The Amarillo Sod Poodles capped off a successful week in Springfield on Sunday night, edging the Springfield Cardinals 5-4 in 10 innings at Route 66 Stadium to secure a series win.
Amarillo improved to 31-31 on the season with its fourth victory of the week over Springfield, overcoming multiple lead changes before relying on timely hitting and late-inning pitching to finish the job.
The Sod Poodles wasted little time getting on the scoreboard. A walk and two hits from the first three batters of the game helped Amarillo grab an early 1-0 lead in the opening inning. Springfield answered immediately in the bottom half when a throwing error during Rainiel Rodriguez’s stolen-base attempt allowed him to move into scoring position before crossing the plate on an RBI single from Ryan Campos.
Amarillo reclaimed the advantage in the second inning. After loading the bases, Cristofer Torin lifted a sacrifice fly to bring home a run before Manuel Pena delivered his second RBI single of the evening, giving the Sod Poodles a 3-1 lead.
Starter Avery Short settled in after the first-inning miscue and turned in another strong road performance. The left-hander limited Springfield’s offense throughout his outing, allowing six hits and two walks while striking out three. The lone run against him remained unearned.
Springfield began to chip away in the sixth inning after a throwing error opened the door for the Cardinals. Two singles followed, trimming Amarillo’s lead to one run. Reliever Logan Mercado escaped further trouble by inducing a groundout and a timely double play.
The Cardinals finally pulled even in the seventh, collecting three consecutive one-out hits against Mercado. A sacrifice fly by Miguel Ugueto later in the inning pushed Springfield ahead 4-3 and put Amarillo in comeback mode.
That deficit proved brief.
Ben McLaughlin opened the eighth inning with a two-strike single before advancing into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt. Gavin Conticello continued his torrid offensive stretch by lining an RBI double to the opposite field, knotting the score at 4-4.
Both bullpens took control from there. Springfield reliever Darlin Saladin finished the eighth and worked through the ninth, while Amarillo’s Alfred Morillo retired the side in order in the eighth and navigated a clean ninth inning. With neither team breaking through, the game headed to extra innings.
In the 10th, the Sod Poodles executed small-ball baseball to perfection. Placement runner Demetrio Crisantes advanced on a pair of productive flyouts and scored the go-ahead run, putting Amarillo back in front 5-4.
Closer Alec Baker took over in the bottom half and quickly recorded the first out. Crisantes then delivered a pivotal defensive play, making a sliding stop to rob Trey Paige of a potential game-tying hit. Baker retired the final batter on a pop-up, sealing the victory and the series win.
Short’s outing continued an impressive trend away from home. The southpaw lowered his road ERA to 1.29, having allowed just five earned runs across 35 innings in road appearances this season.
Conticello also wrapped up a remarkable week at the plate. Across six games in Springfield, the outfielder hit .440 with four home runs and 14 RBIs while posting a 1.460 OPS, strengthening his case for another Texas League Player of the Week honor.
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