Early Advantage Vanishes for Missions in Hodgetown

AMARILLO, Texas (September 12, 2026) — Despite holding a 2-1 lead in the fifth inning, the San Antonio Missions (27-41) allowed eight late runs as the Amarillo Sod Poodles (41-27) took their fifth straight victory over the Missions 9-6. The Missions and Sod Poodles play one more game tomorrow afternoon in the 2026 regular season finale.

After a clean first inning, Amarillo struck first with a Junior Franco sacrifice fly in the second. However, the Missions answered with a pair of runs in the third against Wellington Aracena. Albert Fabian’s groundout tied the game before Jack Costello’s single gave San Antonio a 2-1 lead.

Missions starter Jamie Hitt pitched with that advantage through four solid innings. He struck out four and was in rhythm before a rocky fifth inning.

The fifth frame began with back-to-back infield singles Franco and Jean Walters that saw each runner dive head-first into first base. A Danny Serretti single then loaded the bases, forcing Hitt out of the game. Eric Yost took over, and his first two pitches were wild to the backstop, allowing two runs to score. An RBI single by Cristofer Torin added another ahead of Gavin Logan’s double with the bases loaded. Two runs scored, and while a third got thrown out at the plate, Amarillo left the fifth with a 6-2 lead.

With Aracena out of the game, Romeo Sanabria singled a run in to make it 6-3 Amarillo. Another offensive threat came in the eighth for the Missions with two on and one out, but reliever Carlos Rey struck out Brendan Durfee and forced Kerrington Cross to lineout, ending the danger.

The final dagger came from Amarillo in the eighth. Yost, who had settled in after the strange fifth, allowed a three-run blast to Serretti that ballooned the Sod Poodle advantage to 9-3.

San Antonio did not go down without a fight. Sanabria and McCoy hit consecutive mammoth homers, both traveling over 400 feet, drawing some groans from the Sod Poodles fans. Amarillo had to turn to one final reliever as the tying-run came to the plate, but Will Mabrey retired Durfee to seal Amarillo’s 9-6 win.

Up Next:

The San Antonio Missions conclude the 2026 season tomorrow against the Sod Poodles at 1:05 p.m. in Amarillo. Catch all the action on Country Legends KKYX, 680 AM, 104.9 FM and kkyx.com.

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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 more than 120 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.