SAN ANTONIO, TX (July 2, 2026) -- The Amarillo Sod Poodles (4-5, 40-37) fell to the San Antonio Missions (4-5, 35-43), 7-3, on Thursday night at Nelson Wolff Stadium. Neck-and-neck for the first half of the game, one bad inning for Amarillo created the separation needed for San Antonio to emerge victorious.
After waiting until the late stages to get on the board in the first two games of the series, the Sod Poodles wasted little time getting their offense going on Thursday. In the top of the second inning, Gavin Conticello slapped a double down the left field line to lead off the frame. Successful sacrifices by Jack Hurley and Alberto Barriga moved Conticello over and in to provide Amarillo with a 1-0 lead.
Soddies starter Avery Short dealt with traffic on the basepaths in each of the first three frames, stranding a trio of runners in scoring position. The southpaw pressed his luck too far in the bottom of the fourth after allowing a single and hit batsman to open the inning. The Missions used a pair of productive flyouts to center field to tie the score at one apiece.
The stalemate was short-lived as the Soddies went right back in front in the top of the fifth after stringing together a pair of two-out hits. Jansel Luis finally had a hit to his name after his third hard-hit ball of the night and came around to score after Demetrio Crisantes lined a ball directly over the head of the center fielder Kai Roberts for an RBI double.
Roberts was so close to squeezing the hot shot off the bat of Crisantes, but made up for it by scoring the tying run on Jake Cunningham’s ground-rule double after singling and stealing second base to lead off the home half of the fifth.
San Antonio would take its first lead of the night in its next turn to bat, sending all nine hitters in the order to the plate as part of a five-run frame. Short’s sixth inning of work started with an error, a single, and Wyatt Hoffman being hit by a pitch while attempting to bunt, loading the bases with none out. On the very next pitch, Ethan Salas drove in two runs on a ground ball up the middle that beat Amarillo’s drawn-in infield and knocked Short out of the game.
Alec Baker entered in relief for the Soddies and was ambushed by Roberts on his first pitch for an RBI single that put the Missions up 5-2. Amarillo traded two outs for a run by turning a double play, but San Antonio was able to tally one more run on an RBI single for Karpathios before recording the third out.
Luis and the Sod Poodles showed life in the top of the seventh with a two-out RBI base knock by the Diamondbacks No. 13 prospect, but would not threaten to score again as the Missions took a 2-1 series lead.
WHAT CONTI DO?: Since the start of his massive series against the Springfield Cardinals on June 9, Gavin Conticello is batting .333 (24x72) with 10 extra-base hits and a 1.068 OPS in 19 games over that span after a multi-hit effort tonight...Conticello also gunned down the potential go-ahead run at the plate in the bottom of the fourth for his third outfield assist of the season.
NICE DEMET YOU: Diamondbacks No. 5 prospect Demetrio Crisantes wrapped up his first full month in Double-A in tonight’s game, going 1-for-4 with a double and RBI...since his Amarillo debut on June 2, Crisantes now ranks first in the TL in doubles (11) and extra-base hits (17), 3rd in hits (33), 4th in SLG (.632) and OPS (1.070), and 4th in runs (24).