STWF Sports | AMARILLO, Texas | June 27, 2026 — The Frisco RoughRiders have already guaranteed themselves at least a split in their first series of the second half. Now, with a major-league arm taking the mound, they have a chance to secure even more momentum.
Frisco meets the Amarillo Sod Poodles, the Double-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks, on Saturday night at HODGETOWN for the fifth game of a six-game series. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Left-hander Jordan Montgomery is slated to make a rehab start for the RoughRiders, entering at 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA. Amarillo will counter with right-hander Junior Sanchez, who comes in at 1-1 with a 7.30 ERA.
The RoughRiders enter the matchup at 3-1 in the second half and 42-30 overall after winning a wild 9-8, 10-inning game Friday night. Frisco has now taken three of the first four games in Amarillo and continues to swing one of the hottest bats in the Texas League.
Friday’s win was another power-heavy performance in a series full of loud contact. Texas Rangers outfielder Evan Carter began his rehab assignment with Frisco and immediately made his presence felt, launching a 421-foot leadoff home run off Amarillo left-hander Avery Short. Carter reached base in all three of his plate appearances before exiting as scheduled in the sixth inning, finishing with a home run, a walk and a single.
That blast was only the beginning.
Max Wagner delivered the biggest individual performance of the night, hitting three solo home runs for the first three-homer game of his professional or collegiate career. Wagner went deep in the second, fourth and fifth innings, becoming the first RoughRider with a three-home run game since Aaron Zavala last August. Ian Moller also homered in the fifth as Frisco built a 7-0 lead.
The game tightened quickly. RoughRiders starter Dalton Pence opened with four scoreless innings before Amarillo struck for three runs in the fifth on a Cristofer Torin homer. The Sod Poodles added three more in the sixth and tied the game in the ninth on Gavin Conticello’s home run.
Frisco responded in extras. Moller drove in a run with a 10th-inning double, and Julian Brock followed with an RBI single. Zach Bryant allowed one run in the bottom of the inning but struck out the final hitter to seal the 9-8 win.
The RoughRiders have already clinched a postseason berth after winning the Texas League South Division first-half title on June 18. The club finished the first half 39-29, good for a .567 winning percentage, the eighth-best first-half mark in franchise history. It also marked Frisco’s 11th playoff berth and first since 2024.
Even with that postseason spot locked up, Frisco has started the second half with plenty of urgency. The offense remains the story, especially at HODGETOWN. Through 10 games in Amarillo this season, the RoughRiders are hitting .342 with a .419 on-base percentage, a .627 slugging percentage and a 1.046 OPS. They have hit 27 home runs and are averaging 8.8 runs per game.
Frainyer Chavez continues to be one of the league’s hottest hitters. Over his last 32 games, he is batting .382 with a .483 on-base percentage, a .618 slugging percentage, 14 doubles, five home runs, 21 RBIs and 29 runs scored. During that span, he leads the Texas League in batting average, hits and doubles while ranking near the top in OPS and extra-base hits.
Chavez is riding an eight-game hitting streak and has gone 19-for-34 during that stretch. He has also set a new career high with 10 home runs, reaching that mark far quicker than he did last season.
Wagner has matched that energy with a power surge of his own. Over his last five games, he is batting .471 with five home runs, eight hits and a 1.924 OPS. His three-homer performance Friday was the seventh in RoughRiders franchise history.
Frisco enters Saturday leading the Texas League in hits, batting average, runs, doubles and OPS. The RoughRiders have scored seven or more runs in 32 of 72 games and are 24-1 when scoring at least eight.
Now the attention shifts to Montgomery. The veteran left-hander gives Frisco a high-profile starter as the RoughRiders look to clinch the series outright. With Carter rehabbing, Chavez rolling and Wagner swinging a hot bat, Saturday brings another chance for Frisco to keep its second-half surge alive in Amarillo.
