TL1 Amarillo Sod Poodles

Castillo Homers, Extends Hit Streak to 17 Games in Sod Poodles 14-3 Loss to Naturals

Published on July 20, 2019 under Texas League (TL1)
Amarillo Sod Poodles News Release


AMARILLO, Texas - The Amarillo Sod Poodles fell 14-3 in game two after the Northwest Arkansas Naturals' bats powered past with 18 hits in front of a 17th consecutive sellout crowd of over 6,400 at HODGETOWN. The Sod Poodles collected eight hits on the night, highlighted by Ivan Castillo's two-hit performance with a home run to extend his hit streak to 17 games.

Sod Poodles starter Jesse Scholtens (3-5) lasted just four innings while tying a career-high with eight runs allowed on 10 hits while allowing a walk and two strikeouts. J.C. Cosme followed with two innings of relief but surrendered another five runs (four earned) on seven hits.

Dauris Valdez highlighted the Amarillo staff with his two frames of one-hit, one-run ball with three strikeouts. Infielder Peter Van Gansen sealed the top of the ninth in his second-career appearance on the mound with a hitless, scoreless frame.

Amarillo got into the scoring column in the top of the first to take an early 1-0 lead. Castillo started the rhythm with a single to left field while Edward Olivares and Luis Torrens drew walks to load the bases. Then, Hudson Potts stretched a 3-2 count and eventually watched ball four to plate the run before the inning ended on a strikeout by Peter Van Gansen.

Northwest Arkansas quickly tied things up in the top of the second inning when Taylor Featherston struck a 2-1 pitch deep to left field for the solo home run to make it a 1-1 contest.

The Sod Poodles extended back out to a one-run advantage in the top of the second. After Brad Zunica drew a leadoff walk, Buddy Reed lined a single to right field to put runners on the corners. Reed would be picked off at first for the initial out of the frame, but Rodrigo Orozco clutched up with a single through the hole at second base to make it a 2-1 score.

In the fourth, the Naturals blew the game open with a seven-run half on six hits. Taylor Featherston added the first three runs on his second home run of the night, which crossed Khalil Lee and Emmanuel Rivera who both singled. Nick Hutchings restarted things with his one-out base hit up the middle while Angelo Castellano walked behind him. After a lineout by Nick Heath, Kevin Merrell knocked an RBI double and Gabriel Cancel capped it off with another three-run home run to make it an 8-2 game.

In the top of the fifth, Featherston hit his third home run of the game in two-run fashion to give Northwest Arkansas a commanding 10-2 lead. Two more singles would restart the Naturals offensive rhythm and a single by Heath would plate both to extend their lead to 12-2.

For a third consecutive inning, in the sixth, the Naturals scored, plating a solo run on two hits to extend out to a 13-3 lead. They scored a final run in the eighth inning to take a final 14-3 lead courtesy of Featherston's double to complete his seven RBI night.

The Sod Poodles head into the third game of the four-game set with the Northwest Arkansas Naturals Sunday evening at HODGETOWN. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m.

NOTES:

Tomorrow's Preview: The Sod Poodles continue into game three of the four-game series with the Northwest Arkansas Naturals Sunday at HODGETOWN. Lake Bachar will make the start for the Soddies and will matchup against Jackson Kowar.

July Heat: The Sod Poodles offensive is batting .276 with 21 home runs in the month of July. The Soddies .276 batting average ranks the second-best in Double-A and their 21 home runs rank third-best in Double-A. Amarillo also ranks second in all of Double-A with 109 runs scored during the month of July.

Offensive Showcase: The Northwest Arkansas Naturals collected 18 hits and 14 runs Saturday as they defeated the Sod Poodles 14-3. The Naturals 18 hits and 14 runs mark the most hits and runs the Amarillo pitching staff has allowed in their 2019 inaugural season.

Vicious Valdez: Dauris Valdez tossed two scoreless innings Saturday against the Naturals. Valdez allowed one run on one hit and struck out three of the eight batters he faced. Valdez's outing marks the third appearance in a row he has pitched two scoreless innings as the others came on July 13th and 18th against Frisco and Springfield.

Major Power: Taylor Featherston hit three home runs against Amarillo pitching Saturday night at HODGETOWN. Featherston's three home runs consisted of a solo, two-run, and three-run home runs. Featherston's three home runs mark the most an individual has hit against the Sod Poodles in a single game.

