Acuña’s Table-Setting Not Enough as Pointy Boots Steal Late Win 

AMARILLO, Texas (June 10, 2025) – Despite a 4-4 night from Francisco Acuña and five scoreless frames from Jagger Haynes, the San Antonio Missions (31-27) stranded 12 runners on base as they fell 3-1 to the Amarillo Sod Poodles (26-32), who tonight played as the Pointy Boots.

The Missions went 0-16 with runners in scoring position and saw their 1-0 lead disappear late when Christian Cerda knocked in a pair of runners with his game-winning single in the eighth. Alfred Morillo ended up taking the win for Amarillo, Stephen Jones swallowed the loss and Hayden Durke earned the save.

Runners reached base for San Antonio in each of the first four innings against Pointy Boots starter Avery Short, but Short danced around trouble every time with assists from his defense. He stranded the bases loaded in the first when second baseman Tommy Troy made a great stop on a hard-hit ball by Anthony Vilar, and left fielder Caleb Roberts tracked down a bullet at the wall off the bat of Sanabria in the third.

Haynes similarly wiggled out of trouble from the start. The Pointy Boots left six men on base through the first four frames, including three in the fourth when Haynes struck out Manuel Peña to leave the bags juiced.

Brandon Valenzuela broke the ice with an RBI groundout in the fifth. The productive at bat put the Missions up 1-0, a lead that held for a while. Jake Higginbotham picked up Haynes with a clean sixth out of the bullpen, and Jones kept Amarillo down through the seventh.

Jones returned for the eighth, but his trip through the middle of the order started with a single and a hit-by-pitch. This forced the Missions to turn to Manuel Castro, who came into the day with the most saves in the Texas League. Castro began his outing by walking Gavin Conticello before Jose Fernandez tied the game on an RBI groundout. Christian Cerda shot the very next pitch into center field, bringing the two go-ahead runs across for Amarillo.

With a late lead now in hand, Durke replaced Morillo in the ninth after Morillo followed Short with a pair of scoreless innings. Wyatt Hoffman got hit, Acuña capped his 4-4 game with a single and Brandon Valenzuela earned a gutsy walk to load the bases. For Acuña, this was his second career four-hit game and first since Aug. 17, 2019.

With two away and the bases loaded, the Texas League leader in batting average, Romeo Sanabria, stepped to the dish. The lefty pulled it on the ground to Troy, who tossed to first for the out and the Amarillo win.

UP NEXT:

The Missions continue their six-game series in Amarillo with a 7:05 p.m. first pitch on Wednesday. Righty Luis Patiño (0-0, 0.00) starts for San Antonio while righty Roman Angelo (0-5, 6.08) goes for the Sod Poodles. Catch all the action on Country Legends KKYX, 680 AM, 104.9 FM and kkyx.com. Tickets are available at samissions.com or by calling 210-675-7275. Fans can also visit the box office at Wolff Stadium on gamedays.

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The San Antonio Missions are the Double-A affiliate for the San Diego Padres. The Missions were established in 1888 and have brought affordable family fun to the Alamo City for 123 seasons. The 13-time Texas League champions play their home games at Nelson W. Wolff Municipal Stadium. For more information and tickets, call 210-675-7275 or visit samissions.com.