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MLB

Sod Poodles Hold Off RoughRiders to Advance to Texas League Championship

Amarillo Wins Game Three to Make Third Texas League Championship in Franchise History
By Amarillo Sod Poodles
2:41 AM EDT

FRISCO, TX (September 18, 2026) -- The Amarillo Sod Poodles (2-1) defeated the Frisco RoughRiders (1-2), 8-7, on Friday night at Riders Field in Game 3 of the Texas League South Division Series. A big first-inning paved the way for the Soddies to capture another postseason road victory and secure

FRISCO, TX (September 18, 2026) -- The Amarillo Sod Poodles (2-1) defeated the Frisco RoughRiders (1-2), 8-7, on Friday night at Riders Field in Game 3 of the Texas League South Division Series. A big first-inning paved the way for the Soddies to capture another postseason road victory and secure their spot in the Texas League Championship for the first time since 2023.

A night after clawing all the way back from an early six-run deficit, the Sod Poodles completely flipped the script in the opening inning to begin game three as each of the first six Amarillo batters reached base to lead off the game.

Cristofer Torin started the rally with a double, scoring shortly after on Ben McLaughlin’s RBI single up the middle past the diving second baseman. Following Avery Owusu-Asiedu’s knock, a fielding error was committed by Sebastian Walcott at shortstop, allowing McLaughlin to trot home safely.

Druw Jones then got in on the action with a run-scoring single through the left side of the infield and after Carlos Virahonda was hit by a pitch, Frisco starter Blake Townsend was removed from the game without recording an out.

Leandro Lopez had little more success than Townsend in relief, despite striking out the first batter he faced. Alberto Barriga drew a bases-loaded walk before Jean Walters capped the six-run frame with a two-run single against the drawn-in infield. The cushion gave way to Joe Ariola who earned the start for the Soddies and was excellent in his two innings of work, tallying four strikeouts to keep the RoughRiders off the board.

Once the game turned to the bottom of the third, Frisco brought themselves right back into contention with a two-out rally that resulted in a Rafe Perich grand slam to make it a 6-4 ballgame. Frisco threatened once more in the fourth, but Logan Mercado induced an inning-ending double play to escape the jam. RoughRiders converted their run-scoring chance in the following frame, however, using a sacrifice fly off the bat of Gleider Figuereo to make it a one-run game.

The Sod Poodles offense was quiet from the second inning on in large part due to Ismael Agreda who allowed only a double to Torin – the first batter he faced – before retiring 12 in a row to get the RoughRiders through the seventh inning still only trailing a run. Mercado went toe-to-toe with Agreda, turning in back-to-back perfect innings in the sixth and seventh innings, capping off an excellent outing out of the bullpen with a strikeout.

Perich led off the eighth with a single for Frisco and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Figuereo hit a sharp grounder up the middle that looked as if it would allow Perich to score the tying run, but Torin made the diving stop and recorded the out at first to keep the runner from advancing past third. Mason Marriott then struck out Marcus Lee Sang before getting Ian Moller to ground out to end the inning and keep the lead intact.

Torin drove in an important insurance run in the ninth on an RBI double to left-center before Jones tacked one more with his single the other way. The two-run frame gave a three-run edge, putting Frisco up against their final outs. Dylan Dreiling made things interesting with a one-out, two-run homer to pull back within one, but Alfred Morillo slammed the door with a strikeout of Arturo Disla, followed by a celebratory backflip, to send the Sod Poodles to the Texas League Championship.

POSTGAME NOTES

SIX RUNS FOR FUN: Amarillo’s six-run first inning tonight marked only the sixth instance in Sod Poodles history where they scored six or more in a single frame in the postseason...four of these innings came during the 2019 Championship run while the lone other and most recent instance occurred in the second inning on September 27, 2023 in the deciding Game 3 of the Championship Series against Arkansas.

GRAN TORIN-O: Having an outstanding day at the plate in the win tonight was Cristofer Torin...his three doubles are the most in a Sod Poodles playoff game in franchise history...since 2005, he is only the eighth Double-A batter to hit three doubles in a postseason game and the first to do so since Connor Wong (TUL) on September 11, 2019.

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