SPRINGFIELD, MO (June 10, 2026) -- The Amarillo Sod Poodles (28-30) defeated the Springfield Cardinals (26-32), 14-4 on Wednesday. Gavin Conticello’s career day plus the Sod Poodles finding themselves on the positive side of a grand slam highlighted Amarillo’s first win of 2026 vs. Springfield.
The Sod Poodles were up to the task against Cardinals top prospect Liam Doyle, hunting pitches to hit early in at-bats to jump out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the second inning. Druw Jones began the hit parade with a solo home run to center field on an elevated fastball from the southpaw.
Two pitches later, Conticello stayed hot at the plate and hit his second home run in as many days to go back-to-back with Jones and double Amarillo’s lead. Danny Serretti and Adrian De Leon kept their foot on the gas with a double and jam-shot single as the Soddies opened the frame with four hits.
A sacrifice fly from Cristofer Torin and a seeing-eye RBI single off the bat off Manuel Pena pushed the Sod Poodles' lead up to 4-0 before Doyle was finally able to prevent any further damage.
The Cardinals went to their bullpen for the fifth inning, opting for Domenic Picone. The Sod Poodles immediately loaded the bases with a walk sandwiched between a pair of singles, and Conticello moved all runners station-to-station with another single to put the Soddies up five.
After Springfield had hit a grand slam in each of the first four games of the season series, De Leon got in on the fun with his first Double-A home run that plated four. The 9-0 advantage was plenty of run support for Amarillo starter Junior Sanchez, as the No. 26 Diamondbacks prospect was excellent in his Soddies debut, blanking the Cardinals over five full frames.
The Sod Poodles and Conticello poured it on in the sixth, extending Amarillo’s lead to a dozen runs on Arizona’s No. 30 prospect’s second long ball of the day, a three-run shot that he parked beyond the right field wall.
Springfield got on the board with some long balls of their own in the late innings, first on back-to-back home runs by Brody Moore and Chase Adkison in the seventh and a two-run shot by Dakota Harris in the eighth. Ben McLaughlin extended the Cardinals' deficit by two on a two-run single to put the Soddies back up by double digits, who went on to win by a 10-run margin.
POSTGAME NOTES
WHAT CONTI DO?: Gavin Conticello drove in a career-high five runs in his third multi-homer game at any level of the minor leagues...it’s his second two-HR game with the Sod Poodles, with the first coming during the May 12-17 series at Corpus Christi that prompted him to be named the Texas League Player of the Week.
THE SANCHIZE: Junior Sanchez was excellent in his Double-A debut, tossing five shutout innings while allowing one hit and walking three...it was the longest scoreless outing by a Sod Poodles pitcher making his club debut since Daniel Eagen’s 7.2 shutout innings on August 22, 2025.