Ortiz's Pinch-Hit Walk-Off Home Run Clinches Oil Pan Cup for Sod Poodles

AMARILLO, TX (August 11, 2026) -- The Amarillo Sod Poodles (22-18, 58-50) defeated the Midland RockHounds (19-21, 51-57), 7-6, on Tuesday night at HODGETOWN. Trailing from the fourth inning on, the Sod Poodles kept themselves in the game, leading to a historic walk-off win.

The combination of a returning Jordan Lawlar to HODGETOWN on rehab assignment and Avery Owusu-Asiedu making his team debut proved fruitful to the Soddies. After a leadoff single by Trent Youngblood, Lawlar shot a two-strike offering through the hole on the left side to put a runner on third, and on the very next pitch, Owusu-Asiedu drove in Youngblood on a sacrifice fly to give the Sod Poodles a 1-0 lead.

Brian Curley allowed one baserunner in his first two innings of work, but was greeted by a Luke Mann opposite-field home run to open the top of the third. Curley could not escape the long ball in the fourth inning when Bobby Boser put a charge into a pitch in a 2-2 count to provide Midland with a 3-1 advantage. The Boser bomb kickstarted a hit parade for the RockHounds that began on a Mann double to left field. Back-to-back RBI singles to center by Jacob Riemer and Casey Yamauchi extended the Midland lead to four runs.

Jamie Arnold settled in after the first inning to hold the Sod Poodles offense at bay until Cristofer Torin went yard off the facing of Bar 352 in the bottom of the sixth. Owusu-Asiedu followed suit two batters later, clanging one off the left field foul pole to cut Amarillo’s deficit in half by the end of the frame.

Avery Owusu-Asiedu homers in his First AA Game! ⭐️#SoddiesSummer pic.twitter.com/KsPYsJzfE5

— Amarillo Sod Poodles (@sodpoodles) August 12, 2026

It was a nearly identical line for Arnold from his start at HODGETOWN in June, who finished with a quality start thanks to allowing three runs on five hits across 6.0 innings pitched. Midland was able to extend its distance from the Soddies against Logan Mercado in the top of the eighth, getting the first two batters to reach base before going up by a trio of runs thanks to a sac fly by Mann.

That sixth Midland run would prove to be important as the Soddies would not go down without a fight, tattooing the ball off fresh RockHounds reliever Stevie Emanuels. Youngblood led off the frame with a double before Lawlar hammered a breaking ball over the wall to pull the hosts within a run.

Alfred Morillo kept the Soddies within a run by turning in a perfect top of the ninth, giving the team a chance in their last licks. Blaze Pontes was called upon for his second save opportunity of the season with the RockHounds, and after Alberto Barriga reached base as the tying-run on a single up the middle, Amarillo manager Javier Colina countered with Angel Ortiz off the bench to bat for Jean Walters.

On the second pitch he saw, Ortiz went with a fastball on the outer half, crushing it over the wall in left center field for a pinch-hit, walk-off, two-run home run.

Walk-Off Views at HODGETOWN 😍 pic.twitter.com/dnf7ptaysW

— Amarillo Sod Poodles (@sodpoodles) August 12, 2026

POSTGAME NOTES

TOP SHELF: The top four hitters in the Sod Poodles batting order tonight-- Trent Youngblood, Cristofer Torin, Jordan Lawlar, and Avery Owusu-Asiedu-- all recorded multi-hit games...it is just the second time this season the Sod Poodles have accomplished that feat, first doing so in a 9-7 win over Frisco on April 19.

DAWSON’S CREEK: An unsung hero among all that happened in tonight’s game was Dawson Brown’s 3.0 no-hit innings in relief that kept the Sod Poodles within striking distance...Brown also tossed three full frames without allowing a hit on June 6 vs. Tulsa earlier this year, but was much more effective by only walking one RockHound on Tuesday.