Sod Poodles Drop a Nail Biter on a Wet Opening Day in San Antonio

On a messy night that included some rain, sprinklers, and 5 total errors the Sod Poodles dropped a 5-4 nail biter in their opener against the Missions in the Alamo City. 

The Sod Poodles were stifled by a fleury of 8 different arms that San Antonio tossed at them, with only 2 going more than 1.1 innings. It didn’t look like it was going to be that way early, as both starters started out sharp the first two frames before the Sod Poodles took advantage of Missions lefty Jagger Haynes after he gave up a 1-out double to Jose Fernandez, and would hit shortstop Andy Weber with a pitch. San Antonio’s own shortstop Fransisco Acuna commited an error to load the bases, and Haynes would walk the next Amarillo 2 Amarillo hitters, third baseman LuJames Groover and right fielder Gavin Conticello to push the Sod Poodle lead to 2-0.

Dylan Ray got his second opening day start in 3 years, this time for Amarillo. The righty was rolling early, sitting down 9 of the first 10 Missions that he faced including 4 strikeouts, with the only blemish being a Devin Ortiz solo shot to open the scoring for San Antonio. Unfortunately for Ray, it all unraveled after giving up a walk to Villar, and falling behind 2-1 in the count to Sanabria, the sprinkler system at The Wolff kicked on causing around a 3 minute delay in the action. After that it just looked like Ray had lost his rhythm. He would get Sanabria on strikes after a 7 pitch battle, the most pitches he threw in an at bat the entire night, but then Moisés Gómez dropped a single in front of Kristian Robinson in left field, giving the Missions their first chance with runners in scoring position. Catcher Ethan Salas dribbled a ball towards Jose Fernandez that was misplayed and resulted in not one but two errors, after an errant desperate throw from Tommy Troy trying to get the out. After that the inning consisted of a wild pitch, a 2-RBI single, a hit batter, and one more single before Amarillo went to the bullpen facing a 5-2 deficit.

San Antonio wouldn’t score against the Sod Poodle bullpen all night. Between Zach Barnes, Alec Baker, and Jhosmer Alvarez they would put up a line of: 4.2 IP / 2 H / 0 R / 0 ER / 3 K / 0 BB. Baker would do most of the heavy lifting, pitching 3.0 of those innings and only surrendering a single hit in the process.

Early in the season crazy things tend to happen, like the Sod Poodles hitting 2/13 with runners in scoring position and leaving 12 men on base. A lot of opportunities squandered like when Jackson Wolf, who picked up the win last night for San Antonio, went to pick off at first base and  Kristian Robinson took off for home getting caught, ending an inning with what would have been runners on first and third. It wasn’t all bad at the plate, a double from Christian Cerda gave the Soddies their first hit of 2025, and Fernandez ripped a double of his own just an inning later. The offensive MVP of the night definitely went to Andy Weber. The former 5th round pick out of Virginia reached base 3 times last night including being hit by a pitch, an infield single, and ripping a 2-RBI triple to center to cut San Antonio lead to 5-4 in the 6th. That’s where the offense for pretty much everyone stopped. No runs were scored after that, despite Amarillo making it interesting with the bases loaded in the top of the 9th with 2 outs against San Antonio closer Bradgley Rodriguez.

Padres #2 prospect Ethan Salas might’ve saved the game for San Antonio despite going hitless in the evening. On multiple occasions Salas kept balls in front of him to maintain the lead for the Missions, including a pair in the ninth inning with runners in scoring position. Just one ball gets passed and it’s a completely different game, but instead the Sod Poodles will have to wait for another shot tonight to pick up their first win! 

Speaking of tonight let’s take a look at the pitching matchup: 

Amarillo will throw left hander Avery Short (2024: 7-9 / 3.51 ERA / 128.1 IP / 112 K / 36 BB / 3.80 FIP) who posted career bests in most categories last year at High-A Hillsboro, including a month of May that was only topped by his teammate Spencer Giesting, who will be the starter for Amarillo on Sunday. Short will be matched up against the Padres #12 Prospect, Henry Baez (2024: 2.99 ERA / 126.1 IP / 109 K / 40 BB / 3.85 FIP) who played extremely well in High-A, and boasts a fastball / curveball / changeup mix that lead him to a promotion to San Antonio where he continued his great season.