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MLB

Amarillo Sod Poodles Win 2026 Texas League Championship

Soddies Outlast Springfield in Winner-Take-All Game Three to Earn Franchise’s Third Title
By Amarillo Sod Poodles
September 23, 2026

SPRINGFIELD, MO (September 23, 2026) -- The Amarillo Sod Poodles (2-1) defeated the Springfield Cardinals (1-2), 6-4, on Wednesday night at Route 66 Stadium in Game Three of the Texas League Championship. In a nail-biting fight to the finish, the Sod Poodles emerged victorious to earn their third Texas League

SPRINGFIELD, MO (September 23, 2026) -- The Amarillo Sod Poodles (2-1) defeated the Springfield Cardinals (1-2), 6-4, on Wednesday night at Route 66 Stadium in Game Three of the Texas League Championship. In a nail-biting fight to the finish, the Sod Poodles emerged victorious to earn their third Texas League title in club history.

Up against St. Louis Cardinals’ top-ranked pitching prospect, Liam Doyle, Amarillo rallied in the first after the lefty recorded two quick outs. Carlos Virahonda smacked a ball right back up the middle for a single, bringing Avery Owusu-Asiedu up to the dish. The clean-up hitter then lined a ball into the gap in left-center field and thanks to a fielding error by Tai Peete, Virahonda was able to score the first run of the night for the early lead.

A miraculous leaping catch by Jean Walters took away a Springfield hit in the second before the next two Cardinals reached base, threatening to even the score. Soddies starter Mason Marriott was unphased, as he struck out Tre Richardson III and worked back from a 3-0 count to catch Josiah Ragsdale looking at strike three to end the inning.

Springfield redeemed themselves in the following frame, cashing in on a go-ahead two-run home run to left field off the bat of Rainiel Rodriguez. Each of the next two Cardinals reached base and the Soddies got their first out of the inning on a fielder’s choice. A perfectly executed hit-and-run in Cade McGee’s at-bat scratched a third run for Springfield before Dawson Brown induced a 1-6-3 double play to stop the bleeding.

Defense continued to be the name of the game for the Sod Poodles to keep themselves within striking distance. A diving play by Ben McLaughlin on a hard-hit grounder down the first base line prevented extra bases to end the fourth and Brown got his second double play of the night in the fifth to keep it a 3-1 ballgame.

Leading off the sixth was Owusu-Asiedu who sprinted down the line on a grounder up the middle that drew an errant throw from the shortstop to put the right fielder on base. Druw Jones followed it up with a liner the other way that was just far enough out of the reach of the Springfield right fielder, giving him a double that put ducks on the pond. Angel Ortiz wasted no time in his ensuing plate appearance, lining the first pitch through the left side of the infield to plate the pair of Sod Poodles and tie the game.

Checking in with his first knock of the night to begin the seventh was Cristofer Torin, as the shortstop doubled to left. Two outs were recorded afterwards, but before Springfield was able to work around the leadoff two-bagger, Owusu-Asiedu unloaded on a first pitch breaking ball, sending it 430 to left-center for the go-ahead two-run homer.

The Cardinals did not back down, loading the bases with one out in the home half which brought Carlos Rey out of the bullpen. The lefty did exactly what the situation called for, striking out the two batters he faced to strand the bases juiced and send it to the eighth.

Two singles put runners at first and third in the following frame and it was Walters whose groundout plated an important insurance run. The Cardinals drew two walks to begin the bottom half, marking the end of Rey’s night as Alfred Morillo came out of the bullpen, The Sod Poodles once again escaped the inning without allowing a run as the flame-throwing righty needed only four pitches to get a double play and a groundout for a quick three outs.

Domenic Picone came on to pitch the ninth for Springfield and worked around a Virahonda single to strike out the side. Down to their final three outs, Morillo trotted out of the Amarillo dugout to close things out and struck out the first batter he faced swinging. Springfield rallied, however, as a walk and a double followed, allowing Rodriguez to score in the next plate appearance on a wild pitch to make it a two-run game. A strikeout of Won-Bin Cho and Ryan Campos capped off the 2026 season with a 6-4 win and the Amarillo Sod Poodles emerging as Texas League Champions for the third time in the history of the club.

POSTGAME NOTES

TEXAS LEAGUE CHAMPS: The Sod Poodles have won the Texas League for the third time in only their seventh season as an organization...they have earned more Texas League titles and have more playoff victories (14) than any other Texas League team.

DOWN, BUT NEVER OUT: Amarillo continued to be clutch with their backs up against the wall, improving to 12-1 all-time in elimination games...they lost the first game of both the South Division Series against Frisco and the Championship Series against Springfield, winning all four elimination games this postseason.

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