Jesse Scholtens in action earlier in the season for the Sod Poodles. (Photo: Grant Wickes)
Sod Poodles 5 Midland Rockhounds 1
(Best of five series tied at 2-2)
Key Statistics: SS Ivan Castillo 2-3, BB, SB; 2B Owen Miller 2-4, 2B, RBI; C Luis Torrens 2-4, RBI; RF Tyler Kohlwey 1-3, 2B, BB; 1B Peter Van Gansen 1-3, 2 RBI; RHP Jesse Scholtens (W, 1-0) 5.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K; RHP Evan Miller 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 K; LHP Travis Radke 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K
Prospect Watch: Amarillo forced a game five on Sunday afternoon for a series in which the home team has yet to win a game. The big star of the night was Jesse Scholtens, who gave the Sod Poodles five and two-thirds scoreless innings. Scholtens, second on the Sod Poodles with 125 innings pitched, gave one of his best performances of the year. The 25-year-old righty, who allowed only one walk, has posted a 37:4 strikeout-to-walk ratio over his last five starts. … Owen Miller, Ivan Castillo and Taylor Kohlwey, all of whom are hitting over .400 for the series, contributed again Saturday. Castillo, the Texas League batting champion in his first season in the Padres system, had a pair of singles, walked and swiped a base … Peter Van Gansen – who at all of 5-foot-8 made his ninth start of the year at first base – had a big two-run single in the third to put the Sod Poodles up 3-0. They never looked back. …Centerfielder Taylor Trammell’s eight-game hitting streak came to an end with an 0-4 night at the plate. Still, over his last ten games, Trammell is hitting .378.
Storm 11 Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 2
(The Storm win the best-of-five series 3-1)
Adrian Martinez in action this year with the TinCaps. Photo: Jeff Nycz.
Key Statistics: SS Gabriel Arias 2-4, 2B, BB; Eguy Rosario 3-4, BB; RF Tirso Ornelas 1-4, 2 RBI, BB; LF Lee Solomon 2-4, RBI; 1B Olivier Basabe 2-4, 4 RBI, BB; DH Tucupita Marcano 3-5, 3 RBI; RHP Adrian Martinez (W, 1-0) 5.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 6 K, 1 BB; RHP Henry Henry 2.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 6 K; RHP Nick Kuzia 2.0 IP 4 K.
Prospect Watch: Lake Elsinore, bolstered by contributions from their late-season reinforcements from the TinCaps, smoked Rancho Cucamonga to take the series and advance to the California League finals. The Storm broke the game open in the fifth inning with a five-run outburst led by Tucupita Marcano’s two-run double. Marcano, who turns 20 next week, went 6-for-16 in the series. He joined the Storm for the playoffs after hitting .270 in Fort Wayne for the year. …On the mound, Adrian Martinez turned in his second straight stellar outing since joining the club. The 22-year-old righty, who posted a 3.36 ERA in 75 innings with the TinCaps this year, allowed just a single and one walk while working off a fastball sitting in the mid-90s. The Mexicali native, now three years removed from his Tommy John surgery, had the best year of his four-year career. He held Midwest League opponents to a .219 batting average in 41.1 second-half innings. … Henry Henry, who also joined the Storm for the postseason, showed both the upside and risk in his game. The big righty struck out six over two innings, but he also gave up four hits, including a two-run home run to Dodgers prospect Jeren Kendall. After developing as a starter for his first four years in the system, the 20-year-old made a successful transition to working high-leverage innings in multi-inning stretches out of the pen this season.
Ignacio Feliz turned in a stellar pitching performance to open the Northwest League Championship Series. (Photo: Mike Wilson)
Hillsboro Hops 5 Dust Devils 3
(Hillsboro leads the best-of-five series 1-0)
Key Statistics: 2B Reinaldo Ilarraza 2-4; DH Nick Gatewood 1-4, HR, RBI; CF Matt Acosta 1-3, 2B; RHP Ignacio Feliz 6.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 7 K, 0 BB; LHP Dan Dallas (L, 0-1) 0.2 IP, 3 ER, 2 BB, HBP; RHP Tom Colletti (BS,1) 0.1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER.
Prospect Watch: Tri-City lost a heartbreaker as the home-town Hops plated four in the ninth inning to spoil a great pitching performance by Ignacio Feliz. The 19-year-old, who didn’t see as much of a velocity spike in his first year in the organization as some expected, threw one of his best games of the year. Showing feeling with his three-pitch mix, Feliz allowed just one hit – a clean single to right – while matching his season high of seven strikeouts in six innings. … The Dust Devils had a 3-1 lead in the ninth inning with one out before reliever Dan Dallas lost his command. The two-time Northwest League All-Star hit a batter and issued two consecutive walks before giving way. The lefty has walked eight in 8.2 innings since returning from his ill-fated fill-in role for El Paso in August. Tom Colletti quickly got the second out on a sacrifice fly, still preserving a 3-2 lead. But Andy Yerzy turned on the very next pitch and got the ball just over the fence inside the foul pole for a three-run, walk-off home run.
