Long Ball Leads the Way in Amarillo Win Saturday
TL Amarillo Sod Poodles

Long Ball Leads the Way in Amarillo Win Saturday

July 5, 2025 - Texas League (TL)
Amarillo Sod Poodles News Release


AMARILLO, TX -- The Amarillo Sod Poodles (38-42) defeated the Midland RockHounds (43-37), 10-2, on Saturday night at HODGETOWN. Using seven combined runs in the seventh and eighth innings amidst another three-homer effort from the home team, the Sod Poodles win their second straight.

Midland got to work early this evening, scratching the first run of the game in the first inning as T.J. Schofield-Sam drove in Colby Halter with an RBI single for the 1-0 RockHounds lead.

Jimmy Endersby, the Amarillo starter, settled in afterwards, limiting the RockHounds to one run through the first three innings, striking out four batters along the way in his Sod Poodles debut.

Leading off the bottom of the third with a base knock was Tommy Troy. The second baseman stole two bases to work his way up to third. After Ryan Waldschmidt reached on a walk, a double steal was put in motion and Troy beat the throw home from the shortstop, knotting the score at one apiece.

With one away in the home half of the fourth, Ivan Melendez worked the count full and connected on the eighth pitch of the at-bat, sending it deep beyond the left field wall. The 430-foot home run put the Sod Poodles in the lead, 2-1.

Later in the frame, Troy doubled to bring home Kristian Robinson, who also reached base with a two-bagger, extending the Amarillo advantage to two. A wild pitch allowed Sahid Valenzuela to sprint home from third in the fifth to plate a Midland run, making it a 3-2 ballgame.

The Sod Poodles tacked on two in the seventh with a pair of RBI singles off the bats of Christian Cerda and Melendez to extend the Amarillo lead to three.

An inning later, the Sod Poodles added five runs worth of insurance, beginning with a solo home run from Troy. A Manuel Pena double set the table for Waldschmidt who drove him in with a double of his own. A Jose Fernandez RBI knock preceded a two-run blast off the bat of Cerda to cap the scoring.

Hayden Durke, the righty drafted out of Rice University in 2023, had entered the game in the eighth and trotted back out to finish the game in the ninth. He struck out five batters in total, earning his fourth save of the year to complete the 10-2 Sod Poodles win.

The Sod Poodles finish the three-game home set against Midland tomorrow with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m. on Sunday night against the RockHounds. Amarillo will send RHP Jose Cabrera (3-3, 5.96) to the mound while RHP Kyle Robinson (1-3, 5.03) gets the starting nod for Midland.

POSTGAME NOTES

TOP JIMMY: Making his first career appearance as a Sod Poodle tonight was Jimmy Endersby ...the righty tossed five innings, allowing two runs on six hits with six strikeouts...he becomes the 11th starter pitching in Sod Poodles history to earn the win in his Amarillo debut.

MANNY MANIA: Checking in with a pair of base knocks tonight was Manuel Pena as the third baseman went 2-for-5 with a run and a double...his sixth multi-hit effort in his most recent eight games...over that same period of time (since June 26), is batting .395 (15-for-38) with nine runs, four doubles, a triple, two home runs, seven RBI, and an 1.136 OPS.

Check out the Amarillo Sod Poodles Statistics



Texas League Stories from July 5, 2025


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