Amarillo Walks Off Frisco to Complete Largest Comeback in Franchise History

Amarillo, Texas (April 26, 2023) – The Amarillo Sod Poodles walked it off following two clutch at-bats from Jordan Lawlar and a late-game rally that saw 10 runs scored for the Soddies in the final third of the game.

JORDAN LAWLAR.

WALK US OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/Dv4OEI3I32

— Amarillo Sod Poodles (@sodpoodles) April 27, 2023

Following a pair of scoreless innings by RHP Luke Albright in a strong initial start, the RoughRiders were able to jump on the board in the third. A couple of solo shots put Frisco up by two before the Soddies could burn a hit into the scorebook.

The RoughRiders followed up by putting up another three runs on the board in their next hitting opportunity. A sacrifice fly was good to plate one but a throwing error by Amarillo brought another two across the dish for Frisco.

Amarillo secured their first run and hit of the game in the very next frame. A two-out walk drawn by Tristin English and an Adrian Del Castillo base hit brought Amarillo's first runner into scoring position. Deyvison De Los Santos capitalized, slapping a ball into the outfield for an RBI single and shortening the deficit to 5-1.

Another three-run inning followed in the away frame of the fifth. A couple of wild pitches and a sacrifice fly were enough to widen Frisco's lead to a seven-run buffer over the Sod Poodles.

The Riders tacked on two more in the sixth and one in the seventh and expanded their lead to 10 runs over the Soddies.

A Juan Centeno one-out knock woke up the Soddies' bats in the bottom of the seventh. An RBI double off the bat of Ryan Bliss was good for Amarillo's first run of the frame. With runners in scoring position and Tristin English at bat, a double down the line followed and plated two more Soddies, bridging the gap to 11-4.

Coming into the eighth inning, the Soddies were down by seven runs and came out of the inning with a tied ball game. Centeno once again lit the flame and earned the first of three RBI singles. Jordan Lawlar was the star of the show, smashing a three-run bomb to make it just a one-run game. Following a couple of timely hits and base runners reaching, the stage was set for a De Los Santos game-tying RBI knock.

Without either team able to secure the game winner in nine, the contest was sent into extra innings where the Amarillo Sod Poodles earned their first walk-off win of the season coming in the form of an RBI-single from Lawlar. Lawlar was the first Soddie to see the plate in extra innings and with an 0-2 count, he drove in Bliss to win the game.

The Soddies will be back at HODGETOWN tomorrow for game three as they look to stay hot over Frisco. First pitch is slated for 7:05 p.m.

NOTES:

I FOUGHT THE LAW, AND I WON: SS Jordan Lawlar went 2-for-6 with a home run, four RBI and a run scored with his three-run bomb loosening Frisco's lead to just one run while his final RBI in the contest was the game winning run in the 10th inning. Lawlar has earned a hit in 11 of his 15 games played this season and now has the second most dingers on the club with four. Lawlars' home runs are tied for second among all Diamondbacks minor leaguers with his 12 RBI tying for seventh. Additionally, across the D-backs farm system, he is tied 13th for hits (13) and ranks 14th in SLG (.482).

LAW AND ORDER 🤠

Down by a run after this 3-run 💣 pic.twitter.com/VuJIBWzM0N

— Amarillo Sod Poodles (@sodpoodles) April 27, 2023

DEYVI JONES LOCKER: Deyvison De Los Santos went 3-for-4 with two RBI, a walk and a run scored, knocking in Amarillo's first run in the bottom of the fourth with two outs. The 19-year-old has earned a hit in nine of his first 15 games this season and dating back to 9/9/22, he has poked at least one hit in 13 of 22 games and has earned 25 total hits and 13 RBI. Of those 22 games, 10 of them were good for multi-hit performances.

HABLO INGLESA: Tristin English went 2-for-4 with a double, two RBI, a walk and two runs scored and extended his hit streak to seven games and his on-base streak to a club-best 13 games, reaching base in every game this season. Among all D-backs minor leaguers, English's .326 AVG (15-for-46) is good for seventh, his 14 RBI and .446 OBP for sixth, his SLG (.739) for second and his hits for 11th.

HE JUST DON'T BLISS: Ryan Bliss went 2-for-6 with a double, two RBI, and three runs scored, good for his 10th multi-hit night this season . Dating back to 8/4/22, the second baseman has logged 37 games and has only failed to knock in five of them, slashing .286/.387/.516 over the stretch and posting 17 multi-knock games. Across all players in the Diamondbacks system, Bliss ranks fourth in AVG (.386, 27-for-70), ties ninth in RBI (11) and second in hits while sharing the throne for doubles with six.

MAKES CENTENO TO ME: Juan Centeno went 2-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored. Centeno is notching the seven spot in the D-backs organization, among all players, for AVG (.325, 13-for-40) while tying 13th for knocks. Dating back to 8/18/2022, Centeno has earned a hit in 19 out of 28 games and totes a .292/.325/.415 slashline over the stretch.

PUT IN THE WORK-MAN: RHP Blake Workman went 3.1 innings of relief while holding his opponent hitless and to one walk while punching out four and earning the win in the process. This was Workman's longest relief appearance since he threw 4.0 innings on 7/2/2019 @ PEO (KC) and was the longest in his career without allowing a hit. Additionally, the win marked his 15th career victory and his fourth time in six appearances this season without conceding an earned run. Dating back to the beginning of the 2022 campaign (4/8), he has held his opponent to no earned runs in 31 of his 46 game appearances across the stretch, posting 33 punchouts across 27.0 innings while wielding a 1.11 WHIP and a .227 batting average against.

Work-Man

1-2-3 frame. Let's go win this thing in the bottom of the 9th! pic.twitter.com/Kjf4OdNo9i

— Amarillo Sod Poodles (@sodpoodles) April 27, 2023