RoughRiders Look to Defend Their Texas League Title in 2023
April 6, 2023 - Texas League (TL)
Frisco RoughRiders News Release
The Frisco RoughRiders finished the season on top of the Texas League for the second time in franchise history. The Riders won the Texas League South Division Second Half Championship to book their trip to the playoffs on September 16th in Northwest Arkansas and hosted game one of the playoffs against San Antonio on September 20th. After winning 7-3 in come-from-behind fashion, the Riders swept the Missions with a 5-2 victory down at Nelson W. Wolff Municipal Stadium.
That set up a championship series against the Minnesota Twins-affiliated Wichita Wind Surge. Riders catcher Scott Kapers led the way in game one, homer- ing twice - including a grand slam - in an 11-3 thumping of the Surge. Shortstop Jonathan Ornelas collected four hits on the day and Forney, Texas native Mason Englert threw 5.1 innings in his start, allowing just one run in the win.
Game two was an instant-classic with the Riders winning 7-5 in 10 innings. After Wichita starter Brent Headrick struck out 11 batters over seven shutout innings, the Riders trailed 2-0 into the eighth inning. Frisco tied the game with two runs in the eighth before Wichita took the lead back with a run in the bottom of the inning. Down to their final strike in the ninth, Thomas Saggese singled in the game-tying run and the Riders opened the flood gates with four runs in the top of the 10th to take a big lead. Two runs in the bottom of the 10th were not enough for Wichita as they fell in the Championship Series for the second year in a row.
OPENING ACT:
This will be the 20th Opening Day in RoughRiders history. Here are some by-the-numbers facts about Opening Day: The Riders are 10-9 on the first day of the season (3-6 since 2013) and have been outscored 80-58, in large part due to two blowout losses (15-2 in 2003 and 16-4 in 2009). In 2022, the RoughRid- ers took down the Arkansas Travelers 5-4 in come-from-behind fashion, scoring two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, including a go-ahead RBI double from Ezequiel Duran. This season's opener will be the 13th home opener on Opening Day in the franchise's history. Since 2005, the Riders have welcomed 98,212 fans on those openers for an average of 8,184 per game (7,748 is fixed-seating capacity).
VERSUS THE SODDIES:
Since the Sod Poodles joined the Texas League in 2019, Frisco and Amarillo have played each other very closely. The Riders have the slim all-time advan- tage over the Soddies, going 40-37 against them and are 19-15 at Riders Field head-to-head. Last season, the RoughRiders swung the bat extremely well against the Diamondback affiliate, not only at the hitter-friendly confines of HODGETOWN, but at Riders Field as well. In their 18 games, the Riders went 11-7 against Amarillo, hitting .317/.396/.617/1.013 with 47 home runs (2.6 per game) and 152 runs (8.4 per game). Blaine Crim hit .444/.471/.905/1.376 with nine home runs and 20 RBIs in 15 games against the Sod Poodles while Justin Foscue added eight home runs of his own while slashing .338/.411/.769/.1.180.
MEET THE NEW SKIPPER:
A new year welcomes a new face at the helm of the RoughRiders. Carlos Cardoza gets the bump up from High-A Hickory in 2023 and he brings a history of winning with him. The Puerto Rico native piloted the Crawdads to a 66-65 record last season and has amassed a 312-207 (.601) total over his six seasons as a skipper. With Down East, he took the Wood Ducks to the Low-A East Championship Series before falling to Charleston. Prior to his time in Down East, he managed the Arizona League Rangers (2019), winning the AZL Championship, and Dominican Summer League Rangers (2016-2019), twice reaching the championship series. Hired on by the Rangers in 2015, Cardoza was the head coach at his alma mater, Decatur High School, in Georgia for two years. As a player, Cardoza spent two seasons at Georgia State University and two years at Armstrong Atlantic State, where he was a gold glove second baseman and All-Peach Belt Conference selection.
LOOK AT ALL THAT TALENT:
This year's squad features nine of the top 30 prospects in the Rangers organization. Texas' No. 2 overall prospect Evan Carter highlights the bunch that includes four of the top five prospects in Carter, No. 3 RHP Owen White, No. 4 INF Luisangel Acuña and No. 5 RHP Jack Leiter. Outside of the top five, OF Dustin Harris slots in at No. 8 in his return to Frisco from last season after missing the last month with a wrist injury. The last four prospects are No. 12 RHP Tekoah Roby, No. 16 INF Thomas Saggese, No. 20 RHP Marc Church and No. 24 LHP Antoine Kelly. Out of the nine, eight are returning players with Roby being the only newcomer to the Frisco roster.
LOTS OF FAMILIAR FACES:
Toward the end of the 2022 season, the Rangers moved a lot of players up to Frisco which has led to 21 returning players on the RoughRiders Opening Day roster for the 2023 season. On the starting staff, Jack Leiter and Owen White return along with Antoine Kelly. In the bullpen, Nick Starr, Grant Wolfram and Justin Slaten are the only three that were on the 2022 Opening Day roster as well while Marc Church, John Matthews and Triston Polley all joined later in the year. Both Scott Kapers and David Garcia were pivotal in the Riders championship run at catcher. Five of the seven infielders (Jax Biggers, Luisangel Acuña, Frainyer Chavez, Thomas Saggese and Josh Sale) are back and all four listed outfielders (Dustin Harris, Kellen Strahm, Evan Carter and Trevor Hauver). Alex Speas is the only returner who didn't play in 2022 as he was a RoughRiders pitcher in 2021. Out of the 21 returning players, 15 were active when the RoughRiders won the Texas League Championship last year.
Texas League Stories from April 6, 2023
- Veneziano, Bonifacio Lead Naturals to Opening Night Victory - Northwest Arkansas Naturals
- Surge Win Season Opener - Wichita Wind Surge
- Cardinals Drop Season Opener to Surge, 4-1 - Springfield Cardinals
- RoughRiders Rout Amarillo on Opening Day - Frisco RoughRiders
- Travs Win Season Opener - Arkansas Travelers
- Drillers Open Season with Shutout Victory - Tulsa Drillers
- Sod Poodles Drop First Game of 2023 Season - Amarillo Sod Poodles
- Espada Shines in Double-A Debut, Missions Fall to Drillers on Opening Night - San Antonio Missions
- Sod Poodles Game Notes: April 6 at Frisco - Amarillo Sod Poodles
- Hooks Game Notes: Apr 6 vs. Arkansas - Corpus Christi Hooks
- RoughRiders Look to Defend Their Texas League Title in 2023 - Frisco RoughRiders
- Leody Taveras Slated to Rehab in Frisco - Frisco RoughRiders
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
