Sod Poodles Drop Series Finale In Extras 

AMARILLO, Texas – The opening three-game series of the 2022 Sod Poodles' season ended late Sunday afternoon in extra innings. A back-and-forth contest went in Midland's favor as the Sod Poodles dropped the series finale 12-10 to their Oil Pan Cup rivals.

Right-hander Bryce Jarvis got his 2022 season underway on Sunday afternoon with 4.2 IP, marking the longest outing by a Sod Poodles starter in this early gpings of the season. The former 18th overall selection out of Duke appeared in eight games for Amarillo in 2021 and is the fourth-rated pitching prospect in the Diamondbacks' organization.

Sod Poodles outfielder Dominic Canzone put Amarillo in front with an RBI double to the deepest part of the park, scoring Jancarlos Cintron easily from first base. The Soddies' early lead was nullified in the next half-inning after a RockHounds two-out RBI single. Jarvis worked himself into a jam, loading the bases with a pair of two-out walks, but the D-backs' No. 7 rated prospect struck out Zack Gelof to end the RockHounds threat and keep the game tied at 1-1.

Cintron kept the bottom of the third inning alive for Amarillo with a two-out hit of his own. The infielder barely missed a home run when the ball caromed off the top of the left-field wall. Canzone scored Cintron for the second time in as many at-bats with an RBI single through the hole between the first and second baseman to retake a one-run advantage.

The RockHounds once again answered Amarillo's run with one of their own in the top of the fifth as the game continued to seesaw back-and-forth. A leadoff double and an RBI single tied the game. A double play appeared to tame the RockHounds' threat before a third hit of the frame brought an end to Jarvis' season debut. Right-hander Brett de Geus took the mound and allowed the first two batters he faced to reach to load the bases. A hit batter provided Midland with their first lead of the game.

The RockHounds used another three-run inning in the top of the sixth to extend their lead over the Sod Poodles to four runs.That lead was erased very quickly.

Canzone added a second double and a third hit overall to his box score and started a string of three straight hits for Amarillo. Leandro Cedeño capped the run of hits with his first home run of the season. A towering 3-run, 439-ft homer that hit halfway up the scoreboard in left-center field cut the deficit to one run. Ti'Quan Forbes, one of the newest additions to the Amarillo roster, tied the game with a solo home run just three batters later.

As had been the case the entire game, when one team added runs the other found a way to match or better it. Midland rallied once again with two outs. A pair of singles and a walk pushed the RockHounds back in front by a run after the top of the eighth inning.

Cedeño tallied his third hit of the contest to lead off the bottom of the eighth but was taken off the base path following a double play that put a halt on the comeback bid for the time being. Midland added a run in the top of the ninth despite a highlight-reel diving catch by Nick Dalesandro in left field.

Down by two, Forbes started a Soddies rally in the bottom of the ninth with a leadoff single. Back-to-back walks by Midland's Austin Briggs loaded the bases with no outs for Cintron. A deep fly ball to center field was good enough to score Forbes from third base and advance the other two runners into scoring position. Midland decided to intentionally walk Canzone, reloading the bases and putting Dominic Fletcher in the batter's box. A ground out down the first baseline ensured extra innings even as the next batter grounded out to the third baseman for the RockHounds to end the ninth.

The extra frame began with a two-run Midland home run on the first pitch of the inning. Another two runs came across for a four-run RockHounds lead. As was the case through the first nine innings, the Sod Poodles battled back. A single and defensive indifference put two Sod Poodles' baserunners in scoring position with just one out for Forbes. His third hit of the game just hours after getting off a plane and joining the team scored two but he was thrown out trying to stretch his single into a double. The game, and series came to an end after a 3 hour and 42-minute hit parade with a combined 35 hits between the two clubs.

