Poised to bounce back: Leandro Cedeno shines as Amarillo's offense stays hot, but Soddies drop three straight

It was a rough stretch at the ballpark for Amarillo last week when it hosted Tulsa.

The hometown Sod Poodles, which secured one win, dropped to (18-21) after the Drillers earned five.

Despite their one-win week and a 4-8 record over the past two, the Amarillo Sod Poodles own the best offense in the Texas League.

Amarillo currently ranks first in batting average, hits, runs scored and OPS while ranking second in home runs, doubles and triples.

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A large reason for those top rankings has been the play of 23-year-old Venezuelan infielder Leandro Cedeno.

His batting average (.358) ranks second in the Texas League and is tied for third in all of Double-A baseball. He also ranks first on the team with 15 multi-hit games this season and is on pace to record the most hits, home runs and RBI in a season during his seven-year minor league career.

On Saturday night, Cedeno hit a single that marked the 400th of his minor league career. He spent the first six in the St. Louis Cardinals organization before joining Arizona's heading into this season.

Arizona's No. 1 prospect Corbin Carroll has also been on fire at the plate lately and has been arguably the most consistent offensive producer for Amarillo this season. Over the past 10 games, Carroll is 13-for-39 (.333) with three home runs, eight RBI, and 16 runs scored.

Standout outfielder Dominic Fletcher was promoted to Triple-A Reno early last week after going 44-for-127 (.346) with seven home runs, 34 RBI and 28 runs scored in 32 games for the Soddies this spring.

Amarillo owns an 18-21 overall record and is scheduled to face off against Arkansas — the affiliate of the Seattle Mariners — for the first time since Sept. 2019.

Arkansas (18-21) enters the new week coming off of a 4-2 homestand against the Northwest Arkansas Naturals.

The Mariners' top-rated prospects that are currently playing for Arkansas are right-handed pitcher Emerson Hancock (No. 5), right-handed pitcher Levi Stoudt (No. 6) and outfielder Zach DeLoach (No. 11). Hancock was drafted 6th overall by Seattle in the 2020 MLB Draft. He is 0-1 in two games played (4 IP) this season with a 4.50 ERA and five strikeouts.

DeLoach is batting .246 (32-for-130) this season with two home runs, 18 RBI and 19 runs scored.

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Arkansas is in fourth place in the Texas League North Division, while the Sod Poodles are sitting fourth in the South Division.

Amarillo is 9-9 on the road this season while the Travelers have put together a 9-9 record at home.

For results from the contests, visit www.amarillo.com/sports.

This week's series

Opponent: Arkansas Travelers

Schedule: 6:35 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday; 7:05 p.m. Friday-Saturday; 5:35 p.m. Sunday

Where: Dickey-Stephens Park, North Little Rock, ASrkansas

Records: Sod Poodles 18-21; Travelers 18-21

What to know: Arkansas ranks last in the Texas League in team batting average (.213) with Amarillo on the opposite end of the spectrum leading the league (.294). The Sod Poodles are second in home runs (65) with the Travelers right behind them in tenth (20). Arkansas is also last in runs scored (160) with the Soddies remaining at the top of the league leaderboards in first place (284). Amarillo has now scored 49 more runs than the next closest team. The Travelers pitching staff ranks at the top of the league in team ERA (4.12) with the Soddies rotation behind them in last place (6.49).

SOD POODLES SEASON LEADERS

HITTING

• Average: Leandro Cedeno .358; Dominic Fletcher .346; Corbin Carroll .328

• OBP: Corbin Carroll .462; Leandro Cedeno .414; Dominic Fletcher .408

• Doubles: Jancarlos Cintron 13; Eduardo Diaz 9; Corbin Carroll, Leandro Cedeno, Andy Yerzy 7

• Triples: Corbin Carroll 3; Eduardo Diaz, Dominic Fletcher 2

• HR: Corbin Carroll 12; Leandro Cedeno 10; Dominic Fletcher 7

• RBI: Dominic Fletcher 34; Eduardo Diaz 32; Leandro Cedeno, Jancarlos Cintron 28

• Runs: Corbin Carroll 43; Jancarlos Cintron, Eduardo Diaz, Dominic Fletcher 28

PITCHING

• ERA: Brandon Pfaadt 4.93; Bryce Jarvis 5.97; Slade Cecconi 6.14

• Innings pitched: Slade Cecconi 36 2/3; Bryce Jarvis, Brandon Pfaadt 34 2/3

• Wins: Jeff Bain, Slade Cecconi, Drey Jameson, Bryce Jarvis, Justin Lewis, Blake Workman 2

