AMARILLO, Texas - The Sod Poodles fell by a final score of 9-7 in game two to the Travelers in front of 7,150 at HODGETOWN. Ivan Castillo led the Sod Poodles Offense going 2-for-5 with a double and three RBI. Soddies starter Ronald Bolaños picked up the loss Saturday night. Bolaños tossed
AMARILLO, Texas - The Sod Poodles fell by a final score of 9-7 in game two to the Travelers in front of 7,150 at HODGETOWN. Ivan Castillo led the Sod Poodles Offense going 2-for-5 with a double and three RBI. Soddies starter Ronald Bolaños picked up the loss Saturday night. Bolaños tossed one inning and allowed one run on two hits. Bolaños struck out two of the six batters he faced. Amarillo is now in a tie for first with the Midland RockHounds in the Texas League second-half South Division standings with two games to go in the regular season.
The Travelers struck first in the top of the first inning when they plated one run on two hits. Leadoff batter Donnie Walton doubled down the left-field line and came around to score on an Evan White single up the middle to give Arkansas the 1-0 lead.
In the second inning Arkansas tacked on one run to take a 2-0 advantage. After a pair of singles from Luis Liberato and Mike Ahmed to open the inning, Dom Thompson-Williams flew out to right field which allowed Liberato to move up to third base. One batter later, Walton hit a sacrifice fly to center field to score Liberato. The inning came to an end when White grounded out. Amarillo responded in the bottom of the inning to cut the deficit to 2-1. The run came via a Hudson Potts solo home run to left field.
Arkansas extend their lead to 3-1 in the fourth inning when the second batter of the inning Ahmed hit a solo home run to left-center field.
In the fifth inning, the Travelers plated six runs to stretch their lead to 9-2. Jarred Kelenic and White hit back-to-back singles to start the inning followed by a Jordan Cowan walk to load the bases for Arkansas. Cal Raleigh, Liberato, and Ahmed then worked consecutive walks bring across three free runs. After a Dom Thompson-Williams strikeout, Walton hit a two-RBI double to right field. While Kelenic was at the plate, Ahmed came in to score on a wild pitch before a strikeout would end the half.
The Sod Poodles narrowed the Travelers lead in the seventh inning when they plated two runs on two hits. The second batter of the inning Ruddy Giron singled to left-center field followed by Buddy Reed reaching on a fielding error by centerfielder Liberato. One batter later, Taylor Trammell singled through the hole at second base to score Giron and advanced Reed to third base. Ivan Castillo then grounded into a double play but before the play was complete Reed scored to make the score 9-4.
Amarillo made things interesting in the ninth inning when Potts singled to shallow left field to spark a rally. Overstreet followed with a double to right field advancing Potts to third base. Two batters later, Reed grounded out to the third basemen which allowed Potts to score. Trammell followed by working a six-pitch walk. With runners on first and second base, Castillo roped a two-RBI double to left-center field. With Castillo on third base after advancing on a wild pitch, Edward Olivares, who represented the tying run, belted a line drive to right field but was caught by Thompson-Williams to end the threat and the ballgame.
The Sod Poodles continue their last regular-season series Sunday against the Arkansas Travelers. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m.
