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Sod Poodles Advance to Texas League Championship Series

Three straight wins propel Soddies past RockHounds
September 8, 2019

Midland, Texas - The Amarillo Sod Poodles punched their ticket to the Texas League Championship Series in the club's inaugural season with a 7-5 win over the Midland RockHounds in a decisive Game 5 at Security Bank Ballpark on Sunday afternoon.

Midland, Texas - The Amarillo Sod Poodles punched their ticket to the Texas League Championship Series in the club's inaugural season with a 7-5 win over the Midland RockHounds in a decisive Game 5 at Security Bank Ballpark on Sunday afternoon.

After dropping the first two games of the series in Amarillo, the Soddies proceeded to win all three of their road games and edge past the RockHounds in the best-of-five series. Amarilo will play the Tulsa Drillers in the TLCS beginning on Tuesday night at HODGETOWN.
The Sod Poodles exploded in Game 5 with a seven-run second inning against Midland starter James Naile. With the bases loaded and nobody out, Kyle Overstreet laced a bases-clearing double down the left field line as the Sod Poodles jumped out to a 3-0 lead. Buddy Reed then hit an RBI single to score Overstreet and make it a 4-0 advantage.
With two more runners on, Naile was replaced by lefty Tyler Alexander and still no outs. Ivan Castillo dug in and smashed a three-run homer to left field as the Sod Poodles jumped out to a 7-0 lead.
Amarillo's seven-run frame tied the most runs in an inning from the Sod Poodles' offense in the regular season.
On the mound, lefty Aaron Leasher tossed four scoreless innings to begin his outing but ran into trouble in the fifth. The RockHounds rallied for four runs against Leasher, who was replaced by Blake Rogers.
Rogers allowed a solo home run to Collin Theroux in the sixth as the Sod Poodles lead was cut to 7-5.
Amarillo's bullpen then sealed the win. Right-hander Jordan Guerrero tossed two scoreless frames in the seventh and eighth, while lefty Travis Radke delivered a scoreless ninth for his first postseason save. Guerrero was awarded the victory.
The Sod Poodles and Drillers play Game 1 of the Texas League Championship Series at HODGETOWN on Tuesday. First pitch is at 7:05 p.m.