AMARILLO, TX (June 16, 2026) -- The Amarillo Sod Poodles (32-31) defeated the Midland RockHounds (31-32), 9-6, on Tuesday night at HODGETOWN. Trailing late, the Soddies rallied to take the series opener as they stay in the race for the First Half title.
A smooth double play turned by the Amarillo middle infield allowed Soddies starter Junior Sanchez to face the minimum in his first career HODGETOWN inning. The RockHounds were able to get to him quickly in the second however as Cameron Leary led off the top of the following frame with a solo blast deep to right field. Midland had collected two more knocks in the inning, but a pair of strikeouts and an inning-ending flyout limited the damage.
It wouldn’t be until the fifth when Midland would scratch another run, doing so with the bases loaded when a misplayed pop-up off the bat of Brennan Milone fell into shallow right field. While Carlos Rey was able to induce a double play in the next RockHounds plate appearance, a run came across on the play to give the visitors a three-run advantage.
Gavin Conticello, Jansel Luis, and Anderdson Rojas all singled to load the bases in the bottom of the fifth, setting the table for Alberto Barriga. Despite Conticello being thrown out trying to sprint home on a wild pitch by Jackson Finley, Barriga later hit a sharp grounder up the middle that was flagged down by the Midland second baseman, but it allowed Luis to cross home for the first Amarillo run of the night.
A pair of single by Midland bats and a throwing error by the Soddies catcher put runners in scoring position in the seventh, but Cole Conn would score the only RockHounds run in the inning by advancing on a wild pitch.
The Sod Poodles again loaded the bases with their first three batters in the seventh each reaching base following the stretch. Just as Midland had done in the top half, Demetrio Crisantes broke for home on a wild pitch to plate a run and cut into the late deficit. Rojas walked to chuck the bases once more, giving way to Junior Franco who flared one over the head of the Midland second baseman to bring home another run.
The line kept moving for the Soddies after Cristofer Torin reached on a fielding error by Leo De Vries to extend the inning, allowing two runs to score. An RBI knock by Ben McLaughlin was one-upped by Crisantes’ first Double-A home run, a three-run blast to left-center to cap the eight-run frame.
Midland would not go down without a fight, getting a solo homer off the bat of Ryan Lasko in the eighth and plating another run on a wild pitch. Landon Sims took over on the hill with two away for the four-out save and struck out all four batters he faced to secure the 9-6 series opening win for Amarillo.
POSTGAME NOTES
NICE DEMET YOU: Launching his first career Double-A home run this evening as part of the eight-run Amarillo seventh inning was Demetrio Crisantes...since joining the Sod Poodles on June 2, he is batting .326 (14x34) with 12 runs scored and a .965 OPS over his first 11 games.
KEEPING UP WITH THE JONESES: With his sixth inning walk, Druw Jones has now reached base safely in 19 of his most recent 20 games...over that span, he is posting a .436 OBP with 15 walks...Amarillo improves to 11-4 in games when he hits out of the leadoff spot.