Lawlar hits one to Sod Poodles' parking lot

Someone might have a windshield to replace in Amarillo.

Jordan Lawlar crushed a 1-0 fastball from A's left-hander David Leal to lead off the fourth inning of Double-A Amarillo's 11-9 loss to Midland and sent it flying an estimated 471 feet to center and into the parking lot at 105 mph on Tuesday at HODGETOWN.

"I knew I got it, but I didn't know I got it that well," Lawlar said after the game. "It felt good coming off the bat, but coming from last week where the wind was blowing in, it was tough to tell what balls were doing so I went hard out of the box but then I saw the center fielder stop and watch it so I went into a little jog from there."

The home run was the first since April 29 for the top D-backs prospect, who entered that at-bat 1-for-21 at the plate in the month of May for the Sod Poodles. The jack also brought back a memory for the 20-year-old from his days at Jesuit Dallas prep school.

"I think the only other time I hit a ball that far was in high school. It was a walk-off homer in Frisco, at Riders Field. I'm not sure it went 470, but there's a white awning in left field there and I hit it over that and it left the park," Lawlar recalled.

That home run occurred on March 13, 2021, at the Tournament of Champions as Lawlar was well on his way to being named Gatorade's Texas High School Player of the Year that year. And while there may not be any official estimates on where that ball landed, the left-field wall in Riders Field is 335 feet from home plate.

"But, I can say for sure that I never hit a ball that far to center field in my life," he said.

The Law got all of this one!

4⃣7⃣1⃣ 💣 pic.twitter.com/6uWDuONDSu

— Amarillo Sod Poodles (@sodpoodles) May 9, 2023

The blast put Amarillo on the board and also put MLB's No. 9 overall prospect in rare air. Lawlar joins Cubs' 12th-ranked prospect Owen Caissie as the only 20-year-olds with at least five home runs in Double-A this season.

Lawlar added a base knock in the ninth to record his first multihit game since April 26 and came around to score on a two-run jack from Arizona's fourth-ranked prospect Deyvison De Los Santos.

"It felt good to get that home run and then keep it going in the ninth and try to give the team a chance to win, you know, try to be a difference-maker," Lawlar said. "But I think today was all the work that the coaches and I have been putting in. There's a lot of great people around me and we're working on some things and I think with the right approach and the right intent good things will happen."

The No. 6 overall pick in the 2021 Draft clubbed 16 taters across three levels of the Minors last season -- including four in 20 games with the Sod Poodles.