(October 13, 2019 – Irving, TX) The welcoming committee wasn’t in good spirits Sunday afternoon as the Dallas Bulls returned for a visit against the Dallas Spirits once again on Sunday afternoon. Fresh off of a 14 to 1 loss just a few days prior, the ghosts found them in a, ‘murder was the case that they gave me’ situation as the offense simply took offense to Bulls pitching and never relented.
In the spirit of Halloween, it was the Bulls who drew first blood in the top half of the first inning when Gavin Morgan singled off of starter, Duane Aponte to lead things off. Javier Mendez reached on a fielder’s choice to squeeze Morgan at second and he later advanced after Jim Crombie hit a single. Mendez was then able to score after an RBI single by Samuel Peters before John Holmquist grounded into a double-play.
The Spirits may have felt a bit imposed upon as the offense retaliated by letting Crombie have it. No matter what he tried to throw the Spirits hitters, the ghosts seemed to find a way to put the ball in play. Cliff Brade reached on an error to lead things off and after swiping second and reaching third on a wild pitch, Eric Goetz made it runners at the corners after drawing a walk. Brade scored on a wild pitch and after Chris Lewis singled to push Goetz to third and then stole second base, Shawn Lee followed with a double to score both runners. A single by Patrick Bilgere pushed Lee to third and a walk to Aponte loaded the bases for David Tipton. Tipton promptly followed with a single to score both Lee and Bilgere and the Spirits were up, 5 to 1. With the foot remaining on the gas pedal, Grant Martin hit an RBI single to score Aponte and a follow up single by Jonathan Duran loaded the bases a second time in the inning. Teddy Croft, filling in as a sub the belted a fly ball deep enough to left field to score Tipton on the sacrifice fly. Brade then reported to the dish for a second time in the inning and after he wore a pitch, bases were loaded for Goetz. Goetz popped out to the infield to record the second out of the inning, but before graciously leaving a 7-spot on the scoreboard, Lewis selfishly crushed another single up the middle to score Martin and to give the Spirits a snowman in the game’s first inning. Lee flew out to end the onslaught.
The Spirits then tacked on another pair of runs in the second after Bilgere scored on an RBI single by Martin. Martin would later score on an RBI single by Croft and the Spirits led, 10 to 1. The ghosts then added another 5 runs in the third after Tipton cleared bases loaded with a double to the wall to pick up another 3 RBIs. An RBI triple by Duran scored Tipton and a double by Croft scored Duran to make it, 15 to 1 Spirits.
After setting the Bulls down in order in the fourth, the Spirits added another 6 runs in the bottom half of the frame as Lee hit an RBI single to score Goetz, who had reached on a single to lead off the inning. Lewis, who drew a walk to reach base then scored after Aponte reached on a fielder’s choice and Lee later scored on an RBI single by Tipton. Aponte eventually reached home on a single by Duran and Tipton capped off the scoring when Croft picked up his 4th run batted in with a single.
Aponte went the distance to pick up the victory, pitching 5 innings while allowing one earned on 4 hits, while walking one and striking out 3. The Spirits hit 22 times to score 21 runs while stranding 9 runners en route to a 21-1 victory. Tipton finished with 6 RBIs, while Croft added 4 and Lee added 3. Each player in the Spirits lineup hit safely at least once and every player scored with the exception of one. The win pushes the team’s fall record to 6-1 atop the NTABL Fall Baseball, Brazos Division standings.
The team returns to action on Wednesday night when they play host to the EKG Orioles at McInnish Park, field #10. Game is slated for 7:30PM and you can click here for schedule details.
Waxhahachie Autoplex Players of the Game
David Tipton (3-4, 2B, 3 R, 6 RBI)
Shawn Lee (3-4, 2B, 3 R, 3 RBI)
Chris Lewis (3-3, 3 R, BB, RBI, SB)