(September 10, 2020 – Plano, TX) You wouldn’t believe it was the same team that beat the Cardinals in the last match-up when the Spirits (35+) squad batted 13 players and scored 17 runs and put a whooping in the NTABL Veterans League second place team just a few weeks ago. But the trend of lethargic offense continued once again as the ghosts could only sit and watch as the Cardinals racked up 16 hits to coast past the Spirits by a score of 8 to 2 Thursday night on Graham Field.
The Spirits finished with just 6 hits on the night, two from Brant Finchum who also scored one of the team’s two runs. Add in a bad call and the typical domino effect of fielding errors and hits by the opposing teams made room for scoring opportunities and the Spirits never really were in the game.
The game went scoreless until the top half of the third inning when Jason New was called safe on a play that appeared to have him getting thrown out by at least a step. Two singles later, the bases are loaded for the Cardinals when Juan Mollenedo made to 1 to 0 with a sacrifice fly RBI to left. Joe Lowry then reached on a Spirits fielding error that allowed Powell to score and after Joe Lowry swiped second to put both remaining runners in scoring position, 2 more runs scored on another Spirits fielding error to make it 4 to 0, Cardinals.
After adding another 3 runs in the top half of the fourth and their 8th and final run in the fifth inning, the Spirits were able to muster up a pair of runs after Shawn Hunt and Finchum both reached on errors by the Cardinals. Duane Aponte singled to load the bases and with nobody out, Earl German plated the team’s first run after grounding out to the right side. Grant Martin also grounded out but Finchum was able to cross the plate on the play before the inning died after Cliff Brade flew out.
“Sad we didn’t give them much of a game,” mentioned Shawn Lee after the contest was over and the Spirits quietly cleared the field. “Just not going to be our year. We’re missing big arms this season due to the pandemic and it shows. Jason Bottenfield and Craig Molldrem haven’t made a game yet so we’re thin at pitcher and without (Kirk) Sipila in the lineup, we’re missing one of our fire starters. I’m just confused by our offense. One week we’ll hit like it’s batting practice and then a game later we’re facing Nolan Ryan himself or so it would seem. We’ve got a few games left to rebound yet and we’ve proved we can play with anyone, but faith is running thin. For some reason, it’s 2013 for us again.”
The Spirits get another crack at a victory when they host the Dodgers next Thursday night at 8:45PM. Click here to view schedule details and to download the iScore Central app to listen to Spirits games live online!
Core Physical Medicine Players of the Game
Brant Finchum (2-3, R)
Duane Aponte (1-1, 2 BB)
Travis Hitzeman (1-3)