Tag Archives: Amarillo Sod Squad

Amarillo hangs on to defeat the slumping Flying Chanclas, 4-2

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Matt Whelan from the University of Texas went to the mound for the Flying Chanclas in the fifth inning and retired three straight batters against the Amarillo Sod Squad on Thursday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander

Matt Whelan from the University of Texas went to the mound for the Flying Chanclas in the fifth inning and retired three straight batters. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Struggling all night long, the Flying Chanclas de San Antonio caught a spark in the bottom of the eighth inning. They scored a single run against a shaky relief pitcher to pull within two of the visiting Amarillo Sod Squad.

The Chanclas even loaded the bases with one out. They had the potential tying run at second and the go-ahead at first. But it was just a tease, as the Sod Squad turned a double play in the infield and went on to claim a 4-2 victory Thursday night at Wolff Stadium.

As a result, the Sod Squad took two out of three games in San Antonio and held on to first place in the North Division of the Texas Collegiate League. In addition, the loss for the Chanclas was also meaningful. But not in a good way.

Anthony Forte had the Flying Chanclas' only RBI of the game when his sixth-inning ground ball brought in Jalen Battles from third base against the Amarillo Sod Squad on Thursday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander

Anthony Forte had the Flying Chanclas’ only RBI of the game when his sixth-inning ground ball brought in Jalen Battles from third base. – Photo by Joe Alexander

A victory would have vaulted them into second place in the TCL South going into the final three games of the regular season. Instead, they remained in third place, one spot in the standings out of the playoffs, with three games left.

Looking on the bright side, at least they’re still in the playoff chase, which is something of a miracle in that they have now lost five of their last six.

In what is shaping up to be a wild finish, it is now a three-team race between the Round Rock Hairy Men (16-11), the Brazos Valley Bombers (15-12) and the Chanclas (14-12) for the two playoff berths out of the South Division.

Round Rock took the upper hand for the division title with a three-game series sweep over Brazos Valley, punctuated by a 3-2 victory at home Thursday night.

In the first of the final three games of the season, the Chanclas play at the Hairy Men’s home park at Dell Diamond in Round Rock on Friday. They return home to host the Hairy Men on Saturday at Wolff. Then, they return to Round Rock for the finale on Sunday.

Brazos Valley closes at home with three games against the Victoria Generals (9-18).

Holding the upper hand in the North, the Sod Squad (17-10) finishes with three at home against the Tulsa Drillers (15-11). The North race is coming down to Amarillo, second-place Frisco (15-10), Tulsa and possibly the Amarillo Sod Dogs (15-12).

Jacob Montejano from Brandeis High School and Our Lady of the Lake started in right field for the Flying Chanclas on Thursday at Wolff Stadium. Montejano scored the Chanclas' second run of the game in the eighth inning against the Amarillo Sod Squad. - photo by Joe Alexander

Jacob Montejano, from Brandeis High School and Our Lady of the Lake, started in right field. He scored the Chanclas’ second run of the game in the eighth inning. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Records

Amarillo 17-10
San Antonio 14-12

Coming up

San Antonio at Round Rock, 7:05 p.m. Friday.

Notable

Victoria Generals standout Jonathan Tapia is apparently joining the Flying Chanclas, according to a Thursday night post on Twitter from a newspaper reporter in Victoria.

Tapia, from O’Connor High School and UTSA, can play the infield or the outfield. Better yet for the Chanclas, he is the TCL’s seventh-leading hitter at .356.

The move came on the same day that the Chanclas reported that outfielder Kyte McDonald (from Antonian HS) and pitcher Riggs Threadgill (Fredericksburg) had left the team.

Both are returning to school. McDonald is on his way back to Mississippi State University, a Chanclas spokesman said, while Threadgill apparently is headed for McLennan Community College.

Chanclas down Sod Squad to end skid, stay in playoff hunt

Image

Jalen Battles doubles to left-center field to drive in the Flying Chanclas' first two runs of the game in the fourth inning against the Amarillo Sod Squad on Wednesday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander

Jalen Battles doubles to left-center to drive in the Flying Chanclas’ first two runs in the fourth inning against the Amarillo Sod Squad. – Photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
For The JB Replay

After losing four straight games, the Flying Chanclas de San Antonio rebounded Wednesday with a 5-1 victory over the Amarillo Sod Squad, keeping alive hopes for a spot in the Texas Collegiate League playoffs.

A crowd of 591 at Wolff Stadium watched as the Chanclas snapped out of their funk on offense with 10 hits.

They scored two runs in the fourth inning and three in the sixth to back the pitching of Marcelo Perez, Arturo Guajardo and Garrett Egli, who combined on a seven-hitter while striking out 14.

The Flying Chanclas' Johnny Hernandez scores the first run of the game on a double by Battles. - photo by Joe Alexander

Johnny Hernandez scores the first run of the game on a double by Jalen Battles. – photo by Joe Alexander

Perez, from TCU, pitched six scoreless innings, allowed four hits and struck out eight.

