(October 20, 2025 – Coppell, TX) The Fall season has been good to both the Spirits (45+) and Spirits (50+) squads as the team has seen most of their games end early due to mercy rules and complete offensive domination. Monday night was a bit of the polar opposite, as the team struggled out of the gates and allowed the Hurricanes an early lead that they fought hard not to relinquish. As a result, the Spirits (45+) squad saw its first number show up in the loss column as the ‘Canes held onto an early 5 to 0 lead to eventually win 11 to 8 at Cowboy Field.
Spirits starting pitcher, Vinny Diciero struggled out of the gate, giving up two straight walks to both Eric Reifschneider and Emanuel Velez. Javier Mendez followed with a single and Richard Gonzales also singled to score Reifschneider. Michael Madsen was then gifted first after Spirits catcher, Shawn Hunt‘s glove interfered with Madson’s swing and miss which allowed Velez to score and Mendez scored moments later on a wild pitch. Thomas Mohlner reached on a Spirits fielding error that allowed Gonzales to score and after Brad Petty reached on a fielder’s choice that squeezed Mohler at second, Madsen was able to cross the dish to make it 5 to 0.
Craig Holmes drew another walk after Petty advanced on another wild pitch, and after Petty swiped third, Adam Althouse went down swinging following some controversy over a no call on a square by Althouse to bunt. Gerry Mecca also drew a walk and Spirits skipper, Shawn Lee turned to Jonathan Duran to come in and stop the bleeding. Duran was able to eventually get David Brunoff to ground out following a nice defensive play by Brian Kellner at first that could have resulted in even more damage.
“Honestly, it was a bit of a shit show,” Lee mentioned later. “We’ve got umpires who don’t see guys squaring for a bunt during the entire pitch, players falling down and not being able to make easy plays, a rare catcher’s interference call. It was a mess. All of it could have been avoided. Let’s just call it a teachable moment with a hard lesson learned. It won’t happen again.”
The ghosts picked up 2 quickly in the bottom frame after Lee singled following a ground out by Eric McPherson. Travis Hitzeman then took the next pitch 30 feet over the left field wall to cut the score to 5 to 2. Holmes, the Hurricanes starter, quickly composed himself and was able to get Kellner to fly out before Cliff Brade lined out to end the inning.
Duran and company were able to stave off any additional scoring in the second, but a meek performance by the Spirits lineup led to the same score after two as the Spirits were unable to plate Diciero and Chris Lewis after both hit safely with two outs. Holmes was able to get Duran to ground out on a soft roller to the mound to walk away unscathed.
The Hurricanes then opened up things in the third after Madsen led off with a deep single to the left field gap. Jim Crombie followed with a single and Petty bunted over both runners to put them in scoring position. The team chose to intentionally walk Holmes for a force but the play backfired after Althouse and Mecca both singled home runners. Brunoff then grounded out but was able to plate Holmes and a single by Reifschneider allowed Althouse home. Velez single and Mecca scored and after Mendez singled, Reifschneider scored to make it 11 to 2, Hurricanes before Gonzales grounded out.
“Wasn’t sure what to do at that point in the game,” Lee continued. “We had nothing on offense and despite handing them over 5 runs in the first, they followed up by hitting anything we served up in the third. It was obvious it wasn’t going to be our night.”
The team fought back for a pair of runs in the bottom frame after McPherson singled with one out. He went on to steal second base before Lee followed with a single down the line and the Spirits were starting to make a little noise. Hitzeman was intentionally walked and Kellner followed up with an easy RBI after drawing a walk from Holmes with the bases loaded. Brade was then able to reach on an error that allowed Lee to score but Sopocy and Hunt both flew out to close out the third.
The Spirits cut into the lead again in the fourth inning after Diciero and Lewis each singled. The runners advanced following a passed ball and Diciero was able to score following a sacrifice fly ball from Duran to cut the lead to, 11 to 5. Stacy Scott then reached on a fielder’s choice that moved Lewis to third and McPherson replaced him at first after forcing him out at second on another fielder’s choice that allowed Lewis to score. McPherson swiped second and Lee drew a base-on-balls before McPherson moved to third on a passed ball. Lee swiped second to move into scoring position and Hitzeman’s single plated both runners to cut the lead down to 11 to 8 before Kellner grounded out to end the inning.
“We seemed poised to get back into it after that inning,” Lee later commented. “It just wasn’t in the cards for us though. The bottom side of our order just wasn’t hitting and we ran out of time due to the two hour time limit and the unfortunate eternity we spent on the field in the first inning.”
The team actually had two more opportunities to get back into the contest, but Crombie came in for Holmes and the Spirits hitters just couldn’t touch the 50-year-old on his birthday. Crombie was able to get Sopocy swinging and Hunt to ground out after Brade had led off the inning with a single and had stolen second. Diciero lost another battle of strikes to end the inning.
In the sixth, Crombie used the same blueprint to strike out Lewis and to get Duran to ground out before striking out Scott to end the game.
The Spirits finish the fall regular season with a 7-1 record and secred the #1 seed for the division’s single-elimination playoffs. The squad finishes the season with 104 runs scored against 37 given up, ending with a plus 67 run differential, exactly 30 runs more than the next team’s differential.
The team breaks for a week due to players attending tournaments but will host the Rough Riders at Cowboy Field on November 3rd at 7PM. Fans can click here for schedule details as the game’s first pitch will take place at 7:00PM.
Ranger Fire, Inc. Players of the Games
Travis Hitzeman (2-2, HR, BB, R, 4 RBI)
Shawn Lee (2-2, 3 R, SB)
Eric McPherson (1-3, 2 R, RBI, 2 SB)