• Saves: Junior Garcia 3; Blake Workman 2; Blake Rogers 1

• Strikeouts: Brandon Pfaadt 45; Slade Cecconi 38; Bryce Jarvis 37

• Walks: Bryce Jarvis 19; Brett de Geus 15; Slade Cecconi, Deyni Olivero 9

Sod Poodles Roster moves

May 18: OF Dominic Fletcher promoted to Triple-A Reno

May 18: INF Jeison Guzmán assigned to Amarillo

Looking back

TUESDAY, MAY 17

DRILLERS 15, SOD POODLES 12

Top performers

Sod Poodles: Eduardo Diaz 3-5, HR, 2 R, 5 RBI; Corbin Carroll 2-4, 3 R, 1 RBI; Brett de Geus 1 IP, 2 SO

Drillers: Ryan Ward 3-5, 2 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI; Kody Hoese 4-5, 2 HR, 3 R, 4 RBI; Alec Gamboa 3 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO

Highlights: Tulsa hit nine home runs in their series opening win over the Sod Poodles last Tuesday night. Amarillo held a 12-10 lead heading into the ninth inning before the Drillers exploded for five runs to grab the win. 

WEDNESDAY, MAY 18

DRILLERS 9, SOD POODLES 2

Top performers

Sod Poodles: Corbin Carroll 2-4, 1 R; Blaze Alexander 1-4, 1 RBI; Kai-Wei Lin 2 IP, 1 H, 3 SO

Drillers: Justin Yurchak 2-5, 3 RBI; Ryan Ward 3-5, 2 R, 1 RBI; Gavin Stone 5 IP, 5 H, 8 SO

Highlights: Tulsa jumped out to a 6-0 lead after the first four innings and their strong pitching staff never let Amarillo get back in striking distance. The Sod Poodles were 0-for-7 with a runner in scoring position and left six men on base in the loss.

THURSDAY, MAY 19

SOD POODLES 10, DRILLERS 5

Top performers

Sod Poodles: Drew Stankiewicz 2-4, HR, 2 R, 4 RBI; Corbin Carroll 2-5, HR, 1 R, 4 RBI; Blake Rogers 1 IP, 2 SO

Drillers: Devin Mann 2-3, HR, 2 R, 1 RBI; Jacob Amaya 1-4, HR, 2 R, 1 RBI; John Rooney 3 2/3 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 SO

Highlights: Amarillo used a pair of three-run homers to take down Tulane for their lone win last week. Stankiewicz hit his second of the season in the second inning to put Amarillo up 3-0 before Carroll notched his 12th of the year in the sixth on a hit that gave the Soddies 10 runs in the game.

FRIDAY, MAY 20

DRILLERS 3, SOD POODLES 0

Sod Poodles: Leandro Cedeno 2-4; Justin Lewis 2 IP, 1 H, 2 SO

Drillers: Jeren Kendall 1-4, HR, 1 R, 1 RBI; Kody Hoese 2-4, 1 RBI; Landon Knack 5 IP, 3 H, 9 SO

Highlights: Amarillo went 4-for-30 in the batter's box as they were shut down by the strong Tulane starting pitcher Landon Knack and the four relievers that finished the game with an inning each on the mound. 

SATURDAY, MAY 21

DRILLERS 6, SOD POODLES 5

Top performers

Sod Poodles: Jorge Barrosa 1-4, HR, 1 R, 2 RBI; Leandro Cedeno 2-2, 1 R, 2 BB; Ryan Weiss 2 IP, 4 SO

Drillers: Hunter Feduccia 2-5, HR, 1 R, 3 RBI; James Outman 1-4, HR, 2 R, 1 RBI; Tanner Dodson 1 1/3 IP, 1 BB, 2 SO

Highlights: A two-run top of the sixth made the difference for Tulsa in this back-and-forth Saturday night battle. No runs were scored by either side in the final three innings of a game where each side recorded eight hits. Amarillo committed two errors while Tulsa played a clean game in the field.

SUNDAY, MAY 22

DRILLERS 10, SOD POODLES 3

Top performers

Sod Poodles: Corbin Carroll 2-3, 2 R; Ti'Quan Forbes 1-5, 2 RBI; Blake Rogers 1 IP, 1 H, 2 SO

Drillers: Carson Taylor 3-4, HR, 3 R, 2 RBI; Jeren Kendall 2-4, HR, 1 R, 4 RBI; Jose Martinez 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO

Highlights: Tulsa doubled Amarillo's hit output with 14 in their six-game series finale on Sunday. The Drillers led from the second inning on and had a five-run sixth inning that the Soddies were unable to come back from despite scoring two in the bottom of the ninth.

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Sod Poodles Weekly: Cedeno shines as Amarillo's offense stays on top