Game Of The Year Ends With Garrett's Walk Off Home Run In 10th

Sunday, September 19, 2021 vs. Frisco [TEX]

Frisco RoughRiders (64-55) | Amarillo Sod Poodles (59-61)

Amarillo, Texas — The Amarillo Sod Poodles won the season's finale over the Frisco RoughRiders 14-11 in dramatic fashion on Sunday afternoon. The back and fourth game saw 11 runs scored between the teams in the ninth and 10th innings. Stone Garrett's walk off home run in the 10th put an exclamation point on the franchise's second season in downtown Amarillo. The Sod Poodles end the year with a record of 59-61.

Frisco looked poised to post the first run of the game after seeing their first two batters of the game bunt their way on base. Soddies starter Brandon Pfaadt then walked the third batter of the inning as Frisco loaded the bases with nobody out in the opening frame. Pfaadt popped up the cleanup man ahead of a strikeout for the second out. He got out of the jam with a second infield popup to keep the Riders from scoring.

Dominic Canzone doubled with one out in the bottom of the second but was left stranded. Pfaadt retired Frisco in order in the second inning.

Amarillo got their second double of the game when Ryder Jones roped a ball down the right field line similar to Canzone's in the first inning. As was the case for Canzone, Jones was left stranded standing on second base.

Frisco again looked poised to score the first run of the game. A one out double advanced to third on a single. However, a wide turn from Davis Wendzel rounding first and a heads up play by Stone Garrett and Luis Basabe threw out the runner at first and gave Amarillo their second out of the inning. Pfaadt got his third infield pop up of the afternoon to send the game to the bottom of the third.

Soddies infielder Jancarlos Cintron put Amarillo ahead with a leadoff solo home run. Cintron notched a home run off Frisco starter Zak Kent the first time they played each other earlier this season.

The RoughRiders pulled ahead in the top of the fifth. A single and an error put the first two runners aboard with one out. A second single into the outfield tied the game and gave Frisco runners on the corners. The second Soddies error in the inning on a ball that was hit into shallow center field allowed the Riders to take their first lead of the game.

Amarillo would not trail for long. Back-to-back to singles started the home half of the fifth. A strikeout and subsequent pitching change sent Garrett to the plate. The Texas native gave Amarillo their third single of the inning and loaded the bases in the process. Eduardo Diaz needed to see just one pitch in his at bat as he took it over the left field wall for Amarillo's fifth grand slam of the the season. Jones notched his second double of the game and scored on a RBI single by Basabe for a 6-2 Amarillo lead.

A solo home run by Riders' left fielder Josh Stowers cut the Amarillo lead in half through six innings. The Sod Poodles threatened with a run after drawing a leadoff walk and then stealing second with one out. An error on the throw down allowed Cintron to advance to third base but he would not score with the next two Soddies going down in order. Frisco clawed their way all the way back in the top of the seventh. Three total doubles and a two-run home run made it a 6-6 game heading into the seventh inning stretch.

Diaz broke the tie with his second home run of the game and Amarillo's second leadoff home run of the afternoon.

Right-hander Blake Rogers came out of the bullpen as Amarillo's third arm used. A leadoff solo home run evened the game at 7-7 but Frisco looked for more. Consecutive walks put two runners aboard with still nobody out. An infield fly gave Rogers his first out. He then struck out the next two batters to get out of the inning.

Amarillo went down in order in the the bottom of the eighth.

The RoughRiders got a pair of singles in the top of the ninth to start their inning. A sac-bunt moved the go-ahead runner to third base and brought Bubba Thompson to the plate. Thompson's league-leading ninth triple of the year cleared the bases and put the Riders ahead 9-7. Thompson himself would later score on a sacrifice fly into center field to make it 10-7.

Diaz tallied his fourth hit of the game with a one out single in the bottom of the ninth. Andy Yerzy drew a walk to put two runners on base and sent Ryder Jones back to the dish. Jones picked up his fourth and biggest hit of the night when he took the first pitch of the at bat over the left-center field wall to tie the game at 10 with his 10th home run of the year.

Frisco scored one in the top of the 10th on a RBI single from Diosbel Arias and set the stage for the dramatic finish in the bottom of the inning.

