Sod Poodles Rocked in 14-Run Defeat

Amarillo, TX – The Amarillo Sod Poodles lost by a two-touchdown deficit, 20-6, to the NW Arkansas Naturals on Tuesday night at HODGETOWN, the largest defeat in franchise history.

It was a short outing for Sod Poodles starter Deyni Olivero, who exited in the 1st inning after allowing four earned runs in 0.2 IP. He issued four walks and two hits, one of which was a go-ahead grand slam by NW Arkansas’ John Rave. Josh Green relieved him in the first inning, and he struck out his first batter to escape the frame.

The Naturals continued the early onslaught in the 2nd and doubled their lead with four more runs. Two singles and a double plated two, and a walk, single, and fielder’s choice made it 8-0, Naturals.

Amarillo got a runner into scoring position in both of the first two innings, but five early strikeouts sunk their opportunities to get on the board. The bats struck out seven times through the first three frames.

Northwest Arkansas added one more run to their lead in the 5th inning. After Yorvin Pantoja relieved Green in the 4th, a double and an RBI single in the 5th made it 9-0.

The Sod Poodles plated their first run of the game in the bottom of the 5th. After recording the first hit of his Double-A career in the 3rd, OF Tristin English collected his first RBI on a single in the 5th, scoring Roby Enriquez. Two Sod Poodles walked to load the bases with two outs, but a groundout ended the threat with Amarillo trailing, 9-1.

In the 6th, the Naturals responded to Amarillo’s run with a two-run homer to make it 11-1. Pantoja struck out the first two batters of the frame, but a two-out walk extended the inning to set up the home run.

Strikeouts plagued the Amarillo offense all night, and they struck out multiple times in six of the first seven innings. The offense continued to battle despite the deficit on the scoreboard, and they cut the lead to seven with three runs in the bottom of the 6th.

Nick Dalesandro led off the inning with a walk and stole second base, his 22nd steal of the season. Enriquez put runners at the corners with a single, and Andy Yerzy made it 11-4 with a three-run dinger to left field. The homer was Yerzy’s 7th of the year, and tonight was his 7th multi-RBI game this season.

The game got well out of hand in the final innings, as the Naturals added nine runs over the final two frames. Junior Garcia allowed a solo HR in the 8th and three runs to score in the 9th, and he was relieved by position player Elvis Peralta with one out. Peralta’s career pitching debut didn’t go as he’d hoped, and he allowed five runs to score including two moonshot home runs.

Amarillo continued to battle into the bottom of the 9th and plated two runs. The first three batters reached, and a pair of RBI singles made it 20-6. That was all the Sod Poodles could muster, and ultimately suffered their largest defeat in franchise history, 14 runs.

Five Sod Poodles collected two hits, but they struck out 14 times and were out-hit 17-10.

Game two of the series is set for tomorrow, Wednesday, June 29th, with first pitch at 7:05 PM. RHP Brandon Pfaadt (4-4, 4.35 ERA) will face RHP Alec Marsh (1-6, 6.95 ERA) for the Naturals.

Notes:

Moving On: Tonight’s 14-run loss was the largest defeat in franchise history, surpassing the 13-run deficit suffered twice (16-3, 8/15/19 vs MID, 17-4, 5/25/21 vs CC). Amarillo allowed 17 hits, tied for their fourth-most this year, and surrendered five home runs, tied for their third-most this season. This was also the first time in franchise history that Amarillo has allowed 20 runs.

*I Don’t Know About You, But I’m Feeling 22: *OF/C Nick Dalesandro stole second base in the 6th inning tonight, his team-leading 22nd stolen base of the season. Dating back to June 10, the speed threat has 10 steals over his last 14 games, and he is tied for second in the Texas League in total SB this year. He led the Arizona farm system with 33 swipes last season, and trails only Wilderd Patino (A Visalia, 37) in the farm system this year.

Andy Yard-zy: 1B Andy Yerzy cracked a three-run home run in the bottom of the 6th inning tonight, his 7th homer of the season. It was his first three-run dinger of the season and gave him 27 RBI on the year. It also marked back-to-back games with a homer for the left-handed slugger, after he knocked a solo home run on Friday, June 24th against Corpus Christi. This is the second time this year that Yerzy has had a homer in back-to-back games, as he did it on June 5 and 7 against Midland and Frisco.

*Picking Up Steam: *OF Roby Enriquez went 2-for-5 with two runs scored tonight, his third multi-hit game of the season. He’s picked up steam in the last week, with eight hits over his last seven games. Enriquez has been a steady addition to the Amarillo offense since his debut on May 26, with a hit in 15 of his first 19 games.

Welcome To The Sod Squad: INF/OF Tristin English recorded his first Double-A hit on a single in his first at-bat in the 3rd inning, and notched his first RBI with a single in the 5th. The utility man was a 3rd round pick by the Diamondbacks in 2019 and has spent his entire minor league career (three seasons) in Hillsboro, where he played 175 games with a .261 AVG, 23 HR and 98 RBI. He has been a flexible defender as well, logging starts at first, third, left and right field in his career.

Party Foul: It only took five batters for the Naturals to get on the board tonight, and they took the lead in the 1st inning off a grand slam. It was the fastest grand slam allowed by Amarillo this year, and the fifth overall. The last four-run dinger was surrendered on June 18th vs San Antonio. The Sod Poodles have hit three grand slams this season, all at home.

Live And Die By The Dinger: The Sod Poodles allowed five home runs in tonight’s loss, including a grand slam. This was the fourth time in the last five games that the Sod Poodles have allowed multiple home runs to their opponent, and they have hit four dingers in that span. On the season, Amarillo has hit the sixth-most home runs in Double-A (90) and have allowed the most (132).

Clean Slate: After the conclusion of the Texas League First Half, today’s game marks the beginning of the second half for the Sod Poodles. San Antonio won the Texas League South with a 38-29 record through the first 69 games, earning an automatic berth to the 2022 Texas League playoffs. The Sod Poodles will battle over the next 69 games to win the second half and earn a playoff berth of their own. Just one game into the second half, the Sod Poodles sit at the bottom of the division at 0-1. They finished third (32-37) in the TL South in the first half.