(May 24, 2019 – Mesquite, TX) There are two things that are certain as of May 2019. The Thunderbirds have put together a very solid team and the Spirits (35+) are crumbling into a space not yet seen in previous years. To put it lightly, the Thunderbirds stomped the Spirits on Wednesday night by a score of 11 to 0 at First Baptist Academy in a game the Spirits would not only like to forget quickly, but forever. The loss drops the Spirits to 0-3-1 in NTABL Veterans League play.
Sevens were in the building on Wednesday night but they were anything but lucky. After the dust settled, primarily from the team kicking the ball around, the three 7s displaying on the box score were skewed and in the wrong places…far from what we’re used to seeing from a team that was part of winning 3 out of 5 possible titles just two years ago. The Spirits finished with 7 hits on the night, alongside 7 errors (not a type-o) in the field and 7 base runners left on bags.
“Honestly, any comment from me at this point would be cliche,” commented Shawn Lee following the game. “We stink, and that’s where I’m going to leave it. We need to find out how to play baseball and we need to do it soon, otherwise the cellar is something we best get ready to be used to.”
Lee didn’t mince words and there are a handful in this story that would be best left unpublished. As for the Thunderbirds? They’re on cruise control. Starter Brent Smerczynski was lights out from the mound. He finished with a complete-game shutout, allowing no runs on 7 hits with one strikeout. He helped carry his team offensively as well, finishing the evening with a 2-for-4 performance at the dish, a run scored and an RBI. Brad Bode finished 2-4 with a double, a pair of runs scored and 4 RBIs, while Jody Nicewonger finished 3-3 with a run scored.
For the Spirits, Bobby Kornhauser finished with two hits and that was about the only exciting statistic that came from the Spirits box. The Spirits watched 13 Thunderbirds bat in the second inning as the team rallied for 8 runs that included a pair of Spirits errors.
“To say it was comical, well, that’s the best I’ve got,” continued Lee. “We have no choice at this point to forget this game and refocus. It would be too easy to complain about the entire 2019 year combined so far and complain about the number of losses and the number of errors per game that seems to be getting worse rather than better. We’ll find it, but unfortunately at this point I just don’t know when.”
The team will return to action next Thursday night when they get a shot at the win column as they host the Knights at McInnish Park, Field #11 with a 6:45PM first pitch. Click here for schedule details or to obtain driving directions to the game.
Core Physical Medicine Players of the Game
Bobby Kornhauser (2-3)