Soddies Clinch Series Win Over Springfield in Extras

SPRINGFIELD, MO (June 14, 2026) -- The Amarillo Sod Poodles (31-31) defeated the Springfield Cardinals (27-35), 5-4 in 10 innings, on Sunday night at Route 66 Stadium. In a back-and-forth game, the Soddies tied the game in the eighth and used a strong final three innings on the mound between Alfred Morillo and Alec Baker to escape with their fourth win of the week in Springfield.

Amarillo drew first blood in the top of the first, using a walk and two hits from its first three hitters to get on the board. Springfield responded in their first trip to bat after an errant throw on Rainiel Rodriguez’s steal of second base set him up to score easily on Ryan Campos’ single to right field.

The Soddies took the lead right back in the top of the second, scratching across a pair of runs after loading the bases, first on a Cristofer Torin sac fly and then on Manuel Pena’s second RBI single of the night.

Manny Pena hits his second RBI Single of the night! 👏#SoddiesSummer pic.twitter.com/AUxO2Jg3Pb

— Amarillo Sod Poodles (@sodpoodles) June 14, 2026

Avery Short was not shaken by the unearned run allowed in the first, going on to blank the Cardinals for the remainder of his outing, totaling six hits and two walks allowed while striking out three. However, Springfield cut its deficit in half once Logan Mercado entered in relief for the home half of the sixth when a throwing error charged to Torin opened the frame and was followed by a pair of singles to bring in a run. Mercado would bear down, getting the lead runner out on a groundout before inducing a 6-4-3 double play to get out of the jam.

The right-hander would climb the hill again in the seventh but let up three straight one-out hits to allow Springfield to tie the game. A sac fly off the bat of Miguel Ugueto in the next plate appearance gave the Cardinals a 4-3 lead.

The Springfield advantage would be short-lived, as a two-strike single by Ben McLaughlin led off the top of the eighth inning before he moved up into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt. Gavin Conticello then continued his huge week at the plate by shooting an RBI double to the opposite field to tie the game at 4-4.

Tie ball game! Gavin Conticello delivers with an RBI Double! 😤#SoddiesSummer pic.twitter.com/O62l9KCexq

— Amarillo Sod Poodles (@sodpoodles) June 15, 2026

Springfield brought Darlin Saladin into the stalemate, who recorded the remaining two outs of the frame. Amarillo countered with Morillo who retired the side in the home half of the eighth inning. Both men faced the minimum in the ninth, sending the game to extras.

The Soddies used a pair of productive flyouts to move placement runner Demetrio Crisantes over and in to go back in front 5-4. Baker came on for the save and got a quick first out. Crisantes stole a hit from Trey Paige and potentially saved a run with a sliding stop for the second out, and Dakota Harris popped out to end the game.

POSTGAME NOTES

SHORT N’ SWEET: Avery Short continued his dominance on the mound when pitching on the road...the southpaw added five more innings without allowing an earned run to his ledger, bringing his ERA down to 1.29 (5 ER/35.0 IP) in away games.

WHAT CONTI DO?: Having already won Texas League Player of the Week once this season, Gavin Conticello put together another strong bid to win the award in this week’s series at Springfield...in six games, the outfielder drove in 14 runs with four home runs while slashing .440/.500/.960, good for a 1.460 OPS.