Sod Poodles Blank Rockhounds In Home Opener

(John Moore)

May 19, 2021

AMARILLO, Texas – On what was supposed to be the night the Sod Poodles raised their 2019 Texas League Championship banner in front of a sold-out crowd after 615 days without Sod Poodle baseball, Mother Nature had other plans. The 3 hour and 15 minute rain delay may have put

AMARILLO, Texas – On what was supposed to be the night the Sod Poodles raised their 2019 Texas League Championship banner in front of a sold-out crowd after 615 days without Sod Poodle baseball, Mother Nature had other plans. The 3 hour and 15 minute rain delay may have put a damper on the buzz surrounding the 2021 home opener but not the Sod Poodles offense as they cruised to a 10-0 win in the seven inning game.

Ryan Weiss, fresh off being named Double-A Central Pitcher of the Week tossed another gem, this time throwing six innings of one hit baseball without allowing a run with eight strikeouts. Jake McCarthy blasted his second home run of the season on the first pitch he saw at HODGETOWN in the bottom of the first inning. His 431 foot two-run home run gave the Soddies a 2-0 lead which proved to be all the support Weiss needed.

Jarett Rindfleisch, not to be overshadowed by McCarthy crushed his first home run of the season 458 feet into the Amarillo night to put the Soddies up 4-0 through two innings.

D-backs' No. 3 ranked prospect Geraldo Perdomo drew his team-leading ninth walk to lead off the Amarillo half of the third and was driven home by a McCarthy double into the left-center field gap.

The Sod Poodles opened the flood gates in the bottom of the sixth, scoring another five runs on five hits highlighted by a pair of two-RBI singles. One from Alexis Pantoja in his Sod Poodles debut and D-backs' No. 4 ranked prospect Alek Thomas. In all, four Sod Poodles players produced multi-RBI games in the home opener.

Right-hander Justin Lewis replaced Weiss on the mound in the seventh. He retired the side in order after enticing three flyouts to secure the win. The combined one hitter is the fewest hits allowed in team history, besting the three combined two-hitters the pitching staff allowed in 2019. The last coming on June 17, 2019 at Northwest Arkansas. The Sod Poodles have now tossed two combined three-hitters and this combined one-hitter in 2021.

Game two of this six-game series from HODGETOWN is set to resume tomorrow with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 PM. Fans who had tickets for tonight's ballgame, used or unused, can redeem their ticket for any 2021 Sod Poodles regular season game excluding July 4th at the HODGETOWN box office.