Caden Kendle’s first home run traveled a long way. His second changed the direction of the game.
Kendle launched two home runs and drove in four Tuesday at Equity Bank Park, powering the Wichita Wind Surge to an 8-2 victory over the Frisco RoughRiders. The first was a towering solo shot to center. The next was a three-run drive to left that erased Wichita’s only deficit before it had time to settle in.
By the end of the fourth inning, the Wind Surge had turned Kendle’s takeover into a five-run cushion. Their pitching staff made sure it held.
Kendle finished 2-for-4 with his 10th and 11th home runs of the season. Wichita collected 12 hits, committed no errors and received contributions throughout the order, but the night belonged to the right fielder batting third.
His first swing of consequence came with two outs in the opening inning. Kendle drove an Ismael Agreda pitch an estimated 447 feet to center, sending the ball over the wall at 104 mph for a 1-0 lead. It was the kind of homer that announced itself immediately, carrying beyond a retreating Dylan Dreiling and giving the home crowd a preview of what was coming.
Frisco answered in the third. Marcus Lee Sang singled off Cory Lewis, and Sebastian Walcott followed two batters later with a two-run homer to left. The drive, Walcott’s ninth of the season, briefly pushed the RoughRiders ahead 2-1.
Wichita’s response was immediate and decisive.
Marek Houston opened the bottom half with a walk, and Khadim Diaw was hit by a pitch. Kendle then lifted a high fly toward left and watched it leave the yard, his second homer of the game turning the deficit into a 4-2 advantage with one swing.
The Wind Surge did not need another dramatic blow. They widened the gap in the fourth through a sharp sequence from the bottom of the order.
Kyle DeBarge started it with a single to right. Jaime Ferrer followed with a hit-and-run single into center, and DeBarge raced all the way around from first to score without a throw. Graham Brown then lined a double down the left-field line, sending Ferrer to third and ending Agreda’s outing.
Houston greeted reliever Zach Bryant with a two-run single to left, bringing home Ferrer and Brown for a 7-2 lead. Agreda was charged with all seven runs over three innings.
That rally gave the middle of Wichita’s order room to exhale, and the lower third of the lineup kept producing. DeBarge went 2-for-4 and scored twice. Ferrer finished 2-for-3 with a walk, an RBI and a run, while Brown went 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a run. Houston drove in two and scored once.
Brown supplied the final run in the eighth, grounding a single into left to bring home DeBarge before being thrown out trying to advance to second.
Lewis allowed Frisco’s only two runs over four innings and struck out five. Hunter Gregory followed with a scoreless inning and earned the win, keeping the RoughRiders from cutting into the five-run lead.
Sam Armstrong handled the rest. Working the final four innings, he allowed no runs, walked none and struck out five for his first save. Frisco put runners aboard against him, but two double plays helped blunt those threats, and Armstrong finished the night by striking out Walcott.
Walcott went 3-for-5 and accounted for both Frisco runs with his homer. Kendle’s answer, however, gave Wichita the swing that mattered most—and a lead the RoughRiders never seriously threatened again.