(September 19, 2018 – Carrollton, TX) The offense started a little slow but after four innings of play, the dust settled and the newcomer Coyotes squad threw in the towel despite the league not having a mercy rule. Coyotes manager, Kevin Ortiz simply indicated he was out of pitching and after an hour and fifteen minutes of playing, the Spirits (35+) squad left with a 13 to 0 victory.
David Tipton led off the scoring for the Spirits as they picked up an early run in the game’s first inning after Tipton singled and stole second. Jason Bottenfield lined out to center and Tipton used the fly ball to his advantage to advance to third on the throw. Travis Hitzeman followed with a short fly ball to left that was deep enough to score Tipton on the sacrifice fly before Bobby Kornhauser was called out on strikes.
The Coyotes went in order after Spirits starter, Brant Finchum used just 7 pitches to get out of the first inning of play. Things remained quiet until the third inning when Jack Nash went down on strikes following an 9 pitch at-bat and Aaron Wilson flew out. Tipton kept the inning alive, however after drawing a walk and then again stealing second. Bottenfield followed up with an RBI single to score Tipton and he later advanced to second after Hitzeman singled on the next pitch. Kornhauser loaded the bases after wearing the first pitch he saw from Coyotes starter, Jhon Gonzalez. Finchum took advantage of the miscue with a single to left that scored both Bottenfield and Hitzeman. Both runners were able to move forward on the throw home and that additional miscue allowed the Spirits to score another run when Eric McPherson singled in Kornhauser. Jonathan Duran flew out to end the inning, but the Spirits had a 5 to 0 lead.
Josiah Adkins led the third inning off after being hit by a pitch but was later cut down attempting to swipe second after newcomer and catch, John Hefner fired a strike to Bottenfield at second. Bottenfield missed the initial tag, but Adkins slid past the bag and Bottenfield struck like an angry snake just a split second after the initial tag to retire Adkins from the base paths. Finchum was able to strike out the next to Coyotes and the Spirits headed into the fourth with the same 5 to 0 cushion.
Enter offensive chaos. Hefner led things off with a single and moved to second after Nash singled. Duran, running for Hefner was able to score after a fielding error allowed Wilson to reach safely. Tipton followed with a single and then later stole second. Wilson later scored after the Coyotes catcher made an errant throw during a pick off attempt at third. Bottenfield singled and another single by Hitzeman allowed Tipton to score. Bottenfield would later score after an RBI single by Kornhauser. Finchum grounded out and McPherson drew a walk to load the bases. Duran then followed with the biggest hit on the night that allowed all three runners to score when Duran landed at second with a double that made its way to the right-center field wall. Duran later scored on a single by Hefner. Nash added the last ounce of offense with a single before Ortiz, who replaced Gonzalez at pitcher was able to get Wilson to ground out.
In the bottom half of the inning, Michael Yazvac grounded out, but Ethan Epstein reached first on a walk by Finchum. Edgar Herndandez then grounded to short and the Spirits were able to easily pull off the 6-4-3 double-play to end the game. During a short discussion with the field umpires team manager, Shawn Lee reminded them that there was no mercy rule in effect, but as the players swapped the field, Lee was notified by the umps that Ortiz had waved the white flag indicating that he was out of pitching. Although let down that the game was cut short, the squad left with its second straight victory on the young fall season.
The team will return to action on Sunday as they’re scheduled to host the Knights at Reverchon Park in Uptown for a 1:00PM first pitch. Click here for schedule details, to obtain directions to the game, or to download the iScore Central app to watch and listen to the game live, online.
Waxahachie Autoplex Players of the Game
Jonathan Duran (2-3, 2B, 2 R, 3 RBI)
Travis Hitzeman (2-2, 2 R, SF, 2 RBI)
David Tipton (2-2, 3 R, BB, 3 SB)