AMARILLO, Texas (September 13, 2026) — The San Antonio Missions (28-41, 59-79) erupted for 11 runs on 17 hits and four homers to close out the 2026 regular season with an 11-10 win over the Amarillo Sod Poodles (41-28, 77-60). Kerrington Cross and Justin DeCriscio each sent out their first Double-A homers while Luis Verdugo and Romeo Sanabria both reached double-digits with their tenth homers of the year.
San Antonio wasted little time jumping on Amarillo starter Mason Marriott. Cross sent a two-run shot out of the ballpark, his first Double-A homer that gave San Antonio a 2-0 lead.
The Sod Poodles pushed a run across in each of the first two frames to tie things up. Avery Owusu-Asiedu hit the scoreboard with a solo homer and Carlos Virahonda doubled in a run, evening things at 2-2.
The Amarillo bullpen and Missions starter Victor Lizarraga kept that as the score until the fifth. That’s when Danny Serretti rocketed a three-run homer to the deepest part of the ballpark in right-center field off Lizarraga, making it 5-2 Sod Poodles.
San Antonio answered quickly and loudly in the sixth against reliever Billy Corcoran. A DeCriscio single and Ryan Jackson walk set up Luis Verdugo for his game-tying three-run homer to left. Two batters later, Romeo Sanabria lifted a ball that carried out to left-center field and landed on the other side of the fence with a 6-5 Missions lead. Cross added another RBI with a single, so after five runs in the sixth, San Antonio led 7-5.
Two more tallies came in the seventh when Sanabria hit a sacrifice fly to the warning track in right and Alex McCoy singled. DeCriscio then joined the home run parade with his first Double-A long ball, a two-run blast that expanded San Antonio’s advantage to 11-5 in the eighth.
No Hodgetown game is complete without some late-inning drama. Ben McLaughlin tripled home two runs in the bottom of the eighth off Josh Mallitz, who then exited the game with trainer Juan Peña. Igor Gil allowed one more run to come in, but the lefty stranded two in scoring position to maintain San Antonio’s 11-8 win.
Carlos Medina took the mound in the ninth for the Missions. The righty allowed a pair of runs, including on a McLaughlin homer, and had the tying-run on second, but a lineout ended the game with a victory in hand for the Missions.
Up Next:
The San Antonio Missions have concluded the 2026 regular season. They open the 2027 season on April 2 against the Amarillo Sod Poodles at Nelson Wolff Stadium in San Antonio. Stay tuned all offseason for updates at samissions.com
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The San Antonio Missions are the Double-A affiliate for the San Diego Padres. The Missions were established in 1888 and have brought affordable family fun to the Alamo City for more than 120 seasons. The 13-time Texas League champions play their home games at Nelson W. Wolff Municipal Stadium. For more information and tickets, call 210-675-7275 or visit samissions.com.