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TL1 Amarillo Sod Poodles

Sod Poodles Reel in Series Win with 11-6 Victory over Hooks

June 30, 2019 - Texas League (TL1)
Amarillo Sod Poodles News Release


AMARILLO, Texas - The Sod Poodles were victorious by a final score of 11-6 Sunday night in front of 6,880 at HODGETOWN to mark their third straight win. Outfielder Taylor Kohlwey led the Amarillo offense with his 2-for-4 night with a walk, two runs and two RBI. Soddies starting pitcher Ronald Bolaños was brilliant as he went five and two-thirds innings and earned his second win. Bolaños allowed three runs on four hits and struck out eight Hooks batters.

The Hooks got an early jump in the top of the first when Bryan De La Cruz homered on the very first pitch of the game to give the Hooks the 1-0 lead. Corpus Christi plated one more run in the inning when Ronnie Dawson scored on a wild pitch delivered from Bolaños to push their lead to 2-0.

In the bottom of the first inning, Amarillo knotted the contest up at 2-2 when they plated two runs on two hits. The first run came courtesy of an Edward Olivares sacrifice fly to allow Taylor Kohlwey, who singled, to trot home. Ivan Castillo scored the second run of the inning after he doubled and scored on a Luis Torrens' RBI single.

The Sod Poodles tacked on two more runs in the second inning after Brad Zunica walked and Buddy Reed doubled to clear way for Kohlwey's two-RBI single to right field to give Amarillo the 4-2 advantage.

In the fourth, the Sod Poodles opened up the ballgame, scoring five runs in the half. Two consecutive singles by Peter Van Gansen and Kyle Overstreet led to Zunica's single to plate one run. Then, after a bunt single by Kohlwey to load the bases, Castillo plated Kyle Overstreet on a ground out to deep shortstop. The final runs of the inning came on Owen Miller's two-out, two-RBI single to center field to extend the Sod Poodles lead to 9-2.

Corpus Christi responded in the fifth inning with Osvaldo Duarte's home run to left field to cut the Amarillo lead to 9-3. But, in the bottom of the inning, Amarillo stretched the lead to 11-3 when Buddy Reed belted a two-RBI double to bring around Overstreet, who walked. Zunica, who also walked in the inning, advanced home on a passed ball by Hooks catcher Chuckie Robinson.

Abraham Toro bashed his 13th home run of the season in the top of the seventh inning to make the score 11-4. Then, in the eighth, the Hooks tacked on two more runs via a De La Cruz double to narrow the Sod Poodles lead to 11-6.

Soddies reliever Travis Radke came on in the eighth inning and tossed one and one-third innings to close out the ballgame, striking out four of the five batters he faced to secure the victory and series win for Amarillo.

The Sod Poodles will hit the road Monday and head to Midland for a three-game series before coming back home for a four-game set with the Frisco RoughRiders.

NOTES:

Tomorrow's Preview: The Sod Poodles enter into game one of a three-game series against the RockHounds in Midland. Righty Emmanuel Ramirez gets the start for the Sod Poodles in the series opener and will match up against righty Kyle Friedrichs.

Series Victory: The Sod Poodles collected their 10th series win of 2019. It was their first series win of the second half and first since taking the Tulsa three-game home series with two wins in mid-June. Amarillo now has 10 series wins, 10 losses and three splits.

Bolaños Delivered: Righty Cuban starter Ronald Bolaños tossed a gem Sunday evening. In his fourth start with Amarillo, he went five and two-thirds innings while allowing three runs on four hits with eight strikeouts, just under his career-high of nine strikeouts.

Hits For All: On Sunday, every Sod Poodles batter recorded a hit. It marked the second time the team reached the feat. The first time it happened was on May 5 versus Arkansas at HODGETOWN. Additionally, all players except two in the lineup on Sunday recorded a run scored and RBI.

Double-Double: Outfielder Buddy Reed collected two doubles Sunday evening against Corpus Christi, marking his seventh and eighth of 2019. It was his first multi-double game of the season and ninth of his career.

Five Spot: Amarillo's five-run fourth inning marked the fifth time in 2019 they did so. The last time the squad plated five in a frame was on May 25 versus Midland at HODGETOWN (6th inning).

Back in the Win Column: The Sod Poodles won their third straight game Sunday night after dropping the previous three straight. The win marked Amarillo's fourth of the second half, improving their half record to 4-6.

What We Love About Sundays: The Sod Poodles improved to an 8-4 record on Sundays with their 11-6 victory over the Hooks. The final day of the week holds the second-highest winning percentage for the squad.

Top Performers: The Sod Poodles currently possess two of the top hitters in the Texas League. Ivan Castillo leads the circuit and all of Double-A with a .344 batting average. Owen Miller's ranks 5th in the Texas League with a .305 batting average. Miller leads the Texas league in total hits with 91. That is 11 more than any other player in the Texas League. Frisco's Charles LeBlanc ranks 2nd with 80 hits.

