TL1 Amarillo Sod Poodles

Sod Poodles Rally with Ten Unanswered Runs to Defeat Naturals 12-8 Friday Night

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


AMARILLO, Texas - The Amarillo Sod Poodles rallied back from a six-run deficit for a second consecutive night at HODGETOWN, tying the game in the bottom of the seventh inning and taking home the 12-8 victory over the Northwest Arkansas Naturals after a four-run eighth inning to total 10 unanswered runs in front of another sellout crowd of over 6,800.

Northwest Arkansas struck first as they plated three runs on four hits in the top of the first inning. After a leadoff bunt single by Nick Heath, he stole second base and then advanced to third base on a wild pitch. Kevin Merrell struck an RBI single to left-center field in the next at-bat which scored Heath. Gabriel Cancel followed with a single advancing Merrell to third base. Khalil Lee then belted an RBI double to left field. Taylor Featherston grounded out which resulted in an infield double play and first and third base but Cancel scored before the third out was recorded to give the Naturals the 3-0 lead.

In the top of the third inning, Cancel hit a solo home run to left-center field to extend the Naturals lead to 4-0.

Northwest Arkansas tacked on three runs in the fourth inning as Freddy Fermin and Angelo Castellano hit back-to-back home runs to stretch the Naturals lead to 7-0. In the bottom of the inning, Edward Olivares was hit by a pitch and then came around to score courtesy of a Luis Torrens two-run RBI double by Hudson Potts to cut the Northwest Arkansas lead to 7-2.

In the top of the sixth inning, the Naturals third baseman Angelo Castellano hit a solo home run to left field to extend the Northwest Arkansas lead to 8-1.

Amarillo answered right back in the bottom of the inning, scoring five runs on four hits. Edward Olivares initiated the scoring via a solo home run to left field. Owen Miller then worked a walk followed by a Hudson Potts single to bring up Kyle Overstreet. Overstreet roped a single to left field scoring Miller. Buddy Reed continued the inning with a two-run RBI single to center field. Reed later came around to score when he stole second base and scored on a throwing error on the catcher and fielding error by the centerfielder to narrow the Naturals lead to 8-7.

Amarillo tied the ballgame up at 8-8 in the bottom of the seventh inning when Ivan Castillo started the inning off with a single to center field and then advanced to third base on pitcher Conner Greene's overthrown ball on a pickoff attempt. Olivares plated Castillo with a single to left field tying the ballgame.

In the eighth inning, the Sod Poodles completed their comeback, scoring four runs on three hits to take a 12-8 lead. Overstreet opened the inning with a single to left-center field. Taylor Kohlwey, who entered the game as a pinch-runner for Overstreet, proceeded to steal second base during Reed's at-bat and Reed eventually worked a six-pitch walk placing runners on first and second. Two batters later, with two outs, Castillo hit an infield single to shortstop that allowed Kohlwey to score. Finally, Olivares capped off the comeback with a crushed three-run home run to left-center.

In the top of the ninth inning, David Bednar came on to close out the ballgame. After Fermin reached on an infield error, Bednar settled down, retiring the next two via strikeout and ending the game on a groundout.

The Sod Poodles head into the second game of the four-game set with the Northwest Arkansas Naturals Saturday night at HODGETOWN. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

NOTES:

Tomorrow's Preview: The Sod Poodles continue into game two of the four-game series with the Northwest Arkansas Naturals Saturday at HODGETOWN. Adrian Morejon will make the start for the Soddies and will face righty Ofreidy Gomez.

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 17 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 17 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.

16 Game Hit-Streak: Ivan Castillo, who ranks first in Double-A with a .343 batting average, extended his hit streak to 16 games Friday night. Castillo is 24-for-66 with 14 RBI, eight runs, two home runs, six doubles, and three walks during the 16-game stretch. Castillo's 16 game hit streak is the second-longest this season in the Texas League and is a new 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.

Bats Alive!: The Sod Poodles have combined for 28 hits and 21 runs over their last two games on Thursday and Friday. Sixteen of the 21 runs were scored from the fifth inning on.

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 Friday's game of 6,811 fans at HODGETOWN, the Sod Poodles have hosted 16 straight sellouts and 26 overall so far during the 2019 season in 46 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.

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Texas League Stories from July 20, 2019


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