AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) – Home runs from Ben McLaughlin and Trent Youngblood helped the Amarillo Sod Poodles hold off the Corpus Christi Hooks 7-5 Sunday afternoon at Hodgetown, wrapping up a 5-1 homestand. The win was Amarillo’s eighth in its last nine games, keeping the Sod Poodles five games ahead in the Texas League South with 12 games left on the schedule.
Amarillo jumped out in front early, scoring three times in the first inning. Avery Owusu-Asiedu tripled to start the rally, Druw Jones drove him in with a double, and Danny Serretti added a two-run single. Corpus Christi answered right back in the second, tying the game 3-3 on a two-run single from Jason Schiavone and an unearned run that scored on a throwing error.
Amarillo regained the lead in the third when McLaughlin came through with a two-out RBI double. Youngblood added to the cushion in the fourth, lining a first-pitch fastball off the top of the left-field wall for a solo home run.
The Hooks pulled even again in the fifth on a two-run blast from Tyler Whitaker, but McLaughlin had an answer once more, launching a solo shot to left for his third hit of the game — leaving him a triple shy of the cycle. The Sod Poodles tacked on an insurance run in the eighth after Angel Ortiz doubled and later scored on a base hit from Jones, pushing the lead to 7-5.
Amarillo’s bullpen sealed the win from there. Carlos Rey worked around trouble in the eighth, and Alfred Morillo did the same in the ninth, striking out the final batter to lock down the save.
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