Avery Owusu-Asiedu watched his drive carry toward left-center field, well beyond any outfielder’s reach, and took a brief look toward the fence before beginning the home run trot. The Sod Poodles had spent much of the night chasing Springfield. With one swing in the seventh inning, Owusu-Asiedu sent them toward a championship.
His two-run homer broke a tie, and Amarillo completed its comeback from a two-run deficit to beat the Cardinals 6-4 in the deciding game of the Texas League Championship Series.
Owusu-Asiedu went 2-for-5 with the home run and two RBIs, contributing to Amarillo’s first run and delivering the swing that made its last lead of the season stand up.
The resilience looked familiar to reliever Joe Ariola before the game even began.
“I think it’s just this team doesn’t give up.”
— Joe Ariola, Amarillo Relief Pitcher
Amarillo struck first after Carlos Virahonda singled with two outs in the opening inning. Owusu-Asiedu followed by driving a ball into the left-center gap. Virahonda came around when center fielder Tai Peete bobbled the ball, and Owusu-Asiedu reached second on the error.
Springfield starter Liam Doyle kept the Sod Poodles there. He worked five innings, struck out six and did not allow an earned run.
The Cardinals moved ahead during a three-run third against Logan Mercado and Dawson Brown. Peete walked before Rainiel Rodriguez launched a two-run homer to left off Mercado, erasing Amarillo’s early advantage. Jesús Báez singled and Won-Bin Cho walked before Brown entered, and Cade McGee later sent a ground-ball single through the middle to score Báez for a 3-1 lead.
Brown stopped the inning there with a double-play ball and followed with two more scoreless innings. Amarillo’s bullpen kept Springfield from adding to its lead through the middle of the game, giving the offense time to find an opening.
That was precisely the bargain Ariola described before the winner-take-all game.
“I think our bullpen, when we’re down there, we have so much confidence in our hitters, even when we’re down late in the game, that, like, if we just keep the score where it is, we have a chance.”
— Joe Ariola, Amarillo Relief Pitcher
The chance arrived against Nolan Sparks in the sixth. Owusu-Asiedu reached on Báez’s throwing error, and Druw Jones drove a ball deep toward the right-field wall. Cho could not bring it in, leaving Jones with a double and both runners in scoring position.
Angel Ortiz wasted no time. He lined Sparks’ first pitch into left field, bringing home Owusu-Asiedu and Jones and wiping out the deficit with one swing. Ortiz finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs and later scored Amarillo’s insurance run.
Cristofer Torin opened the seventh with a double, but a lineout and a strikeout left him at second with two outs. Randel Clemente then faced Owusu-Asiedu, who turned on an 0-1 pitch and sent it an estimated 430 feet to left-center. The ball disappeared beyond the fence, and a 3-3 struggle became a 5-3 Amarillo lead.
“I mean, the hitters do a tremendous job late in the game. I mean, some of the best I’ve ever seen.”
— Joe Ariola, Amarillo Relief Pitcher
Sawyer Hawks earned the victory with 1 1/3 scoreless innings, and Carlos Rey struck out both batters he faced after inheriting a bases-loaded jam in the seventh. Amarillo added a run in the eighth when Ortiz and Danny Serretti singled and Jean Walters’ groundout brought Ortiz home.
That run mattered. Springfield put two aboard against Alfred Morillo in the ninth, and a strikeout of Cho allowed Rodriguez to score before Morillo struck out Ryan Campos to finish it. Morillo recorded three strikeouts over two innings for the save.
Virahonda supplied three of Amarillo’s 11 hits. Ortiz produced the tying hit. The bullpen held the line.
And Owusu-Asiedu, who had helped create the game’s first run, supplied its defining one—the towering drive that put the Sod Poodles ahead for good and made them Texas League champions.