derrick Evans, Tyler Thackerson and Tyson Herron all spending at least three years in the program. Evans was a firstteam All-Southern Athletic Conference pick last year and threw for 1,460 yards and eight touchdowns while rushing for 18 scores.
Blue Wahoos
Alex Powers climbs out of baseball obscurity to find new life with Blue Wahoos
Pensacola Blue Wahoos closer Alex Powers throws a pitch during a game earlier this season. Powers is in his second season in Pensacola and has recorded 16 saves this year. By Brian Lester brian@navarrepress.com Alex Powers experienced the equivalent of being left on the side of the baseball road in 2015. Cut in March of that year by the Great Falls Voyagers, the rookie league team of the Chicago White Sox, his options were limited and his future was cloudy. It was either take the rugged road less traveled and play Independent League Baseball or give up on his dream of being a pro. The closer who was taken in the 25th round by Chicago in 2013 out of Southern New Hampshire, found a home with the New Jersey Jackals in the Canadian American Association. Did he hope he would earn another shot in minor league ball? Of course. He just couldn’t let that hope consume him. “It was one of those
things you can’t really worry about too much, because then, all of a sudden, you start worrying about the wrong things,” Powers said. “Indy ball is kind of a crap shoot. There is no more worrying about player development. You have to play well if you want to stick around.” Powers pitched well enough to make an impression on the Cincinnati Reds, who signed him in February of 2016. It was a relief for sure. And if there is a silver lining to spending that season on the edge of baseball obscurity, it’s that he learned a valuable lesson that has made him a better pitcher in the long run. “You have to own your career a little bit,” Powers said. “When I was with the White Sox, I didn’t really know any better. I was told this is what I have to do, even if it’s something I wasn’t comfortable with. “Going to (Indy ball), and playing with a bunch of
guys who had all been through my experience, helped me learn to become my own best coach.” After spending the 2016 season splitting time with Low-A Dayton and High-Daytona, Powers was promoted to Double-A Pensacola to play for the Blue Wahoos last season and was part of their run to a Southern League co-championship. He appeared in 34 games last season, striking out 85 and notching one save. This season, the 26-yearold right-handed pitcher has been at a different level. He has rung up 16 saves after producing just eight in his previous four seasons at the minor league level. His strikeout total has been cut in half (45) but he’s walked just eight compared to 27 in 2017. “I think the biggest success I’ve had is staying in good counts more often. I’m not striking out as many as last year but
I’m not walking nearly as many,” Powers said. “I’m having cleaner innings.” The low walk total is a big deal to Powers because nothing drives him crazier on the field than giving guys the easy route to first base. “The most frustrating thing is putting guys on for free,” Powers said. “You are going to walk guys because hitters are going to battle you. That doesn’t bother me as much. But when you fall behind 0-2 in a count and you walk them, it’s frustrating.” Powers has learned to tighten up his breaking ball and has a better command of it now. His ability to rely on his second and third pitches to ring up strikes has been huge. He even earned a spot on the Southern League All-Star team earlier this summer. “It was a cool experience,” Powers said. “I felt like I was having a good year but when you aren’t a big-time prospect, you
don’t expect to go to an all-star game. I appreciated the recognition.” While at Southern New Hampshire Powers evolved into one of the best closers in school history, helping the Penmen reach the NCAA Division II College World Series in 2012. Having not played on a successful high school team, the college experience taught him a lot about winning and how to be at his best in close games. Closing games is what Powers relishes most and he said success comes with having the right mentality. “It’s all about being on the attack and throwing strikes,” Powers said. “If you are going to get beat, make them beat you. You don’t want to put guys on for free, especially in those situations. That’s when everything goes haywire. You just have to attack and make the hitter prove he is better than you.” Powers would love the opportunity to pitch at the
Submitted photo
Major League level one day. As a late-round pick and hardly a highly touted prospect, he knows the odds are long. Then again, he’s faced long odds before and overcome them. “I don’t fit the typical profile of a late inning big league reliever. I’m not a flamethrower by any means,” Powers said. “But I throw hard enough with enough movement to get people out and maybe I can be that middle inning or late inning guy for a team.” Right now, he’ll just keep doing what he’s doing and see where the chips fall. “In the offseason I’d like to tighten things up more and maybe add a new pitch, something with more life to it,” Powers said. “At this point in the season, I’m not worried about adding or subtracting anything. I’m just looking at what I’m doing and how I can fine tune things to get through the rest of this year.”