Ortiz Leads Sod Poodles to Victory Over San Antonio

AMARILLO, TX (September 9, 2026) -- The Amarillo Sod Poodles (38-27, 74-59) defeated the San Antonio Missions (27-38, 58-76), 6-2, on Wednesday night at HODGETOWN. Down a run entering the bottom of the eighth, the Soddies erupted for five runs to come from behind for the second straight night.

Two runners reached base for San Antonio to open play this evening, but Soddies starter Junior Sanchez punched out a pair of Missions in the first inning to escape the frame unscathed. San Antonio continued to threaten in the innings that followed, but Sanchez did well to work around any potential danger, keeping the Missions off the board.

Abraham Parra matched Sanchez on the hill for the visitors, facing one over the minimum through his first three innings of work. Once the fourth rolled around, Carlos Virahonda — who was making his Double-A debut — was hit by a pitch to lead it off and quickly moved up to second on a wild pitch to provide Amarillo with their best scoring chance of the night. While Avery Owusu-Asiedu reached in the following at-bat on a free pass, Parra struck out a batter and induced his second consecutive inning-ending double play to keep the Soddies scoreless.

The first tally of the game finally came in the top of the sixth when Tirso Ornelas and Romeo Sanabria led off the frame with singles. Josh Grosz induced a 5-4-3 double play in the next plate appearance, but Ornelas came across to score and give the Missions a 1-0 advantage.

Igor Gil, the new pitcher in the game for San Antonio, recorded two outs to begin his outing, but then faced off with Angel Ortiz who got the better of the lefty, homering to right field on a hanging 0-1 curveball to tie the game in the bottom of the sixth.

Oswaldo Linares matched the solo blast with one of his own in the top of the seventh to put San Antonio back up by one. They looked as if they were going to add on a few more in the eighth, but Antonio Menendez got Kerrington Cross to pop out to second to keep the Sod Poodles within a run.

Amarillo loaded the bases on a hit-by-pitch sandwiched between two walks before Ortiz checked in with his second and third RBI of the night on his single down the right field line, giving the Soddies the late lead. Ortiz then stole second, forcing an errant throw from the catcher that allowed Owusu-Asiedu to score.

After hitting a towering foul ball early in his at-bat, Ben McLaughlin got another pitch he liked and kept it fair, sending it 417 feet from home plate for a two-run bomb that made it a 6-2 game in the blink of an eye. Sawyer Hawks was the new pitcher to close things out for Amarillo in the ninth and allowed only one walk in an otherwise effective inning to secure the Soddies win.

BEN MCLAUGHLIN ABSOLUTE MOONSHOT 🌕

Soddies lead 6-2! pic.twitter.com/E2XjiLtnla

— Amarillo Sod Poodles (@sodpoodles) September 10, 2026

POSTGAME NOTES

JUNIOR MINTS: Turning in five shutout innings on the mound for Amarillo tonight was Junior Sanchez...Arizona’s 28th-ranked prospect allowed four hits while striking out four Missions in arguably his best start at HODGETOWN since joining the club...it was his third start as a Sod Poodle that lasted at least five innings without surrendering a run...both prior instances occurred on the road.

ANGEL EYES: Launching a game-tying homer in the sixth inning tonight was Angel Ortiz...the solo blast was his seventh home run since August 22 which puts him in a tie for the league lead in homers in that timeframe, matching four other Texas League batters, including teammate Avery Owusu-Asiedu.