Frisco ends season in defeat to Amarillo

AMARILLO, Texas (September 17, 2023) – The Frisco RoughRiders took an early lead but could not hold off a surge from the Amarillo Sod Poodles, finishing the 2023 season with an 11-5 defeat from HODGETOWN on Sunday.

Box Score

Danny Duffy pitched an immaculate inning in the eighth, the final inning in the field for Frisco (33-35, 64-72) in 2023. He struck out all three batters on nine pitches, two strikeouts looking and the final one swinging.

Frisco scored two runs in the final inning to end the year with an even run differential, with 733 runs scored and allowed this season. Amarillo (43-26, 77-61) won the series, four games to two, and will host San Antonio on Tuesday to begin the playoffs.

Wyatt Langford was hitless in four at-bats but did draw a walk. Langford went 12-for-22 on the series with four home runs and five walks.

Keyber Rodriguez went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a walk in the season finale. Liam Hicks had two singles with an RBI of his own. Frainyer Chavez had a double and two hits, and Josh Hatcher also had two base hits.

Frisco took the lead with five singles in the second inning. Ben Blackwell laced a ball to center field on the first pitch he saw at Double-A, scoring Kellen Strahm. Rodriguez had the other run-scoring single.

Frisco added a pair of runs in the final inning including a double by Chavez, and RBI ground out from Zion Bannister, a single by Rodriguez and an RBI single by Liam Hicks.

Nick Krauth (5-11) allowed eight earned runs in 4.1 innings, taking the loss. The Sod Poodles took the lead in Krauth's final inning, chasing the right-hander out of the game with six runs in the fifth.

Robby Ahlstrom tossed a scoreless seventh inning before Duffy's immaculate inning in the eighth.

Frisco's home opener for next season is scheduled for April 9th, 2024. For more information on next year's schedule, click here.

About the RoughRiders

The Frisco RoughRiders are the Double-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers and the 2022 Texas League champions. In 2023, the team is celebrating its 20th anniversary and has consistently finished in the top five among all Double-A franchises in attendance yearly. In August 2014, the RoughRiders were purchased by an ownership group led by Chuck Greenberg. Since then, the new ownership group, together with the City of Frisco, has spearheaded numerous major franchise enhancements, investing over $8 million in a wide array of facility upgrades and improvements, including a state-of-the-art HD video board, sound system, Bull Moose Saloon, Bullpen Bar, Riders Outpost Team Store and the world's largest water feature in a sports facility, the massive Lazy River. These enhancements earned the Riders and the City of Frisco Ballpark Digest's prestigious "Best Ballpark Renovation" award for two consecutive years (2015 and 2016). More than 190 former RoughRiders players have gone on to play Major League Baseball including current Rangers Josh Jung, Evan Carter and Martin Perez. For more information on the Frisco RoughRiders, please visit RidersBaseball.com or contact [email protected].