AMARILLO, TX (September 11, 2026) -- The Amarillo Sod Poodles (40-27, 76-59) defeated the San Antonio Missions (27-40, 58-78), 17-1, on Friday night at HODGETOWN. The Soddies’ offense erupted on their way to their fourth straight win and the largest margin of victory in club history.
Two straight walks by Amarillo batters opened the home half of the first before Angel Ortiz brought in the first run of the night on a ground-rule double that hopped over the wall in right field. With runners at second and third and two outs, Druw Jones added on another two runs with his single through the left side of the infield to cap a three-run first inning.
While David Hagaman was dealing on the mound, he got into a bit of trouble in the top of the second as San Antonio put runners on second and third with only one out. The righty induced a fly ball to center which was flagged down by Jones who threw a frozen rope to the plate to nab the runner trying to tag from third to complete the double play and get the Soddies out of the inning unscathed.
A solo home run from Jean Walters tacked on to the Amarillo lead before the Soddies erupted for six runs in the third. The rally began with a solo blast off the bat of Ortiz and was followed by a walk and two singles that loaded the bases. After the second out of the inning was recorded, Walters stepped up to the dish and lined a bases-clearing double off the left field wall.
Trent Youngblood got in on the action with an RBI single chopped over the head of the San Antonio first baseman before scoring on an error that brought the six-run frame to a close, giving Amarillo the 10-0 lead.
Hagaman finished off his third consecutive 1-2-3 inning in the fifth, bringing his night to a close with three strikeouts and only one hit allowed on 54 pitches. Following two quick outs recorded in Amarillo’s turn to bat, Youngblood doubled and scored on Cristofer Torin’s single to left to increase the advantage to 11.
A one-out double in the sixth led into the first career Double-A homer for Amarillo’s catcher, Carlos Virahonda, with the two-run shot giving the Soddies a baker’s dozen of runs for the night.
San Antonio scratched their first run of the game in the following frame after loading the bases on two walks and a hit batsman before Ryan Jackson’s fielder’s choice brought home the lone run of the night for the visitors.
Amarillo was not finished as they strung together five more hits in the bottom of the eighth. Junior Franco’s RBI single put the first run of the inning on the board before Walters added his second homer of the night, a three-run bomb that brought his RBI total for the evening to seven, capping the 17-1 Amarillo victory over the Missions.
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POSTGAME NOTES**
NO CHEATING THE HAGAMAN: Turning in five shutout innings tonight on the hill for Amarillo was David Hagaman...he allowed only one hit and one walk while striking out three San Antonio batters...he has not allowed more than three runs in any of his seven starts with Amarillo and is posting a 2.55 ERA (10 ER/35.1 IP) since joining the Sod Poodles on August 7.
SHINE ON YOU CRAZY DIAMOND: Posting a fourth straight multi-hit game with two homers, a double, and seven RBI was Jean Walters, extending his hit streak to six games in the process (9/5-c)...his seven RBI are a season-high by any Sod Poodle this season and ties a single-game club record with Caleb Roberts doing it most recently on 8/15/25 against Corpus Christi...Amarillo has more 4+ RBI games (6) from their nine-hole hitters this season than any other team at the Double-A level.
With a win over San Antonio on Tuesday in addition to Midland's loss to Corpus Christi, the Amarillo Sod Poodles officially punched their ticket to the postseason! They will match up with the Frisco RoughRiders (Texas Rangers) – the First Half winners of the Texas League South – at 6:35 p.m. on Tuesday, September 15 at HODGETOWN for game one of the Divisional Round.