Weiss Shines With Six No-Hit Frames In Sod Poodles 1-0 Loss To Wind Surge

The Sod Poodles fell in the late goings to the Wind Surge in a Wednesday night pitching duel at Riverfront Stadium. In a scoreless ballgame heading into the bottom of the ninth, a leadoff single followed by a fielding error set the table for a sacrifice fly ball and a walkoff 1-0 Wichita victory to mark their first-ever home win as a franchise in their new ballpark.

Amarillo starter Ryan Weiss was brilliant in his second start of the 2021 campaign after delivering six no-hit innings with one walk allowed and seven strikeouts but exited without a decision. Wichita starter Austin Schulfer tossed a strong bid of his own, only allowed a solo hit with two walks and two strikeouts.

On a 64-degree night in downtown Wichita, the first three frames went just two batters over the minimum with a walk allowed on each side. In the Sod Poodles fourth, Dominic Fletcher tallied the first hit of the night all around, a two-out double to left-center field, before a line out would end the threat.

Following the bottom of the sixth, after striking out the side, Weiss' night was complete through 76 pitches, departing during a 0-0 matchup.

The Soddies found an opportunity in the seventh after Jake McCarthy was hit by a pitch in the leadoff spot, but after advancing to second on a groundout, a flyout and another groundout ended the momentum.

The Wind Surge saw their first hit of the night in the 23rd overall at-bat of the game for Wichita when Jermaine Palacios singled off of reliever Matt Gage to lead off the eighth inning. The excitement ended early however after the next batter Roy Morales grounded into a double-play before Peter Mooney, who also singled in the frame, was picked off and caught stealing.

In the ninth, Amarillo shortstop Geraldo Perdomo singled with one out but an aggressive steal to get into scoring position led to the second out of the frame. McCarthy restarted the frame and went on the steal second to get into scoring position, but Dominic Fletcher struck out to close the top of the ninth.

In Wichita's ninth, with righty Luis Castillo in for Gage, Andrew Bechtold knocked a leadoff single. Ernie De La Trinidad followed with a grounder up the first baseline to first baseman Ryder Jones but a fielding error allowed both runners to advance safely and up to second and third with no outs. A comeback strikeout on three pitches to Aaron Whitefield shed some relief, but a fly ball to the outfield was just deep enough to avoid a close play at the plate and score Bechtold to make it a 1-0 walk-off for Wichita.

Game three of the series between these two clubs continues tomorrow night with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 PM at Riverfront Stadium. Pre-game coverage with Sam Levitt will begin on NewsTalk 940 AM, the Sod Poodles Radio Network, at 6:45 PM.

NOTES:

Weiss-Cold: The emotions of the new season and new ballpark in Wichita did not phase Amarillo starter Ryan Weiss in his second bid of the 2021 campaign. The 6'4" righty out of Wright State (4th round, 2018) tied for a career-high in innings pitched in a start (6.0 IP) and no-hit the Wind Surge with only a walk standing in the way of six perfect. Weiss no-hit Eugene while with Hillboro in 2018 through four innings of work.

Zeroed: The Sod Poodles were handed their first shutout of the season in their eighth game of 2021. During the 2019 season, the Sod Poodles were shutout a total of five times.

Held To Two: Amarillo was held to just two hits on Wednesday night, tying a franchise low in hits for a team in a game. In 2019, the Sod Poodles were held to two hits over three separate occasions.

First For Everything: The Soddies bullpen took their first loss of 2021 Wednesday night after Wichita's 1-0 walkoff win. The pen is now 5-1 on the season with a 4.19 ERA over 38.2 IP with 52 strikeouts.

Don't Kick Yourself: The Sod Poodles fell to 0-2 on the season when they commit an error. Before tonight, the only error of the year came in the second game of the season on 5/5 @ TUL on a throwing error in the first inning. The Soddies went 44 consecutive innings without an error until the bottom of the ninth on Wednesday in Wichita.

*Trivial: *Alek Thomas' name will forever be linked in Wichita baseball history. The Chicago native recorded the very first hit in Riverfront Stadium history with his third inning single into right field. The Sod Poodles leadoff man reached on an error in the first inning while the first Wind Surge baserunner reached on a walk.

I'm The Captain Now: Junior Garcia is 4/4 in save opportunities without allowing a run in 4.1 IP. His four saves leads all of minor league baseball. Edgar Arredondo currently leads all minor leaguers in wins at 3-0. He has not allowed a run in 6.2 IP and holds a 3:1 K:BB ratio.

*Do You Validate?: *Tommy Henry tossed his best outing as a pro, going 4.1 IP while allowing two runs on for hits while adding four strikeouts. It was the longest outing of his professional career so far after being limited to just 1.0 IP in all three of his starts with Hillsboro in 2019.

Tomorrow's Preview: The Sod Poodles and Wind Surge will continue their six-game series with game three tomorrow night at Riverfront Stadium in Wichita, KS.

Upcoming Series: Following this week's series with Wichita, the Soddies will head back to Amarillo for their home opener on May 18 at HODGETOWN against Midland.