Soddies by Morning: Stephan and Short duel, Hurley Goes Yard

Thursday night saw the pitchers duel that we thought that we were going to get on Wednesday. Amarillo starter Avery Short and Frisco starter Josh Stephan put on arm's race for the Hodgetown faithful.

The Frisco right hander looked sharp tonight, going six innings without walking a batter and not giving up an extra base hit in his time out there. Stephan struckout six in his time on the bump on Thursday. Avery Short put together another quality start for Amarillo, going 6 IP, giving up 2 runs, one coming off of a Cam Cauley double and the other as a result of a wild pitch. Unfortunately two was enough on Thursday after the bats just never did get their groove all night. Despite picking up the loss Short finishes May with a 2.30 ERA for the month of May, his lowest ERA in a calendar month since an unreal performance April last year when he posted a 1.31 over 5 starts and 34.1 innings. Luke Albright replaced Short in the seventh and the right hander would surrender a pair of base hits in his two innings of work, one being Sebastian Walcott's second double, and second hit of the game to the opposite field, and in the next inning Luis Miesis moster solo shot would extend the Frisco lead to 3-0 Roughriders.

Cam Cauley RBI Double

After being called up this week, Hayden Durke made his Hodgetown debut and did not disappoint. Durke flashed some great stuff in his one inning of work, completely blowing away Sebastian Walcott on four pitches to close out the Frisco ninth on 8 pitches and seven strikes. Durke should be a major weapon out of Amarillo's pen, coming off a month where the bullpen really struggled to close out games for the starters. Durke does have one familiar face on this roster as he is reunited with his Louisiana-Lafayette teammate Drake Osborn, and will probably be a part of the same battery once again very soon.

Jack Hurley finally put the Sod Poodles on the board with solo shot off of Travis MacGregor in the eighth that blistered off his bat at 111 MPH for Amarillo's only run of the night. "I think at this level there's a lot of adjustments to be made, and I think I'm starting to make some of those adjustments." Hurley said earlier in the week. "It took a little bit of time, but, I mean, that's any level you go to. You're gonna have to make adjustments. Ideally, you want to make them on the fly, but it took a little bit of time and I'm starting to feel a little bit more comfortable." Hurley definitley looks a little more comfortable at the plate lately. Heading into the two week road trip the Sod Poodles outfielder was hitting .176/.224/.259/.483 with only 7 extra base hits, no homers, and a league high 47 strikeouts. Since then Hurley has looked like the prospect we saw last season slashing .261/.346/.565/.911 in that span and crushing four home runs including Thursday's shot. "A lot of it is timing for me. 
I was off time for quite a bit in the beginning of the season. Being on time just means you're ready for the fastball, and you can adjust to the off speed, a little smoother. I was in between, so I wasn't really on time for a fastball or slider or much." The lefty has boosted his OPS by .130 since the team left for Springfield and nights like tonight are a big reason why. Tommy Troy and Gavin Conticello picked up multi-hit games. Troy is now slashing .417/.500/1.000/1.500 through the first game of the series while playing really solid defense tonight at second base.

Probable Pitchers

RHP Ben Anderson (4.54 ERA - 4.89 FIP / 22 K - 18 BB)

The last time Amarillo faced Anderson they hit seven doubles on the night, including three from Caleb Roberts who in the last two series looks like he's seeing the ball better. Amarillo would put up six runs against the Frisco starter, who doesn't strike a lot of guys out which has been an issue for the Soddies this season .

LHP Spencer Giesting (3.38 ERA - 3.85 FIP / 54 K - 18 BB)

Giesting was Amarillo's rock for that first month of the season and not much has changed recently. When he keeps the walks down he's been extremely good this year. Outside of the second start in the Springfield series, the lefty has had an excellent May (2.78 ERA) like his fellow teammates Avery Short, Roman Angelo, and of course Dylan Ray. Giesting features a slider that runs in the low 80s that might just be the best pitch in the entire rotation, a fastball that tends to be in the low 90s, a sinker that plays in that same ranger, and a cutter just below that giving hitters a different look. The changeup hangs around the mid 80s, a hammer of a curveball that gives a completely different view in the upper 70s.