SPRINGFIELD, MO (July 18, 2026) -- The Amarillo Sod Poodles (9-11, 45-43) fell to the Springfield Cardinals (13-7, 44-44), 4-3, on Saturday night at Route 66 Stadium. On a humid evening, the Soddies fought back in the late innings, but could not overcome the deficit as the hosts evened the three-game series.
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Cristofer Torin** stepped into the box as the game’s first batter and punched a ball through the left side of the infield to get things going quickly for Amarillo in the top of the first. Despite moving into scoring position on a stolen base, the shortstop was stranded, making way for Arizona’s 19th-ranked prospect Brian Curley to make his Soddies debut on the hill in the home half.
The right-hander allowed two hits that put a pair of Cardinals in scoring position with no outs. After inducing a popout to first, Deniel Ortiz lined a ball to right field that was flagged down by Trent Youngblood, but the sliding catch was deep enough for Travis Honeyman to sprint home from third on the sac fly, putting Springfield up 1-0 in the opening frame.
Druw Jones was quick to equalize in the top of the second, smashing a 2-0 fastball the other way as he cleared the wall in right field for a solo homer that evened the score. The Cardinals once again led off an inning with two hits as Tre Richardson III’s double brought home the go-ahead run in the second. Curley battened down the hatches on the mound following the RBI knock, retiring each of the next three batters he faced to keep Richardson at third.
The trend of Springfield batters leading off innings with base knocks continued as the bottom of the fifth featured a trio of singles that resulted in Rainiel Rodriguez collecting an RBI on his hit through the right side, increasing the Cardinals’ lead. They tacked on one more after a pickoff error allowed Honeyman to score the fourth run of the night for Springfield.
Youngblood led off the sixth with a base hit to right and after Jansel Luis singled himself later in the frame, they both moved up 90 feet on a pickoff error charged to the Springfield shortstop. Now with runners at second and third, a Ben McLaughlin groundout allowed Youngblood to trot home to make it a 4-2 ballgame.
Sandro Santana was the new Soddies pitcher in the game, having yet to allow a run in an Amarillo uniform since his debut with the squad on June 24. He continued to keep opponents off the board, striking out three batters over his 1.1 innings of relief to keep the Sod Poodles within two. He handed the ball to Josh Grosz who took over in the seventh. The converted reliever found himself in a pinch with a full count and the bases full of Cardinals, but he escaped the jam with a strikeout of Zach Levenson.
Amarillo inched ever closer in the eighth when Demetrio Crisantes launched a solo home run to deep left field for his first home run away from HODGETOWN this season, bringing the Soddies within one, but the Cardinals locked things down in the ninth to tag the visitors with the 4-3 loss, evening the series at one.
POSTGAME NOTES
OKIE DOKIE DR. JONES: Continuing to torment the Cardinals this year has been Druw Jones...as the only Soddie with a multi-hit game tonight, he increases his season batting average against Springfield to .378 (14x37) while posting a 1.097 OPS in those games...each of those marks are the best he has against any one team he has faced this season.
FOREVER YOUNGBLOOD: With a hit in each of his first two games as a Sod Poodle, Trent Youngblood continues to swing a hot stick at the plate...since June 3, he is batting a combined .344 (31x90) with a .960 OPS over 28 games between High-A Hillsboro and Amarillo.