Amarillo will take their first road trip of the season as they head to Tulsa to face the Los Angeles Dodgers' Double-A affiliate on Tuesday night. Arizona Diamondbacks' No. 10 rated prospect Brandon Pfaadt will make his season debut at OneOK Field at 7:05 PM. The right-hander worked his way through two levels in 2021, ending up in Amarillo after 16 professional starts between Low-A Visalia and High-A Hillsboro. Pfaadt has climbed to a top 10 prospect entering this season after starting the year outside the Top 30 organizational prospects this time last year.

Notes:

You Have Entered The CanZone:Dominic Canzone continued his dominant start to this 2022 campaign. The former Ohio State Buckeye is hitting .500 (6-for-12) with three doubles - all coming today- and three RBI so far this season. Canzone finished the 2021 season with Amarillo, reaching safely in each of his last 15 games to end 2021 and has continued that by hitting safely in all three games to start 2022. Over his last 20 Double-A games dating back to August 31, 2021, Canzone is hitting .411 with 10 XBH and 16 RBI. In those contests, he is carrying a 1.152 OPS. His 4-for-4 performance in today's series finale tied his career-high for hits in a game. He also had four hits on September 11, 2021 right here at HODGETOWN against Tulsa.

Cedeño My Gosh:Leandro Cedeño picked up three hits of his own in Sunday's matinee, one shy of his career-high of 4 hits (three times). It marks the 18th time he has notched three hits in a single game at any level and the first three-hit game in his Double-A career (19 games). One of his three knocks was also his first home run of the season. It was a 3-run no-doubter to left-center field that hit halfway up the scoreboard. It came off the bat at 106 MPH and went 439 ft. It was the farthest HR hit so far this season at HODGETOWN.

Welcome To Amarillo: Ti'Quan Forbes went 3-for-5 with a HR, 3 RBI, and 2 R scored in his first action with the team after being signed to a minor league contract and assigned to Amarillo by the Arizona Diamondbacks. Forbes landed in Amarillo and got to the ballpark a few hours prior to the first pitch. His sixth-inning home run tied the game for the Soddies at the time and plated the final run of a four-run inning that tied the game. Ti'Quan split time in 2021 with Double-A Birmingham and Triple-A Charlotte. With the Barons, Forbes hit .299 (44-for-147) with 14 XBH and 17 RBI in 40 games.

Extra, Extra: Sunday marked the first extra-inning game of the season for the Sod Poodles and the team is now 5-6 in their last 11 extra-inning ball games dating back to 2021. Dating back to the inaugural season, Amarillo is 8-12 when the game goes to extras.

Bit Of History: Michael Guldber's six hits today were the most in a Texas League game since June 20, 2009. Lance Zawadzki had a six-hit night as a member of the San Antonio Missions against the Midland RockHounds. The RockHounds went on to win the Texas League Championship that season, beating Northwest Arkansas 3-0 in the Championship Series. So who knows, maybe having someone have six hits against you isn't the worst thing that can happen...

Parade Of Hits: The two teams combined for 82 hits over the course of this three-game weekend series to open the 2022 season. The 21 total hits for the RockHounds on Sunday were the most for an opponent in a single game in Sod Poodles history. The 35 combined hits were two shy of tying the most combined hits in a game since Amarillo and Tulsa combined for 37 hits last year on September 11. The Sod Poodles did most of the heavy lifting in that game, racking up a franchise-high 24 hits. Amarillo had 10 or more hits in all three games this weekend.

You See, We Saw: The series finale was just about as back-and-forth of a ballgame as you will see. Of the 10 innings, there were only two innings where at least one team didn't score at all (4th & 8th). There were four lead changes and three ties throughout the game.

Oil Pan Cup:The 2022 chase for the Oil Pan Cup is underway and currently sees Midland with a two-game advantage with 12 games left against the RokHounds in 2022. Midland is currently in possession of the Trophy after taking 13 of the 24 games between the two clubs last year. Amarillo won the Inaugural race for the cup after going 18-12 during the regular season and 3-2 in the postseason.