Sellout Streak: Following Sunday evening's 6,880, HODGETOWN has hosted eight straight sellouts and 16 overall so far during the 2019 season.

New HODGETOWN High: On Saturday, June 29, a new attendance record was set after 7,386 fans packed HODGETOWN in downtown Amarillo.

BIG Fly: Soddies outfielder Edward Olivares belted his second home run in as many nights Saturday evening to give him 11 homers on the season. With the home run, Olivares is tied for the most home runs on the Sod Poodles roster with first baseman Brad Zunica (11).

FOURR: Edward Olivares and Taylor Kohlwey both collected four-hit nights Saturday night. It was Olivares' second straight multi-hit game, 25th overall multi-hit bout and fourth multi-hit performance in his last six games. It also marked his third three-RBI game of 2019, giving him a total of 11 multi-RBI games. It marked Kohlwey's first four-hit game with the Sod Poodles in 2019 and second in his career since last season on August 3 at Midland.

Castillo Goes Deep: Ivan Castillo marked his fifth two-RBI game on his second two-run home run of the season on Saturday night against the Hooks. He now has four home runs in 2019.

Third Amarillo Start: Right-hander Nick Margevicius completed a strong third start with Amarillo Saturday evening against Corpus Christi. Over five innings, he allowed just two runs on six hits while walking none and striking out two batters.

Maki Time: Submariner Kazuhisa Makita made his first appearance for Amarillo since June 14. Over two innings, the Japan native went the minimum six batters with a strikeout.

Swipin' Bags: Edward Olivares collected his 21st stolen bag Saturday night. His total ranks Olivares third in the Texas League in the category and is seventh in all of Double-A. Nick Heath of Northwest Arkansas ranks first at the Double-A level with 42 stolen bases this season.

Cycles Just Missed: Ivan Castillo was a home run short of the cycle Friday night versus the Hooks while Edward Olivares came just short himself, finishing a triple short Saturday night.

6TH Great Lake: Lake Bachar tossed 5.1 innings in relief Friday night against the Corpus Christi Hooks, as he earned his fourth win of the season. Bachar allowed three runs on seven hits and struck out four batters in his 89 pitch performance.

Different Night, Same Result: Luis Torrens hit his second home run in as many nights Friday against the Hooks. The home run was his fifth of the season with all his long balls being of the solo variedly.

Game Twos: After defeating the Corpus Christi Hooks by a final score of 6-4 Friday, the Sod Poodles improve their game two record to 16-7. In series openers, Amarillo holds a record of 5-18.

Baker Bomb: Chris Baker hit his first home run Friday night since May 22nd against the Corpus Christi Hooks. Baker now has two home runs on the 2019 campaign.

He's Got A Cannon: Catcher Luis Torrens threw out three Corpus Christi base runners in Friday night's game. Torrens holds a caught stealing percentage of .528 (28-for-53) which leads all Amarillo catchers this season. Torrens leads all of Double-A with his 28 caught stealing.

Futures Call: Amarillo Sod Poodles southpaw and Padres' number six-rated prospect (MLB.com) Adrian Morejon was selected to the National League roster for the 2019 SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game, which will be played at 7:00 p.m. (ET) on Sunday, July 7th at Progressive Field in Cleveland. Rosters were announced by Major League Baseball earlier today on MLB Network's "MLB Central." The SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game, which is now in its 21st year, features the top Minor League prospects competing as part of All-Star Sunday. Morejon (Amarillo) is one of three San Diego Padres' Minor League pitching prospects selected to the roster. The other two include number two-rated prospect (MLB.com) and North Carolina native Mackenzie Gore (Lake Elsinore) and number 9-rated prospect (MLB.com) and Colombia native Luis Patiño (Lake Elsinore).

Throwing Ched: Michel Baez tossed two innings against Corpus Christi, Thursday and struck out five of the six batters he faced. Baez has struck out 29 batters this season which ranks 6th among Amarillo relievers.

Hosed: Edward Olivares recorded his third outfield assist Sunday afternoon against the Drillers. All three of Olivares's assists have come while playing right field. Last season Olivares collected 11 assists with High-A Lake Elsinore.

Post-season in the Panhandle: Amarillo clinched a spot in the 2019 postseason on June 17 as they beat the Naturals 8-2, while division rival Midland fell to Springfield, 3-0. Amarillo will host the first two games of the Texas League Division Series on September 4th and 5th. The Sod Poodles made quite the run to the Texas League South First Half title in 2019. On May 16, the Soddies were in last place in the division and trailed the division leader by 6 games.

What's Coming Up: Amarillo will hit the road once again on Monday to face their Oil-Pan Cup rival, the Midland RockHounds for a three-game set in Midland. The Sod Poodles will return home on July 4 to begin a four-game set against the Texas Rangers Double-A affiliate, the Frisco RoughRiders.

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