Sod Poodles Head Into Postseason With 11-5 Win

Amarillo, Texas (September 17, 2023) – The Amarillo Sod Poodles finished the 2023 regular season with an 11-5 victory over the Frisco RoughRiders on Sunday afternoon. Amarillo powered their way to the win behind 15 hits including six from the bottom three hitters in the lineup.

Frisco jumped out to a three-run lead in the top of the second with five hits coming off Gunnar Groen. The Sod Poodles quickly responded with a couple of runs of their own in the home half. A pair of two-out singles placed runners in scoring position after Jesus Valdez took second on the throw and sent Camden Duzenack to the plate. The Sod Poodles leadoff man made it three straight singles and brought the Sod Poodles within a run of the Frisco lead.

Carlos Meza spun a pair of scoreless innings for Amarillo in the third and fourth innings to keep the Soddies within striking distance. Neyfy Castillo wound up on third base after a three-base error by the Frisco left fielder. A couple of outs followed, but Valdez ensured that Castillo would not be left stranded with a RBI single to tie things up for the time being. Michel Otanzez worked a hitless top of the fifth with two punchouts to send the bats back to work.

Six hits in the bottom of the fifth highlighted by a double by Caleb Roberts and a three-run home run from Kristian Robinson ballooned the Amarillo lead to six and had Frisco making a call to their bullpen for the final two outs of the inning. Dillon Larsen relieved Otanez after his one inning of work and pitched the top of the sixth with a six-run cushion. The lefty worked a clean inning of his own, keeping the RoughRiders off the board for the fourth consecutive inning.

Amarillo's final two runs of the day came in the bottom of the sixth.

Tim Tawa led off the inning with a solo shot. Deyvison De Los Santos walked later in the inning ahead of Castillo ending up on third the traditional way this time around. The outfielder hit his third triple of the season to score De Los Santos and make it 11-3.

Larsen worked another scoreless frame in the seventh before turning it over to Zach Barnes who worked a clean top of the eighth. The RoughRiders got a double to start their ninth with a flyout and ground out eventually pushing the runner across the plate. Frisco added another off Barnes to cap the day's scoring and gave Amarillo the 11-5 Sod Poodles victory.

Amarillo will have an off day on Monday ahead of the start of the Texas League South Division Championship series against the San Antonio Missions on Tuesday, September 19 at HODGETOWN. First pitch in game one of the playoffs is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

NOTES:

K-BOOM...AGAIN: Kristian Robinson, the D-backs' no. 11 rated prospect made it back-to-back games with a home run. A night after picking up his first Double-A homer, he followed it up with a three-run shot on Sunday. With the homer, Robinson tied his single-season career-high for home runs with 14. Robinson has played in 65 this season between four different levels and is hitting .283 (66-for-283) with 14 home runs, eight doubles, four triples, and 42 RBI. The former no. 1-prospect in the system is playing in his first season since missing the 2021 & 2022 seasons. Robinson is now the 13th different Sod Poodles player to hit home runs in consecutive games, needing just five games to do so.

SIX-SPOT: The Sod Poodles' six runs in the bottom of the fifth was the 11th time scoring six runs in an inning and the 29th time scoring 5+ runs in an inning this year. Amarillo ended the year with 823 runs, 53 more than any other Double-A team.

VALDEZ KNOCKS: Jesus Valdez finished the regular season with a pair of hits, his second multi-hit game of the season. He was one of five players who ended the year with multi-hit efforts, going 2-for-4 with a RBI.

TIMMY TANKS: Tim Tawa capped his regular season with a solo home run in the sixth inning, his 22nd home run of the year. Tawa bested his previous single-season career-high in long balls by nine. Tawa's 22 dingers were second-most on the team this year and he finishes as one of four players to ever have 20+ home runs as a Sod Poodle in franchise history. He and A.J. Vukovich did so this year while Stone Garrett had 25 in 2021 and Leandro Cedeño had 30 last season.

THE OL' ARM BARN: Over the final seven innings, Amarillo's bullpen held Frisco to just two runs on six hits with five strikeouts. Michel Otanez earned the win after working just one inning in the fifth, improving to 4-2 on the year.