By Steve Barnes
Tuesday, Troy’s baseball team had the first at-bat, but that was a mistake. It should have been the home team.
The Trojans and Alabama met Tuesday at the home ballpark of Pensacola’s Double-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. It came just four days before the Reds play an exhibition game against the Pensacola Blue Wahoo and the field was in pristine condition.
Unfortunately, Troy fell to the Crimson Tide 10-5 before a sellout crowd of 5,038.
“This is an outstanding experience; I’ve never seen such a nice park,” Troy pitcher Tanner Hicks said. “The field and the backdrop make me feel like we are in a major-league stadium.”
The evening was even better.
Alabama took the field against the Trojans on a perfect Gulf Coast night on the bank of Pensacola Bay. A gentle 66 degrees with soft breezes off the bay. Even better than the weather was the Troy turnout.
“We expect a great amount of fans tonight,” Steve Timberlake, president of the Pensacola Bay Area Troy Alumni and Friends, said. “Pensacola is a great market for Troy.”
The organization typically funds eight scholarships a year from Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties in the Florida panhandle each year. Along with that, the group contributes $2,000 a year to the Troy University Foundation.
There were more fans sporting Bama gear than Trojan stuff, but a big difference was noticed between the fan bases. Most of the Alabama fans had no official affiliation with the university. The majority of Trojan faithful had either attended the school or had relatives who had.
Several Troy alumni and fans gathered at Nick’s Boathouse, a restaurant neighboring the Bayfront Stadium, prior to the game. The crowd included Chancellor, Dr. Jack Hawkins, Jr., and athletic director John Hartwell. Also in the celebration were instructors from Troy’s Pensacola, Fort Walton Beach and Panama City campuses.
As friendly as the party was, Troy expected something else on the field. After all, the Trojans eliminated Alabama from the NCAA Tallahassee Regional last year.
“With the hype of last year’s 9-8 win, it will be fun,” Hicks said. “We’d like our games with Alabama to become a rivalry.”
The Troy crowd was not unexpected. Many local athletes have gone on to play at the school located fewer than 150 miles from Pensacola. One such former football player, Greg Whibbs, Jr., threw out a ceremonial first pitch.
“We’ve always had great Pensacola representation at Troy,” Whibbs, who is the Trojan’s all-time leader in scoring said. “A look around the ballpark and I see former students and players from the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and the millenium.”
Troy, which has won three national football titles, a pair in baseball, played in the national championship game in men’s basketball and has won the NCAA Division II title in women’s golf, has long had a tradition of getting athletic talent from the area.
In football, Lawrence Tynes, Lance Sasser, Antjuan Marsh, Demontray Carter, Jermaine Richardson and Whibbs all have helped the Trojans transition into FBS. Troy remains the only program to win an NAIA national title, NCAA Division II championship, advance to the semifinals of the FCS playoffs and win an FBS bowl game.
Keith Bragg, baseball coach at Pensacola High and Chuck Stanhope, former assistant coach at the University of West Florida each starred for the legendary coach Chase Riddle at Troy.
Women’s basketball coach Chandra Rigby was hired away from Pensacola State and the men’s team featured two transfers from PSC this season.
Tracey Tolomeo was an All-American golfer at Troy, while Barbara Sherwood, Jinni Frisbey and Tara Blackwell all took their softball talents to Pike County, Ala.
There may have been a few chants of “Roll Tide,” that were louder than the Troy fans, but the connection between the university and Pensacola with students, alumni and the fact at Troy satellite campus is located near the Naval Air Station illustrates one fact — Tuesday, Troy was the home team.