First Go For Gore: LHP MacKenzie Gore, ranked as baseball's number 3-rated prospect, made his second Double-A start for the Sod Poodles and his first-career start at HODGETOWN on Friday. He did not get a decision after he tossed four innings while allowing a career-high nine hits and seven runs with four strikeouts. The 20-year-old was drafted in the first round (3rd overall) of the 2017 MLB draft out of Whiteville High School in North Carolina.

Potts For President: In 18 games since being taken off of the injured list, Hudson Potts has collected five multi-hit games and has totaled five doubles and five home runs with 18 RBI. On Friday, he collected his fourth three-hit game of 2019 and second in six games.

Comeback Kids: The Sod Poodles completed two consecutive six-run comebacks on Thursday and Friday night. Despite falling short in Thursday's contest, the Sod Poodles claimed victory Friday with the comeback plus the lead to win 12-8 over the Naturals. The biggest deficit Amarillo has overcome in a game in eight runs which happened on May 26 against Midland.

Count It: Edward Olivares slugged his team-leading 14th and 15th home runs of the season in the sixth inning and eighth inning Friday night. It marked three total in his last seven games and second multi-home run performance this season.

17 Game Hit-Streak: Ivan Castillo, who ranks first in Double-A with a .345 batting average, extended his hit streak to 17 games Saturday night. Castillo is 26-for-71 with 15 RBI, ten runs, three home runs, six doubles, and three walks during the 17-game stretch. Castillo's 17 game hit streak is the second-longest this season in the Texas League and is a franchise high for the Soddies.

Welcome Back, Lloyd: Kyle Lloyd, who was transferred back to Amarillo from Triple-A El Paso on Friday, appeared the same night, following Gore's four-inning start. In four innings of work, he held the Naturals bats to just two hits with a run allowed with five strikeouts. He collected his fourth win in his 19th game with Amarillo.

Hit Machine: Owen Miller continued his hitting ways Friday with his 32nd multi-hit performance, including his 19th and 20th doubles (four doubles in last five games). His 108 hits lead the Texas League and is second in all of Double-A.

Gone Cold: After combining for 28 hits and 21 runs over their last two games on Thursday and Friday, the Sod Poodles offense was kept at bay Saturday night as they totaled three runs on eight hits.

Wild Win: The Sod Poodles marked just their fifth win of the season when trailing after six innings and eighth win when tied after seven innings.

Sellout Streak: Following Saturday's game of 6,443 fans at HODGETOWN, the Sod Poodles have hosted 17 straight sellouts and 27 overall so far during the 2019 season in 47 home games.

Triple's Alley: Taylor Kohlwey and Edward Olivares both roped their first Double-A triples this season Thursday night against the Cardinals. Kohlwey recorded two triples with High-A Lake Elsinore before being promoted to Amarillo and four triples last season with Double-A San Antonio. Olivares recorded a career-high ten triples last season with Lake Elsinore.

Pinch Hit Dinger: Luis Torrens blasted a pinch-hit solo home run in the bottom of the eighth inning Thursday to tie the ballgame up late at 9-9. This was the second pinch-hit home run of the season for the Sod Poodles as Peter Van Gansen hit a solo home run in the eighth inning on June 20th at Tulsa.

Straight Gas: Sod Poodles reliever Dauris Valdez was brilliant Thursday night against Springfield as he tossed two scoreless innings where he struck out three Cardinal batters. Nine of Valdez's 27 pitches hit 100 plus miles per hour with two of those nine pitches topping out at 101 miles per hour. This is the second straight appearance that Valdez has went two scoreless innings with the last coming on July 13th at Frisco.

Baez Rollin: Reliever Michel Baez recorded another stellar outing Wednesday night with two hitless innings. In eight and two-thirds innings tossed this month, he has only allowed one run, four hits and struck out nine.

Inside-the-Park Grand Slam: In the seventh inning of Tuesday night's ballgame, Kyle Overstreet hit an inside-the-park grand slam. The grand slam was the first in franchise history and Overstreet's second career grand slam. Overstreet's last grand slam was of the walk-off variety coming on May 5th, 2018 against the Corpus Christi Hooks to complete a five-run ninth-inning comeback victory.

Check out the Amarillo Sod Poodles Statistics

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Texas League Stories from July 20, 2019


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