The Amarillo Sod Poodles haven’t officially stepped into the room for the Texas League South Division second half championship, but the door is all but wide open.
After stumbling with four straight losses to open their six-game series at Arkansas to extend their losing streak to seven games, the Soddies regained their footing over the weekend to show why they’re standing on the cusp of a second-half championship. They held on for a pair of 6-5 victories over the Arkansas Travelers on Saturday and Sunday and have a stranglehold on their postseason destiny.
The two wins reduced the Sod Poodles magic number to win the division to one. That means they only have to win one game of their six-game homestand against Midland at Hodgetown to close the regular season, starting Tuesday at 6:35 p.m.
Frisco, who trails the Sod Poodles (36-27) by 5 and half games with six left to play, will be mathematically eliminated with either one more Sod Poodles win or one more loss.
For a week, though, the Sod Poodles didn’t look like a team on the verge of clinching a division championship despite spending most of the second half of TL play as the South division’s dominant team. They lost the final three games of their series at Hodgetown against Northwest Arkansas, and that skid continued in Arkansas, where they lost their first four games to the Travelers.
Saturday night, the Soddies pulled out what might have been their most hard-fought game of the year, needing 13 innings for the victory. The Travelers scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth to tie it 3-3 and eventually force extra innings.
Neither team scored in the first two extra innings. The Sod Poodles broke through in the top of the 12th when Gavin Conticello singled to bring home LuJames Groover for a 4-3 lead. But Arkansas responded in the bottom of the inning on an RBI double by Lazaro Montes to tie it 4-4.
In the 13th, Jesus Valdez singled home J.J. D’Orazio to give the Soddies the lead again. Ryan Waldschmidt then reached on a bunt single to drive in another run and make it 6-4.
Soddies reliever Eli Saul gave up a sacrifice fly to Caleb Cali with two outs in the bottom of the inning to cut it to 6-5. The Travelers eventually loaded the bases, but Saul got Colt Emerson to pop out to short and preserve the win.
Sunday, the Sod Poodles got started quickly, as Caleb Roberts hit a two-run homer in the top of the first for a 2-0 lead. The Travelers eventually tied the game 3-3 in the bottom of the seventh.
That didn’t last, though. In one of the wilder plays of the season in the top of the eighth, the Sod Poodles had Groover on second and Roberts on first when Jose Fernandez came to the plate with one out and singled to center, driving Groover home with the go-ahead run.
It turned into two more runs though, as Arkansas centerfielder Bill Knight threw wildly back to the infield, allowing Roberts to score, then pitcher Charlie Beilensen threw wildly to third trying to get out Fernandez, who came home to score.
That was huge, as Arkansas scored twice in the bottom of the eighth to cut it to 6-5.
In the bottom of the eighth, Cesar Gomez came on in relief to close it out, but gave up a single and a walk with one out. However, Gomez struck out Emerson and got Knight to pop up to first to end the game.
The best news of the day performance wise might have been the starting outing on the mound by right-hander Alec Baker, who late in the first half of the season was converted from a reliever to a starter. Baker had his longest and best starting outing of the season, going seven innings for the win.
It was the offense coming to life over the weekend, though, which saved the Sod Poodles. It was a far cry from the first four games of the series, where they scored a total of only eight runs and no more than three in any one game.
Waldschmidt named player of the month
Prior to the series, a Sod Poodle was declared the best player for the previous month, as Waldschmidt was named the Texas League Player of the Month for August.
Waldschmidt, an outfielder who’s rated as the best prospect in the Sod Poodles major league parent club Arizona Diamondbacks organization, batted .371 in August while leading the league with 36 hits and 28 runs for the month. He had six homers and 17 RBIs in August as well.