(March 1, 2023 – Euless, TX) Shortly after the Spirits (40+) squad took a beating by the Redbirds, the two teams exchanged a few players and took the field for a second game, this time to battle for the DFW-ABA (50+) League. Scheduling issues forced a doubleheader opportunity that would best be summarized as early season practice for the Spirits (50+) squad.
The team saw glimpses of hope as they took to an early 2 to 0 lead, followed by a 4 to 2 lead in the fourth before the bottom fell out and the team saw themselves on the end of another mercy ruled, short game loss.
In the first inning, Chris Allen drew a walk and moved to second after Eric McPherson also drew a walk off of Redbirds starter, Mark Tierney. Kirk Sipila made it three in a row and with bases loaded and nobody out, newcomer Kent Fischer took to the dish. Fischer promptly singled and as a result, Allen and McPherson were able to score to give the Spirits a 2 to 0 lead. With Sipila on third, Fischer then swiped second base to again put runners in scoring position with two outs, but that would be the end of the scoring. Mike Sopocy drew a walk to load the bags but Steven Nutt forced Sipila out at home on an infield grounder, and Brian Hackney grounded into a 6-4-3 double-play that put the kibosh on any additional scoring.
The score remained 2 to 0 until the bottom of the second when the Redbirds added a pair of runs of their own on a 2 RBI single by Kevin Boyd. The Spirits returned fire in the third however, tacking on another pair of runs to make it 4 to 2. Todd Murrah singled with one out and Allen moved him to second after he followed with a single. A passed ball allowed both runners to advance and both runners later scored on an RBI single by McPherson before Sipila and Fischer flew out to end the inning.
Unfortunately, that would it for the Spirits scoring. The Redbirds added a 5-run bottom of the third to go up 7 to 4 and cruised to a 14 to 4 victory to send the Spirits packing.
“Well, we saw some signs of hope,” mentioned a disappointed, Shawn Lee after the game. “Obviously this is going to be our pre-season. Going to take us a few games to get right. I’m not sure why everyone else seems to be ready to play ball. Maybe we need to start in December with our practice. Who knows. We’ll get it right. I absolutely (expletive) hate losing, and losing like we do, but I know these guys are good players. We’ll figure it out.”
The team returns to action a week from Saturday when they host the Phillies on March 11 at McInnish Park, Field #11. Click here for schedule details or to download the iScore Central app to listen to the game live online.
WingStop Players of the Game
Eric McPherson (1-1, BB, R, 2 RBI)
Chris Allen (1-1, BB, 2 R)
Kent Fischer (1-2, 2 RBI)