Cintron nearly had his second home run of the game as he just missed clearing the short wall in right field for a leadoff double. It was good enough to score the runner from second base - tying the game at 11. A hit by pitch put Ben DeLuzio on first and before a fielder's choice put DeLuzio out at second base and sent Garrett to the plate.

On the first pitch, the team-leader in home runs added to it with his 25th of the year. The ball carried to the deepest part of left-center field to give the Soddies their fifth and final walk off win of the 2021 season all while knocking Frisco out of the playoffs. The players all spilled out of the dugout to meet Garrett at home plate with the crowd in a frenzy.

The Soddies will be off for the next 201 days until kicking off the 2022 season at home for the first time in franchise history. Amarillo will take on Midland on Friday April 8, 2022 with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 PM.

Notes:

Written In Stone: The Amarillo outfielder put a stamp on his career year. Garrett finished the season leading the Double-A Central in RBI with 81 after his three RBI day. His 25th home run ended the Soddies season and also placed him fourth in league in the category. His 2-for-6 day with the walk-off three-run home run gave him 210 total bases for the year - the most in the league. Garrett ends the year ranked top 10 in the Double-A Central in hits, extra base hits, SLG, and OPS.

Welcome Back To SLAMARILLO: Eduardo Diaz hit Amarillo's fifth grand slam of the season in the bottom of the fifth inning. Singles from Jancarlos Cintron, Ben DeLuzio and Stone Garrett loaded the bases for the Venezuela native. It was Diaz's second grand slam of his career - and season. He hit a grand slam on July 28th when he was with High-A Hillsboro against Tri-City.

We Ryd In The Ninth: Infielder Ryder Jones had himself a day. He finished the game 4-for-5 with two doubles and the game-tying three-run home run in the ninth. He tied his season-high with the four hits and finished the year on a 10 game hit streak. The Seattle native ended his 2021 campaign hitting . 415 (17-for-41) with six doubles, a triple, two home runs, eight RBI and a 1.161 OPS since September 7th.

Bomb City Bombers: Amarillo finished the year with the second most home runs in all of Minor League Baseball since August 1st with 80 homers in that span. They only trailed Triple-A Omaha who hit 82 and had 14 more home runs than the next closest Double-A team during this stretch. Eduardo Diaz had the 10th multi-home run game of the season for an Amarillo player while Garrett became third Soddie with an extra inning home run. It was the first walk off home run of the year, fifth in franchise history, and first since Buddy Reed's 9th inning walk off home run against Tulsa on August 28, 2019.

Rookie Year In The Books: Brandon Pfaadt's rookie campaign came to an end on Sunday afternoon. The former 5th round draft pick out Bellarmine University (Louisville, KY) climbed to Double-A after just 16 starts between Low-A Visalia and High-A Hillsboro. With Amarillo, Pfaadt went 1-1 with a 4.59 ERA in six starts for the Sod Poodles. Overall in his maiden voyage, the right-hander finished 8-7 with a 3.21 ERA over 22 starts. The D-backs' No. 26 rated prospect finishes the year ranked top 5 in the D-backs' farm system in innings pitched (1st, 131.2), strikeouts (2nd, 160), and games started (T-3rd, 22). His strikeout total ranks 7th in all of Minor League Baseball in 2021 while his innings pitched currently lead the minors.

Have A Day, Diaz: It was a career-day for Amarillo outfielder Eduardo Diaz. He hit two home runs including the grand slam in the fifth. His second home run of the day broke a 6-6 tie in the bottom of the seventh and gave him a 5 RBI day -setting a new career-high. It also marked Diaz's 20th and 21st home run of the year along with 58 RBI in his 2021 campaign. It is the second multi-HR game of his career and both have come this year against Frisco. He hit two home runs on August 25th here at HODGETOWN. He finishes the year ranked top 10 in the Diamondbacks farm system in home runs (T-3rd, 21) and RBI (10th, 58).

GONEcarlos: Soddies infielder Jancarlos Cintron plated the first run of the game with his third inning solo homer. It was Cintron's 8th home run of the season, tying the most in any single season of his career. He had eight home runs with Visalia in 2019. All eight home runs of Cintron's season have come here at HODGETOWN.

Extra, Extra: Amarillo finishes the 2021 season 5-5 in extra innings.

Day Baseball: The Sod Poodles end the year 4-3 in day games.