Jones Hits First Cycle in Soddies History En Route to Victory over RockHounds
TL Amarillo Sod Poodles

Jones Hits First Cycle in Soddies History En Route to Victory over RockHounds

Published on April 29, 2026 under Texas League (TL)
Amarillo Sod Poodles News Release


MIDLAND, TX -- The Amarillo Sod Poodles (11-12) defeated the Midland RockHounds (17-6), 10-2, on Wednesday night at Momentum Bank Ballpark. A historic night fueled by the first cycle in Sod Poodles history puts Amarillo back in the win column to continue their recent hot stretch.

Amarillo struck first this evening, using a one-out Gavin Conticello double to jumpstart the Sod Poodle offense. A wild pitch moved the outfielder up 90 feet on the sacks, allowing a fly ball to right field off the bat of Angel Ortiz to be productive as it was deep enough to score Conticello and give the visitors the early advantage. The RockHounds equalized as Ryan Lasko worked his way up to third on a one-out triple and eventually scored on a balk later in the frame.

As the game rolled into the third, Junior Franco walked and quickly swiped second to provide an early scoring opportunity, one that Druw Jones took advantage of. The 16th ranked Diamondbacks prospect roped one into the right-center field gap, allowing Franco to jog home on what ended up being a three-bagger for Jones. This time around, Cristofer Torin came through with a productive out, bringing in Amarillo's third run of the night on a sac fly.

Soddies starter Josh Grosz picked up a pair of punchouts in the home third and a scoreless fourth would immediately follow. A trio of base knocks led off the top of the fifth, resulting in a Torin RBI single that extended the Amarillo lead. With the bases chucked and two away later in the inning, Conticello came through with a single to center, bringing two more runs across for the 6-1 edge.

Antonio Menendez would be first out of the Amarillo bullpen, working efficiently in the fifth to retire the side in order, inducing three groundouts to get the Soddies back in the dugout. The sidewinder trotted back out to the mound for the sixth and faced the minimum, picking up a strikeout along the way.

While Midland scratched a run in the bottom of the seventh, the eighth inning brought the fireworks as a two-out rally was highlighted by a Jones two-run bomb to right-center that completed the first cycle in Sod Poodles history. The power surge continued in the next at-bat as Torin slugged a solo blast down the left field line to push the Amarillo run total to 10. Alfred Morillo was called on to pitch the ninth and struck out the side in order to cap the historic night, giving Amarillo the 10-2 win over the RockHounds.

POSTGAME NOTES

JUST HOW WE DRUW IT UP: Hitting for the cycle this evening was Druw Jones ...he did so by collecting a triple in the third, a single in the fifth, a double in the sixth, and a home run in the eighth...the first Soddie to ever hit for the cycle...he is the first Texas Leaguer to hit for the cycle since Kyle Nevin did so for Tulsa on 8/13/25.

MELLOW CELLO: Checking in with a multi-hit game this evening was Gavin Conticello ...he has reached base safely six times over 10 plate appearances to open the series at Midland.

Check out the Amarillo Sod Poodles Statistics

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Texas League Stories from April 29, 2026


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