Offensive standouts included Jalen Battles, whose two-run double in the fourth gave the Chanclas the lead and some much-needed momentum.

Also, Kyte McDonald ignited the three-run sixth with a one-out double. Ryan Flores highlighted the uprising with an RBI single for the third run of the inning to make it 5-0.

During the four-game losing streak, the Chanclas produced only five runs on 22 hits. In that time, they batted a cool .173 as a team.

Coming into Wednesday night, they had been shut out in two of their last three games and had scored runs in only two of their past 37 innings.

The Flying Chanclas' Grant Smith scores the second run of the game on a double by Jalen Battles in the fourth inning against the Amarillo Sod Squad on Wednesday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander

Grant Smith, from first base, races around to score on Battles’ blast to make it 2-0. – photo by Joe Alexander

They finally broke through in a two-run fourth. With two outs, Johnny Hernandez singled, Grant Smith walked and Battles drove both of them home with a two-run double off Amarillo starter Jared Lyons.

In the sixth, a walk and then a double off the bat of McDonald set up another big inning, putting runners at second and third with one out.

The Chanclas scored on Smith’s sacrifice fly, a wild pitch and a run-scoring single by Flores, the team’s RBI leader.

Runs-hits-errors

Amarillo — 1 7 0
San Antonio — 5 10 0
Please click on a link here to see Wednesday night’s box score.

Records

Amarillo 16-10
San Antonio 14-11
Please click on a link here to see the TCL standings after Wednesday night’s games.

Coming up

Amarillo at San Antonio, 7:05 p.m. Thursday. Next, three games vs. Round Rock. San Antonio at Round Rock, 7:05 p.m. Friday. Round Rock at San Antonio, 7:05 p.m. Saturday. San Antonio at Round Rock, 7:05 p.m. Sunday. (End of regular season).

Playoff races

In the TCL, two teams from each division qualify for the playoffs. With four days left in the regular season, eight teams remain alive — four in the South and four in the North.

In the South, Round Rock and Brazos Valley (both 15-11) are tied for first, followed by the Chanclas (14-11) and the Acadiana Cane Cutters (11-13). Round Rock tightened the race Wednesday with a 5-0 victory at home over Brazos Valley.

The North is also a four-team race featuring the Sod Squad (16-10), the Tulsa Drillers (15-10), Frisco RoughRiders (14-10) and the Amarillo Sod Dogs (14-12). Tulsa beat the Sod Dogs 5-3 on the road in Amarillo.

Flying Chanclas starting pitcher Marcelo Perez went six shutout innings and allowed four hits with eight strikeouts and two walks against the Amarillo Sod Squad on Wednesday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander

Flying Chanclas starting pitcher Marcelo Perez went six shutout innings and allowed four hits, with eight strikeouts and two walks. – photo by Joe Alexander

Chanclas lose fourth straight, drop a spot in divison standings

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Flying Chanclas center fielder Jordan Thompson makes a diving catch on a line drive in the top of the ninth inning against the Amarillo Sod Squad on Tuesday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander

Flying Chanclas center fielder Jordan Thompson makes a diving catch on a line drive in the top of the ninth inning against the Amarillo Sod Squad on Tuesday at Wolff Stadium. – Photo by Joe Alexander

The Amarillo Sod Squad continued their push for a North Division title in the Texas Collegiate League, registering a 1-0 victory Tuesday night at Wolff Stadium against the fading Flying Chanclas de San Antonio.

Jose Torres drove in the winning run for the visitors in the seventh inning with a single off Johnny Panatex, which scored Mike Rosario from third. Rosario had reached on a double and moved up on a wild pitch.

Flying Chanclas catcher Tyler LaRue makes a tag for an out at the plate to complete a triple play in the fourth inning against the Amarillo Sod Squad on Tuesday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander

Flying Chanclas catcher Tyler LaRue makes a tag for an out at the plate to complete a triple play in the fourth inning. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Sod Squad starting pitcher Hunter Viets pitched six scoreless innings, and then three relievers out of the bullpen close the door. As a result, Amarillo won its second straight and improved to 5-2 over its last seven.

With the victory, the Sod Squad (16-9) gained a game on the second-place Tulsa Drillers (14-10) in the TCL North.

In the South, the Brazos Valley Bombers (15-10) remained in first place but the Round Rock Hairy Men (14-11) moved into second. The Hairy Men, playing at home, pounded out an 11-6 victory over the Bombers.

It was a significant development in that the victory bumped the Chanclas (13-11) into third place in the South standings with five games to go. Only the top two teams in each division qualify for the TCL playoffs.

If the Chanclas don’t start scoring runs, they won’t make the postseason. Their decline in offensive production has been stunning, as they have lost two of their last three via shutout and have scored runs in only two of their last 36 innings.

Playing at Brazos Valley last weekend, the Chanclas were held to five runs on 14 hits. Their batting average against the Bombers was a cool .147. The Chanclas improved on that a little on Tuesday with eight hits. But they left eight on base, including six in scoring position.

