Stankiewicz's 9th Inning HR Leads to Extra-Innings Win

Amarillo, TX - Drew Stankiewicz belted a dramatic, two-out, two-run, game-tying home run in the bottom of the 9th which propelled the Sod Poodles to an 11-inning victory over the San Antonio Missions on Friday, April 22 at HODGETOWN. Dominic Fletcher won the game for Amarillo on a bases-loaded walk with two outs.

No. 7 D-backs prospect Bryce Jarvis took the mound for the Sod Poodles and the Missions jumped ahead of him in the first inning. The leadoff batter singled advanced to second on a groundout, and scored on a fielding error after stealing third. The Missions had two more hits in the inning before being retired.

Play was suspended in the bottom of the first due to a sudden hailstorm. The inclement weather quickly subsided, and the grounds crew was able to get the field into playing shape after just a 20-minute delay.

The hail did not cool off the Missions, who added another run in the 2nd on an RBI triple from Agustin Ruiz after a leadoff hit-by-pitch. Ruiz was scored on an RBI groundout from Chandler Seagle to make it 3-0 Missions after three.

The Sod Poodles have hit a home run in every game this series, and the trend continued in the bottom of the 2nd with a two-run jack to left field from Juan Centeno, scoring Jorge Barrosa in his Sod Poodles debut. The home run made it a 3-2 Missions lead and was Centeno’s third of the series and season.

Amarillo took the lead in a four-run bottom of the 3rd. The first three batters singled, with Jancarlos Cintron scoring Nick Dalesandro to tie the game, 3-3. Leandro Cedeno added another RBI single to put runners at the corners and score Eduardo Diaz. Ti’Quan Forbes then scored Cintron on a sac fly to make it 5-3.

With two outs in the top of the 4th, Jarvis allowed back-to-back singles. Barrosa mishandled the ball in center field, and the Missions scored one on the error. The fourth run of the game was the end of the line for Jarvis, who finished with 3.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 BB and 3 K on 66 pitches. The six hits and four runs allowed were both season-highs. Jeff Bain came on in relief with a runner in scoring position and forced a strikeout to the inning with the score at 5-4.

San Antonio jumped back on top in the 5th off of Bain. After a one-out walk, Yorman Rodriguez knocked a no-doubt two-run homer 452 feet to center field to give the Missions a 6-5 lead.

The Missions continued to pounce on Bain in the 6th. Augustin Ruiz hit a solo home run in the top of the 6th to make it 7-5, and Brandon Dixon scored two on a 2-RBI double four batters later. Bain’s night ended at 2.0 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, and he was relieved by Brett De Geus, who escaped the inning with the score 9-5.

The Sod Poodles responded with two runs the 6th, their third multi-run inning of the game. With two outs, two batters reached on a walk and single, and Cintron scored them both on a 2-RBI double.

The Missions responded right back by tacking on a run in the top of the 7th. De Geus hit two batters and one was thrown out trying to steal, but three walks forced in a run to make it 10-7 San Antonio.

Jancarlos Cintron continued his productive evening in the 8th. He reached on a fielder’s choice and was scored on a two-out RBI single by Andy Yerzy to cut the lead to two.

Trailing by two in the bottom of the 9th, the Soddies dug into their HODGETOWN magic. Centeno reached on a two-out walk, and Drew Stankiewicz sent the game to extra innings with a 388-foot two-run home run to left field, his first of the year. Dalesandro walked to bring up Diaz, who nearly walked it off with a warning-track flyout.

STANK!!! @DrewStankie has tied this game with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th!!! pic.twitter.com/whK9MkYf7W

— Amarillo Sod Poodles (@sodpoodles) April 23, 2022

Blake Workman (2-0) took the mound in the 10th and breezed through two frames, striking out five Missions. For his efforts, he earned his second win of the year.

A sacrifice bunt put the courtesy runner Diaz at third in the bottom of the 10th. With two outs, Diaz attempted a straight steal of home but was thrown out. Nick Dalesandro and pitching coach Shane Loux were both ejected arguing the call.

The game was tied entering the bottom of the 11th. A pair of walks loaded the bases with two outs, Dominic Fletcher drew a four-pitch walk to win the game, 11-10.

The Sod Poodles out-hit the Missions 15-4, but committed four errors to their zero. Five Soddies had multiple hits, led by Diaz and Cintron with three apiece. Cintron led the team with three RBI, while Centeno and Stankiewicz pitched in two. The pitching staff struck out 12 Missions and issued five walks.

Amarillo and San Antonio will face off for game five tomorrow, Saturday, April 23rd. The Sod Poodles have out-scored the Missions 45-29 so far in the series and are 4-0.

Notes:

*Welcome to the LeAAgue: *After OF Dominic Canzone was called up to Triple-A Reno on Friday, OF Jorge Barrosa joined the team and made his Double-A debut in his third minor league season. He singled in his first at-bat, and was immediately scored on a Juan Centeno home run. In 231 games from Rookie ball to High-A, Barrosa slashed .276/.355/.393 12 home runs and 92 RBI. He’s also stolen 80 bases in his career and was third in the Arizona farm last season with 29 swipes.

*Cedeno En Fuego: *OF/1B Leandro Cedeno continued his recent success at the plate on Friday night to the tune of 2-for-6 with an RBI. He extended his hitting streak to six games and is batting .500 (11-for-11) with two HR and eight RBI over the streak. On the season, Cedeno is batting .405 with three HR and 15 RBI all first on the Sod Poodles while ranking 2nd in the Texas League in AVG.

Cintr-on a Roll: SS/2B Jancarlos Cintron has come to life over the last week, recording a hit in six of his last seven games with two home runs and seven RBI. He recorded his second multi-hit game of the season with a double and two singles tonight along with a season-high 3 RBI. Cintron owned a six-game hitting streak earlier in the season, tied with Cedeno and Dominic Canzone for the longest by a Sod Poodle in 2022. Cintron is now batting .283 on the year and is a .266 lifetime hitter.

*Bullpen Blues: *With two long bombs against him in the 6th, RHP Jeff Bain notched his third straight appearance with three earned runs, allowing 5 HR in that span. Brett De Guess allowed an earned run in the 7th as well. Relievers this year for Amarillo own a 7.76 ERA, and have allowed 19 home runs, seven more than any other bullpen in Double-A.

Extra, Extra!: Drew Stankiewicz’s game-tying two-run home run in the bottom of the 9th sent the Soddies to extra innings for the second time this season. They were victorious on a Dominic Fletcher bases-loaded walk-off, their first extra-innings victory this year. Their previous extended game was on April 10 against Midland, where they lost 12-10 in ten innings.