Three Ninth-Inning Runs Give Missions Electrifying Series Win in Amarillo

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TL San Antonio Missions

Three Ninth-Inning Runs Give Missions Electrifying Series Win in Amarillo

June 15, 2025 - Texas League (TL)
San Antonio Missions News Release


AMARILLO, Texas - Kai Murphy broke a 5-5 tie in the ninth with a bases loaded single that ended up scoring three runs, allowing the San Antonio Missions (35-28) to depart Hodgetown with an 8-5 victory and series win over the Amarillo Sod Poodles (27-36).

Manuel Castro's two clean innings with five strikeouts earned him the win, and Brandon Valenzuela hit another mammoth late-inning homer. The Missions tied Midland for second place in the Texas League South and sit 1.5 games back of first place Frisco with the RoughRiders coming to the Alamo City for six games beginning on Tuesday night.

San Antonio scored a run in each of the first two innings against Amarillo opener Alec Baker. Anthony Vilar drove in Francisco Acuña with a sacrifice fly in the first, and Moisès Gòmez, after missing a week of action, returned with a ringing RBI double that scored Kai Murphy and gave the Missions a 2-0 lead.

Ivan Melendez answered in the second with a solo homer to left against Missions starter Jagger Haynes. This kicked off four straight innings with a run for Amarillo. The next came when Tommy Troy doubled with two outs in the third, and Kristian Robinson scored all the way from first after the throw into the infield got away.

The Missions broke the 2-2 tie in the fourth thanks to Nerwilian Cedeño's RBI single off Jhosmer Alvarez, who had replaced Baker. Wyatt Hoffman's bunt then gave San Antonio a chance with two more in scoring position. Acuña hit it sharply to left, where Caleb Roberts caught it and charged a throw home in time for J.J. D'Orazio to tag out Gòmez. Still, San Antonio led 3-2.

That lead barely lasted as with two outs in the bottom of the fourth and Jesus Valdez at first, Caleb Roberts chopped a ball over the first baseman Romeo Sanabria that stayed fair and rattled in the corner. Valdez managed to rush all the way from first to even things back up.

Alvarez tossed a clean fifth to bring his bats back to the plate. A walk to Robinson knocked out Haynes, and Josè Geraldo took the mound. Robinson stole second to reach scoring position, which helped him score when LuJames Groover delivered a two-out, two-strike hit into center field. For the first time in the game, Amarillo led 4-3 after five.

The first two Missions reached in the sixth, but consecutive sharply hit balls by Gòmez and Cedeño went to the wrong spots, leading to a double play and a lineout to right.

It looked like Amarillo would add to their advantage when Valdez doubled and Roberts singled to begin the home half of the sixth. That's when Tyson Neighbors entered for his second Double-A outing. Roberts made it to second on a wild pitch, so Amarillo had two in scoring position with no one out. The 22-year-old punched out D'Orazio and then broke Kevin Graham's bat, inducing a weak line drive to short. Acuña dove to his right, made the catch, then threw to third to double up Valdez and put out the fire.

Philip Abner came in for Alvarez in the seventh, allowing late-inning lightning to strike. Two were down and Acuña stood on first when Brandon Valenzuela demolished a ball 429ft over the center field wall and 101mph off the bat to jolt the Missions ahead 5-4.

On the very first pitch Neighbors threw in the seventh with the Missions on top, Robinson smashed his own homer 105mph off the bat to level the game at 5-5. Neighbors completed the frame, but the game sat in a draw.

San Antonio loaded the bases in the eighth, but Zane Russell, who created the jam, escaped it as well. Manuel Castro then set down the Sod Poodles in order, so the game went into the ninth tied.

Vilar sparked the rally against Landon Sims with a lead-off walk. He moved to third on Valenzuela's single, and Sims decided to intentionally walk Sanabria to load the bases. Sims forced Castañon to pop up, bringing Murphy to the dish. Murphy slapped a pitch to the left side and snuck it past the drawn-in infield. One run scored at first, but as Roberts sought to make a throw home, he let the ball roll under his glove. This allowed two more runs to score, so the Missions led 8-5 in the blink of an eye.

Castro stayed on for the ninth and struck out the side to seal an exhilarating game and series win for San Antonio.

UP NEXT:

After an off day, the Missions head home to host the Frisco RoughRiders in the final six-game series of the first half. First pitch is on Tuesday at 7:05 p.m at Nelson Wolff Stadium. Starters have yet to be announced. It is AARP $2 Tuesday, so fans can get $2 bullpen/outfield reserved/berm tickets, $2 American draft beer, $2 hot dogs and $2 Sofia's pizza slices. Catch all the action on Country Legends KKYX, 680 AM, 104.9 FM and kkyx.com. Tickets are available at samissions.com or by calling 210-675-7275. Fans can also visit the box office at Wolff Stadium on gamedays.

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