AMARILLO, TX (August 16, 2026) -- The Amarillo Sod Poodles (24-21, 60-53) fell to the Midland RockHounds (22-23, 54-59), 14-0, on Sunday afternoon at HODGETOWN. A one-sided affair in the series finale resulted in a series split between the Soddies and RockHounds as both squads continue their push towards the postseason.
Amarillo immediately found themselves facing a deficit as Casey Yamauchi belted the first pitch of the game from Brian Curley over the left field fence for a solo homer in the opening frame. After a pair of RockHounds reached base via walks in the second, Yamauchi struck again with a three-run blast to extend the visitor’s advantage to four.
Midland added insult to injury in the third with a six-run inning that pushed their run total for the afternoon to double digits. A pair of two-run home runs from Clark Elliott and Justin Riemer put four of the six runs on the board while a trio of walks led to a two-run single off the bat of Nate Nankil.
The onslaught continued in the fifth when both Devin Taylor and Nankil added solo home runs to give the RockHounds a dozen runs for the afternoon. After two scoreless frames from the Amarillo bullpen, Cameron Leary checked in with Midland’s seventh home run of the day, extending the lead to 14 runs.
Despite a leadoff double by Druw Jones in the bottom of the eighth that gave Amarillo their best scoring chance of the afternoon, the center fielder was stranded. After the Amarillo bullpen kept Midland off the board in the ninth, Ben McLaughlin roped a one-out double as a last-ditch effort to break the goose egg, but a pair of consecutive groundouts to the RockHounds second baseman ended the game as Midland pulled away with a 14-0 win in the series finale.
POSTGAME NOTES
AOA-OK: Capping his first week with the Sod Poodles with one of the team’s four knocks this afternoon was Avery Owusu-Asiedu...with the 1-for-4 output on Sunday afternoon, he closes out the series with a .522/.586/1.304 slash line, good for a 1.890 OPS that featured three doubles, five home runs and 12 RBI.
ROUGH DAY AT THE OFFICE: The 14-0 shutout loss is the largest margin of defeat in a shutout at HODGETOWN in the history of the franchise...it is the only shutout that HODGETOWN has seen this year and only the 21st total in the history of the ballpark, for or against the Sod Poodles.