(March 30, 2026 – Coppell, TX) It’s time for 45-ball and the Spirits (45+) squad rolled in ready to defend their 2025 NTABL Masters Division Title against one of the last year’s hottest-finishing teams. The friendly rivalry is often close but it appeared the Spirits were a little more seasoned and ready to play likely based on the squad’s players that participate in 50-ball, which starts in February.
Eric McPherson and Kevin Simmons each finished with a pair of hits on the night and Shawn Lee walked once an knocked in 3 runs as the Spirits used another snowman building contest to put up an 8-spot in the first inning. Both the Spirits (50+) and Spirits (45+) squads opened the season with 8-run first innings and in this contest the team never looked back. The team cruised to an 11 to 1 victory behind another complete-game victory by ace pitcher, Jonathan Duran. Duran tossed 5 innings while allowing no earned runs off of just a single hit, walking 1, and striking out 2.
“Great way to start off a title defense for sure,” Lee commented after the game. “Hoping this team chemistry hits a little faster and more serious than our 50 team has started. Still a couple of errors too many defensively, but we were aggressive and fast on offense and that felt good.”
The Spirits absolutely cooked Hurricanes starter, Cameron Newell with 6 hits and a walk while earning 8 runs in the first sparked by a one-out single by Kirk Sipila. Sipila advanced to second base on a wild pitch and then scored on an RBI single by McPherson. Travis Hitzeman followed with a single and Dale Baird loaded them after being hit by a pitch. Lee stepped in and single home both McPherson and Hitzeman to make it 3 to 0. Lee then swiped second base and moved to third when Baird scored on a wild pitch. Mike Sopocy drew a walk and stole second before Simmons scored Lee on an RBI single. Sopocy later scored on an error by Newell when he tried to pick Sopocy at third, allowing Simmons to take second base. Matt Crowell lost a battle of swings before a triple by Cliff Brade scored Simmons to make it 7 to 0. Brade later scored on an RBI single by Stacy Scott to complete building of the snowman for an 8 to 0 lead before Earl German grounded out.
The game remained quiet after the fast offensive start but the Hurricanes finally squandered a run in the top half of the fifth inning after Eric Reifschneider reached on an error by Baird at shortstop. Yo Lee also reached on another Spirits fielding error and Reifschneider eventually scored on a ground out by Joel Galloway before Duran struck out Newell to close out the sloppy defensive inning for the ghosts.
In the fifth, the Spirits piled on to complete the shortened game with a win by tacking on 3 more runs after German and Dee Mauldin each led off with a walk. German later scored after moving over on a wild pitch when Mauldin was caught stealing second. Sipila was hit by a pitch by replacement pitcher, Ben Northcutt and McPherson loaded the bags with a single before Northcutt was able to strike out Hitzeman. Baird and Lee both walked with Lee earning the easy RBI and McPherson scored on a passed ball to make it 11 to 1, Spirits before time was called on the league’s 2-hour game time limit.
“Felt good to be back at Cowboy Field in Coppell,” Lee continued. “We love this field like it’s our home field and it’s even better when your team plays well. I’m sure our future matchups will be much closer than this one, so we’ll take the win for now and we’ll try to be ready for the next one.
The team returns to action next Monday night when they play host to the Knights at Cowboy Field. First pitch is scheduled for 8:45PM and fans can click here for schedule details.
Ranger Fire, Inc. Players of the Game
Eric McPherson (2-3, 2 R, RBI)
Shawn Lee (1-2, R, 3 RBI, BB)
Cliff Brade (1-3, 3B, R, RBI)