Conticello Posts Second Straight Five RBI Night In Soddies Rout Of Cardinals

SPRINGFIELD, MO (June 11, 2026) -- The Amarillo Sod Poodles (29-30) defeated the Springfield Cardinals (26-33), 13-4, on Thursday night. Staying hot from the day before, the Amarillo sticks wreaked havoc in the batter’s box for the second consecutive night on the road in a dominating victory.

Following a day game that featured seven combined home runs, the Cardinals carried the power surge over to Thursday night’s action as Rainiel Rodriguez crushed a solo homer to left field off the scoreboard to plate the first run of the evening in the opening inning.

Each of Amarillo’s first three batters in the top of the second reached base via single to load the sacks. The golden opportunity to plate a run against switch pitching top-prospect Jurrangelo Cijntje looked as if it was about to wither away with two outs and a full count to Danny Serretti, but the third baseman drew ball four, earning an RBI on the bases-loaded walk to tie the game at one piece.

Springfield also loaded the bases in the second frame, but scratched their run on a fielder’s choice in Brody Moore’s plate appearance to put the hosts back in front. A leadoff triple off the bat of Miguel Ugueto gave the Cardinals a promising chance to extend their lead even further in the home third, but Soddies starter Daniel Eagen retired the next three batters in a row to strand the runner.

A one-out knock from Serretti in the fifth set the table for Cristofer Torin who sent a moonshot to left field, giving Amarillo the lead. The line kept moving in the inning as Manuel Pena and Demetrio Crisantes traded places on back-to-back doubles. Druw Jones also got in on the fun with an RBI double of his own and Gavin Conticello singled home a run to cap the five-run fifth.

Only an inning later, the Soddies put together an impressive two out rally, plating another five runs after each of the first two batters in the inning were retired. Jones drew a bases-loaded walk and the game was broken open not long after when Conticello slugged a pitch to left-center for a grand slam -- Amarillo’s second in as many days -- extending the Soddies’ advantage to nine in the sixth.

Eagen finished off his sixth inning of work on the hill with his sixth strikeout of the night, putting the cherry on top of a great performance on the road.

Rodriguez checked in with his second homer of the night as his two-run dinger brought the Springfield run total to four in the seventh inning, but the Amarillo bats remained loud as Jansel Luis homered in the top of the ninth to plate the 13th run of the night, completing the rout of the Cardinals.

POSTGAME NOTES

WHAT CONTI DO?: On his 23rd trip around the sun, Gavin Conticello followed up a career day at the plate from yesterday with another five-RBI effort, highlighted by a grand slam in the sixth inning...he becomes the 8th player in all of Double-A baseball since at least 2005 to hit a grand slam on their birthday...he is the first Texas Leaguer to collect five RBI in back-to-back games since Jake Rucker did so for Wichita from May 12-13, 2023.

KEEPING UP WITH THE JONESES: Having another strong night at the dish was Druw Jones...he has now reached base safely in 15 of his most recent 16 games where he is batting .333 (19x57) with 13 runs, 10 walks, a .441 OBP and an .880 OPS (5/21-c).