Sod Poodles Earn First Home Win, Explode For 13 Runs

Amarillo, Texas (April 12, 2023) – The Amarillo Sod Poodles (3-2) blasted the Hooks, 13-10, in a dramatic offensive contest that saw 33 combined knocks and 23 runs cross the dish.

After a scoreless first inning, the Sod Poodles capitalized in the bottom of the second. A lead-off walk by Tristin English followed by a double down the right field line by Neyfy Castillo put runners in scoring position with one out. A sacrifice fly ball to left field by Camden Duzenack was enough to plate English for the Soddies' first run of the night. Ryan Bliss followed up by knocking in Castillo for a two-out RBI single, bringing the score to 2-0 in the Soddies' favor.

Amarillo kept up the pressure in the next home frame. Tim Tawa beat out an infield slow roller to put him on first. A.J. Vukovich hit a ball hard down the right field line to put runners at first and third. A groundout to the right side of the infield by English was all that was needed to plate Tawa. Neyfy Castillo hit a ball off the right-field wall, good for an RBI double. A Castillo stolen bag followed by a throwing error got him across home plate. Duzenack came up in the next at-bat to rope a ball into the gap for a two-out double but would be left stranded.

The hit parade did not stop there. In the bottom of the fourth, Jordan Lawlar roped a lead-off double. Caleb Roberts got him across the dish with a warning track gap shot that was good for an RBI triple. Deyvison De Los Santos followed up and beat out a dribbler past the mound, scoring Roberts and earning his first RBI of the 2023 campaign. The Sod Poodles extended their lead after a flyout moved De Los Santos to third who scored off of a wild pitch, making their lead to 8-0.

A single and a walk would set the stage for Corpus Christi's Chad Stevens who got the Hooks on the board with an RBI single in the top of the fifth inning. Qunicy Hamilton trailed and sent a dribbler to the opposite side of the infield to plate run number two for the Hooks. A foul out down the right field line was enough to score another Hook, lowering the lead to 8-3.

The Soddies' bats were hot all game and the bottom of the sixth followed suit. A De Los Santos lead-off base knock, followed by a roped single by Tawa. This set the stage for Vukovich who poked a base hit that scored De Los Santos and Tawa. Duzenack earned his second RBI of the night after he laced the ball into center field as Amarillo extended their lead to 11-3.

A walk followed by a pop-up in shallow right put two Hooks in scoring position in the top of the 7th. A to the right field wall plated and put another Hook in scoring position on second base. Back-to-back walks loaded the bases with no outs for Scott Schreiber who roped a ball into center to score. A long two-RBI single to the outfield wall off the bat of Jordan Brewer followed and cut the lead to 11-8.

Tawa reached on a fielding error and stole second to put him in scoring position in the bottom of the seventh inning. Vukovich notched a RBI double, sending English to the plate in the seventh. An infield single put Amarillo runners on first and third with two outs. A perfectly executed double steal brought Vukovich across the dish, extending the Amarillo lead to 13-8.

Stevens hit a one-out home run over the left field wall to put the Hooks within four runs of tying the game in the top of the eighth.

Amarillo strung together a base knock and a stolen base to put Bliss on second base in the bottom of the eighth. A Lawlar free pass placed runners to first and second but quickly advanced on another double steal, the franchise-best sixth and seven stolen bases of the night. However, they were both left stranded as the inning came to a close.

Corpus Christi strung together a lead-off walk and a base knock to advance a runner into scoring position in the top of the ninth inning. A base knock was enough to plate one and bring the score to 13-10. A groundout moved runners to second and third with Stevens at the plate, serving as the potential tying run, with two outs. However, RHP Raffi Vizcaino closed the door on Corpus Christi to secure the Soddies' first hometown win of the campaign.

RHP Deyni Olivero had a strong start, notching 4.1 innings of labor while allowing three earned on seven hits and two walks while punching out four Hooks. Amarillo's bullpen was on the receiving end of most of the Hooks' damage, giving up a combined eight hits and seven earned over 4.1 innings of relief.

The Sod Poodles will be back for game three of their opening home series versus Corpus Christi on Thursday, April 13. RHP Bryce Jarvis (0-1) gets the nod for Amarillo with the first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

NOTES:

BLISS DON'T MISS: 2B Ryan Bliss went 2-for-6 with an RBI...He has logged a hit in 23 of his last 27 games played dating back to 8/4/2022...Of those 23 games he knocked in, 11 have been multi-hit performances.

COOKING IN THE CA-LAB: C Caleb Roberts went 2-for-6 with an RBI. He extended his hit streak to four games while earning multiple hits in his last four contests, all of the two-hit variety. Roberts has never logged four multi-hit games consecutively in his career and is currently second on the club in hits with seven.

I JUST WANNA KNOCK: The Amarillo Sod Poodles posted a season-high 18 knocks in tonight's contest with all of the Soddies' starting nine logging a hit while eight of nine earned multiple hits. The club now leads the Texas League in hits (50), triples (3), homers (6) and slugging (.469).

CASTILLO AWAY: Neyfy Castillo went 2-for-5 with two doubles, an RBI and two runs after starting the season 0-for-8 across his first two contests. Dating back to last season, he has gone six contests without multiple knocks but has posted a hit in six of his last eight games.