In the ninth inning, they had a chance to win when they loaded the bases with two out. But Amarillo reliever Everett Hurst, the second pitcher of the inning, struck out Johnny Hernandez swinging to end the game.

It was the fourth loss by shutout this season for the Chanclas, and their first at home.

Flying Chanclas shortstop Jalen Battles tags out a runner in a rundown against the Amarillo Sod Squad on Tuesday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander

Flying Chanclas shortstop Jalen Battles tags out a runner in a rundown against Amarillo. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Runs-hits-errors

Amarillo — 1 7 1
San Antonio — 0 8 1
Please click on the link to see Tuesday’s box score.

Records

Amarillo 16-9
San Antonio 13-11
Please click on the link to see the updated TCL standings

Coming up

Amarillo at San Antonio, 7:05 p.m. Wednesday. Amarillo at San Antonio, 7:05 p.m. Thursday. Three games against Round Rock to close the regular season. San Antonio at Round Rock, 7:05 p.m. Friday. Round Rock at San Antonio, 7:05 p.m. Saturday. San Antonio at Round Rock, 7:05 p.m. Sunday.

Notable

Chanclas starter Austin Krob, from Lisbon, Iowa and TCU, pitched his best game of the year, working five scoreless innings. The lefty gave up four hits and walked two but also struck out five …

The Missions started a triple play in the fourth inning when Johnny Hernandez fielded a ground ball and threw to shortstop Jalen Battles at second base for a force. Battles fired to first baseman Ryan Flores for the double play. Running from second base on the play, Julio Mercano tried to score. But Flores fired to Tyler LaRue, who tagged Mercano sliding head first at the plate …

Amarillo’s Jose Torres, from Calvert Hall High School in Baltimore and North Carolina State University, ranks second in the league with 23 RBI. In 2019, Torres was drafted out of Calvert Hall in the 24th round of the major league draft by the Milwaukee Brewers.

Sod Squad wins 1-0 as Flying Chanclas’ bats fall silent

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Five Amarillo pitchers combined on a two hitter Wednesday night to lead a 1-0 victory over the Flying Chanclas de San Antonio.

The Sod Squad hosts the Chanclas Thursday night at Hodgetown ball park as the teams close out a season-opening series in the Texas Collegiate League.

Julio Marcano’s bases-loaded single off Chanclas starter Austin Krob scored Kamron Williams in the first inning for the game’s only run.

Chanclas outfielder Porter Brown produced singles in the first and third innings for the Chanclas, who were then shut down completely after that by the Sod Squad bullpen.

Runs-hits-errors

San Antonio 0 – 2 – 2
Amarillo 1 – 7 – 0

Please click the link for Wednesday night’s box score.

Records

Amarillo 2-0
San Antonio 0-2

Amarillo rolls 9-6 past San Antonio in a sloppy TCL opener

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The Amarillo Sod Squad undoubtedly considered themselves fortunate on opening-night in the Texas Collegiate Baseball League.

Playing at home, their pitching walked 11 and their defense committed four errors in the field. And yet, in the end, they came out on top of the equally rusty Flying Chanclas de San Antonio, 9-6.

Twin brothers Julio and David Marcano did most of the damage for the Sod Squad, combining for four hits and three RBI.

Trailing 5-0 early and 7-4 in the middle frames, the Chanclas showed some fight in their TCL debut, scoring four runs in the fourth and two in the sixth to pull within one run of the home team.

But in the bottom of the seventh, 6-foot-5 Amarillo slugger Lyle Miller-Green stepped to the plate and hit the two-run homer off Chanclas lefty Jaime Ramirez Jr. to seal it.

Kyte McDonald, from Antonian High School, led the Chanclas with three hits and two RBI. Former Reagan High School standout Porter Brown had two hits, a run scored and an RBI. Lee Thomas, from the University of the Incarnate Word, stroked a two-run single in the four-run fourth.

The Chanclas failed to take advantage of their many opportunities, leaving 13 on base. In the first and second innings, they loaded the bases with no out each time, and failed to score.

The visitors also failed to hit make contact when it counted, striking out 14 times. In the field, they committed four errors, all in the nightmarish second when the Sod Squad sent 10 men to the plate and scored five runs.

Runs-hits-errors

San Antonio 6 – 6 – 4
Amarillo 9 – 8 – 5

Please click the link for Tuesday night’s box score.

Coming up

Chanclas at Amarillo on Wednesday and Thursday, returning home to open a three-game series Friday against the Acadiana Cane Cutters.

Notable

The Flying Chanclas de San Antonio are a creation of the San Antonio Missions professional baseball club. They’ll play home games this summer at Wolff Stadium, the long-time home of the Missions. The Missions, a Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers, aren’t fielding a team this season.

All of minor league baseball’s teams have been shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic. Officials in the minors have known for months that their season wasn’t likely to take place.

It became official on Tuesday afternoo0n, when MiLB president Pat O’Conner announced it in a statement out of St. Petersburg, Fla.