Sod Poodles homer into history books in win over Midland

AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) - The Amarillo Sod Poodles took down the Midland Rockhounds on Sunday afternoon in dominant fashion.

The Soddies hung 17 runs on the board against the Rockhounds, tied for the most in a single game this season from Amarillo.

In the process, the team set a new franchise record for home runs in a single season. Neyfy Castillo launched the club’s 180th home run of the year in the third inning, which broke the team’s previous record set last season.

The record now sits at 182 (and counting) after Deyvison De Los Santos and A.J. Vukovich homered later in the game. Vukovich is now just three home runs shy of the individual team record with two weeks left to play.

“It just goes to show you the strength of this team.” Sod Poodles manager Shawn Roof said of the performance on Sunday. “We had Ivan Melendez on the bench, J.J. D’Orazio, guys that are starting for us on the bench today and we come out and score 17 runs. It’s a very deep team, both on the pitching staff and position player staff. We have a lot of confidence no matter who’s in the ball game. It’s just been fun to watch them play.”

With the win, the Sod Poodles take both the current series and the season series over Midland, which means they will hold onto the OilPan Cup (awarded to the winner of the season series between Amarillo and Midland each year). That moves the team four games ahead of Midland in the Texas League South and puts them in a great position to potentially lock up the division next week.

The Sod Poodles will hit the road to play the Arkansas Travelers this coming week before returning home for the final regular season series of the year against Frisco.