Sod Poodles Secure Spot in Texas League Playoffs with Win Over Missions
AMARILLO, TX (September 8, 2026) -- The Amarillo Sod Poodles (37-27, 73-59) defeated the San Antonio Missions (27-37, 58-75), 7-6, on Tuesday night at HODGETOWN. Amarillo did its part, while Midland’s loss just minutes later secured the Texas League South Division Second Half title and a playoff appearance for the
AMARILLO, TX (September 8, 2026) -- The Amarillo Sod Poodles (37-27, 73-59) defeated the San Antonio Missions (27-37, 58-75), 7-6, on Tuesday night at HODGETOWN. Amarillo did its part, while Midland’s loss just minutes later secured the Texas League South Division Second Half title and a playoff appearance for the Soddies.
The San Antonio bats were attacking Soddies starter Mason Marriott early in counts in the top of the first inning. Two batters after a leadoff single by Kai Roberts on the first pitch of the game, Tirso Ornelas banged an RBI double off the top of the center field wall to open the scoring.
On the very next offering from Marriott, Romeo Sanabria grounded a ball sharply through the hole on the right side of the infield to plate Ornelas and double the Missions advantage. Amarillo’s offense was also ready from the very start, with Cristofer Torin providing an answer in the form of his 16th home run of the season to cut the deficit in half in the home half of the first.
After some loud outs against San Antonio starting pitcher Victor Lizarraga over the first and second innings, the Sod Poodles broke out against the right-hander in the bottom of the fourth. All nine batters in the lineup stepped up to the plate, beginning with a leadoff reached on error from Torin to set up Avery Owusu-Asiedu’s go-ahead, 483-foot bomb off the flag pole beyond center field.
The Soddies weren’t done in the frame just yet, as an Angel Ortiz double and base hit by Ben McLaughlin put runners on the corners with none out, allowing Ortiz to score the third run of the frame on a fielder’s choice. Lizarraga remained in the game for a fifth inning of work, where a two-out walk to Ortiz wound up hurting him when McLaughlin deposited a ball on the Bar 352 roof for a two-run shot to put the Soddies up 6-2.
Dawson Brown turned in 1.1 scoreless innings of relief before a clean fifth inning for John West, but both clubs would trade runs over the next three frames as the Soddies took a 7-4 lead into the seventh inning stretch.
San Antonio continued to scratch away, using a solo home run in the top of the eighth and ninth inning to pull within a run. However, Carlos Rey was perfect over the remainder of his outing, striking out the last two batters he faced to complete his eighth save of the season.
2ND HALF CHAMPS 🏆
— Amarillo Sod Poodles (@sodpoodles) September 9, 2026
LET’S FINISH THIS pic.twitter.com/wKqUY3NxZJ
POSTGAME NOTES
GRAN TORIN-O: Cristofer Torin put Amarillo in the run column in the bottom of the first with a solo home run on Tuesday...since July 29, Torin leads all Double-A batters in runs (35) while ranking tied for first in hits (49), and 3rd in batting (.383, min. 26 G)...he has 134 hits this year, which currently ranks as the 5th-most in a single season in Soddies history.
FOREVER YOUNGBLOOD: With a three-hit game on Tuesday, Trent Youngblood extended his on-base streak to 25 games (8/11-c), which remains the longest among Sod Poodles this year and the longest active span in the Texas League...Youngblood is posting a .417 OBP with 25 runs, 10 XBH, 17 walks, and a .933 OPS over this span...it ties Ryan Waldschmidt, Ryan Bliss, and Jorge Ona for the fourth-longest on-base streak by an Amarillo batter in franchise history.