Carson Montgomery’s first Double-A inning began with two walks, a strikeout and a line drive skipping over the right-field wall. By the time his debut ended in the third, the Amarillo Sod Poodles had turned nearly every opening into damage, and the San Antonio Missions were staring at a double-digit deficit.
Montgomery allowed nine earned runs over 2 2/3 innings in San Antonio’s 17-1 loss Friday night at Hodgetown. The right-hander walked three and struck out one as Amarillo scored three runs in the first, one in the second and six in the third.
Trent Youngblood and Cristofer Torin drew the opening walks before Angel Ortiz drove a ground-rule double toward the right-field corner. Youngblood scored, and Torin had to stop at third when the ball hopped over the wall. After Montgomery induced a sharp lineout, Druw Jones sent a slow grounder toward the left side. The ball glanced off Ryan Jackson’s glove and rolled into left field, bringing home both runners for a 3-0 lead.
The Missions briefly threatened to answer in the second. Jackson walked, and Kerrington Cross lined a ball into the right-center gap that eluded a sprinting Jones and bounced over the wall. It was Cross’ first Double-A extra-base hit and put two runners in scoring position with one out.
They never made it home. Luis Verdugo lined to Jones, who threw out Jackson at the plate for an inning-ending double play.
That missed opening became more costly moments later. Jean Walters lifted a fly ball down the left-field line that carried beyond Albert Fabian at the wall, extending Amarillo’s lead to four runs.
The third inning put the game away. Ortiz opened the scoring with a homer to left-center. A walk and two singles loaded the bases before Montgomery secured the second out, but Walters drove a ball over Tirso Ornelas in center and off the wall. All three runners scored on the double. Youngblood followed with an RBI single, ending Montgomery’s debut.
Bernard Jose entered with San Antonio trailing 9-0. Amarillo added another run when Youngblood scored on Romeo Sanabria’s fielding error, closing a six-run inning and pushing the margin to 10.
The Missions could do little against David Hagaman, who held them scoreless for five innings while allowing one hit and one walk with three strikeouts. Cross’ double was San Antonio’s only extra-base hit, and he finished 1-for-4.
San Antonio finally broke through against Dawson Brown in the seventh without the benefit of a hit. Sanabria and Fabian walked, Jack Costello was hit by a pitch, and Jackson’s forceout scored Sanabria. Jackson drove in the Missions’ lone run and drew two walks.
By then, Amarillo’s lead had continued to grow. Torin delivered an RBI single in the fifth, and Carlos Virahonda hit a two-run homer in the sixth. The Sod Poodles scored four more against Will Varmette in the eighth, the last three arriving when Walters sent a high drive toward left-center and over the wall for his second homer of the night.
Walters finished 3-for-5 with two home runs, a double and seven RBIs, supplying the loudest swings in an Amarillo lineup that amassed 19 hits and four homers. The Sod Poodles scored in six of their eight offensive innings.
San Antonio’s bullpen was charged with eight runs after Montgomery departed. The Missions finished with three hits, five walks and one error, their only run arriving long after the debut that shaped the night had unraveled.