(May 20, 2018 – Plano, TX) The season may have started off in Cinderella fashion with the Spirits (18+) squad making things look easy as they raced to an 7-0 start during their transition to the NTABL National League and what’s considered the premier league for baseball in Dallas. However, the Dallas Panthers were more than happy to play wicked step-sister this past Sunday afternoon, essentially routing the ghosts by a final score of 8 to 0.
The Spirits were able to must up only 3 hits in 9 innings of play and found no way to plate a run. The Spirits had previously beaten the Panthers, last season’s champions by scores of 6 to 5 and 9 to 0, but today was different. The combination of pitching from the Panthers completely shut down the Spirits offense, allowing only 2 walks while striking out 10 different Spirits hitters.
John Showalter and Nate Martinez each picked up singles and a late game double by Eric Goetz rounded up the offense for the Spirits, with Showalter and Kyle Redinger being the only two hitters to draw walks. For the Panthers, Eric Wald racked up his offensive numbers with 3 hits on the day, as did Trevor Simms. The Panthers were only able to plate 3 earned runs as the Spirits defense struggled as well with 5 fielding errors that contributed to 5 unearned runs.
“Not a lot to say about this one,” commented Showalter after his team’s second straight loss. “Our offense was completely missing today. The dugout was quiet, and we simply didn’t have an answer. We’ve got 10 days off due to a scheduled bye and the Memorial Day holiday, so I’m hoping we can step a way for a minute here and get refocused. Nobody said the teams in the National League were going to hand us a trophy and we certainly didn’t expect to win every game. But two in a row? Yes, I’m a bit disappointed. We’re better than that, but we didn’t show any semblance of a team wanting to compete for a title today. We had a rough outing, and hopefully it was just that.”
Craig Molldrem picks up the loss, allowing one earned run on 4 hits, while striking out 5 in just 4 innings of work. Holden Novak also went 3 and 2/3 innings, allowing 6 runs, 3 earned on 7 hits, while walking 4 and striking out 5.
“We had trouble finding the zone today,” continued Showalter. “Nine free trips to first is going to be a problem for any team, but if you don’t put runs on the board for your pitchers, what does it matter. Tough one at the office today for us. We’ll turn this around.”
The outcome for Showalter’s team could have been much worse, as the Panthers stranded 15 runners during the game. The Spirits will return to action in 10 days as they visit the Dallas Blue Jays at Reverchon Park in Uptown, Dallas on May 30. First pitch is slated for 8:45PM and you can click here to review schedule details, obtain directions to the game, or to download the iScore Central app to watch and listen to the game live!
Dallas Spirits Players of the Game
John Showalter (1-2, BB)
Nate Martinez (1-2)
Eric Goetz (1-3, 2B)