The Springfield Cardinals opened the Texas League Championship Series the way they closed the division round: with early runs, timely hitting and enough pitching to keep the other side chasing.
Springfield scored twice in the first, twice more in the second and three in the sixth Sunday night at Hodgetown, beating the Amarillo Sod Poodles 7-2 to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series. Game 2 is Tuesday at Route 66 Stadium.
The Cardinals, defending Texas League champions and winners of a two-game sweep over Tulsa last week, jumped on Amarillo immediately. Josiah Ragsdale singled to center to score Cade McGee. Tai Peete followed with another single up the middle, sending Ragsdale home and putting Springfield up 2-0 after one.
They added two more in the second. Won-Bin Cho singled to center, scoring Peete and Rainiel Rodriguez and stretching the lead to 4-0 before Amarillo recorded an out in the frame.
The Sod Poodles, who had just survived a three-game South Division series against Frisco, did not get on the board until the sixth. By then Springfield had already broken the game open. Peete supplied the biggest swing of the night, a three-run homer to right-center that scored Tre Richardson III and Ragsdale and made it 7-1.
Amarillo scratched across a run in the sixth and another in the seventh. That was all. Springfield’s bullpen closed the final two innings without allowing another run, and the Cardinals walked off the field with a 1-0 series lead and a chance to clinch a second straight title at home.
Springfield finished 78-59 in the regular season and has now won three straight postseason games. The Cardinals will try to finish the job Tuesday night in Springfield. First pitch is 7:35 p.m. If a third game is needed, it would be Wednesday at Route 66 Stadium.
