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TL Frisco RoughRiders

Roughriders Thump Amarillo in Season Opener

April 7, 2023 - Texas League (TL)
Frisco RoughRiders News Release


In front of a crowd of over 8,000 on Opening Day, the Frisco RoughRiders thumped the Amarillo Sod Poodles 12-4 on Thursday night from Riders Field. After a back-and-forth affair, a six-run fifth inning separated the Riders for good. Frisco (1-0) jumped out in front early in the second with four runs. Scott Kapers dribbled an infield RBI single to third for the first tally before a wild pitch brought in Thomas Saggese to make it 2-0. Evan Carter then extended the lead to 4-0 with a two-run triple, which was dropped to a single after he missed second base upon appeal.

In the third, the Sod Poodles (0-1) struck back with a Jordan Lawlar two-run home run off of Frisco starter Jack Leiter to make it 4-2 Frisco. After a two-run shot from Amarillo's Adrian Del Castillo in the fourth tied the game at 4-4, the Riders jumped back out in front 6-4 on a Kapers sac- rifice fly and a throwing error by the pitcher Bryce Jarvis (0-1), allowing Diosbel Arias to score. In the fifth, Frisco poured it on. Trevor Hauver blew the game open with a grand slam to right, the first RoughRiders home run of the season, before Kapers added an RBI triple and Carter plated another run with an RBI single to balloon the lead to 12-4. Carter, Dustin Harris, Kapers and Kellen Strahm all collected multi-hit nights as the Riders banged out 10 hits. In his start Leiter, allowed four runs on three hits, three walks with five strikeouts. He went 4.1 innings, retiring the first man he saw in the fifth before the bullpen took over for 4.2 scoreless innings. Grant Anderson (1-0) earned the win for his 2.2 innings, paired with a scoreless frame by Alex Speas and a scoreless ninth inning for Theo McDowell.

OPENING ACT:

Last night marked the 20th Opening Day in RoughRiders history. Here are some by-the-numbers facts about Opening Day: The Riders are now 11-9 on the first day of the season (4-6 since 2013) and have been outscored 84-70, in large part due to two blowout losses (15-2 in 2003 and 16-4 in 2009). In 2022, the RoughRiders 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 is the 14th 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).

A GRAND BEGINNING:

The RoughRiders saw history last night against the Sod Poodles. Trevor Hauver became the first RoughRiders player in franchise history to hit a grand slam on Opening Day. It was not the first home run that Hauver had hit on Opening Day, though. To begin 2021 with the Tampa Tarpons in the Yankees system, Hauver homered twice on Opening Day and then homered in the next four games consecutively. Through the first five games of the 2021 season, Hauver hit .556 (10-for-18)/.654/1.611/2.265 with a double, six home runs, 13 RBIs and 7 walks.

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 advantage 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 Champion- ship last year.

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