(April 14, 2025 – Flower Mound, TX) Hits were a plenty and three big innings of three or more runs fueled the Spirits (45+) squad on Monday night as the ghosts peppered the Knights by a final score of 14 to 3. Travis Hitzeman’s 3-run homerun in the third added to the fire as he finished with 3 runs batted in to help lead the Spirits offense. Stacy Scott added a 3-for-3 performance from both sides of the plate while Shawn Hunt, Shawn Lee, and Dee Mauldin each added a pair of hits on the night as the Spirits outhit the Knights by a margin of 16 to 8.
Pitcher, Jonathan Duran was in great form despite battling the Texas allergy season. Duran picked up the victory by adding 5 solid innings of work, scatting 7 hits with an earned run before Kevin Simmons replaced him to close out the final two innings, allowing one unearned run while walking and striking out one, and giving up just a single hit.
After a quiet 1-2-3 top half of the first, it appeared the Knights were poised to score first as Lorenzo McEwen took Duran’s first pitch of the game to the right center field gap for a triple. Sean Smith flew out to center but Spirits centerfielder, David Tipton launched an 80 mph strike to the dish to hold McEwen at third. Matthew Lawley then grounded to Duran, who also held McEwen at third before Jesus Marquez popped out to Lee at short to get the Spirits out of the inning.
The ghosts then opened up for 4 runs in the second inning after Hunt and Lee led off the inning with back-to-back singles. Simmons drew a walk to load the bags before Mike Sopocy popped out to the infield. A single by Eric Goetz to right field score both Hunt and Lee and two pitches later, Goetz took off for second but Knights catcher, Chad McCune found Simmons sleeping at third and was able to fake the throw to second and threw a dart to third to pick off Simmons. Scott single Goetz to third and Goetz later scored on a wild pitch. Scott was also able to advance and later scored on an RBI single by Dale Baird before Tipton flew out to end the Spirits frame.
Michael Miller reached on a one out single but Cuauhtemoc Zubillaga grounded back to Duran who was able to relay to Baird at short and Baird relayed to Mauldin at first to score the double-play to get out of the inning unscathed.
The Spirits then added 3 more runs in the third after Mauldin led off with a single. Eric McPherson flew out but Kirk Sipila reached on a single to put two on with one out. Enter Hitzeman. With a 2-0 count and both runners in scoring position following a wild pitch, Hitzeman took the third pitch from Lawley, the Knights pitcher, into deep left field and over the scoreboard to give the Spirits a 7 to 0 advantage.
The Knights went in order in the bottom half of the third and the Spirits followed suit in the top half of the fourth. In the bottom frame, the Knights again made some noise but the Spirits defense was able to keep then in check once again after Harlen McCaskey led things off with a single. McCaskey swiped second base and McEwen followed by popping out to the infield. A single by Sean Smith moved McCaskey to third but Duran was able to get Lawley and Marquez to fly out to again leave the inning unscathed.
The ghosts added their 8th run in the fifth after Scott picked up his second single and Baird was hit by a pitch. Tipton singled to load the bases, and after Mauldin and McPherson both popped out to the infield, Sipila drew a walk to pick up the easy RBI when Scott scrossed the dish. To the relief of the Knights, Hitzeman flew out to left center field gap to close out the Spirits’ half of the inning.
The Knights finally broke ice in the bottom half of the fifth after McCune led off with a single. Miller grounded out but a single by Zubillaga put runners at the corners. Roger Battani reached on a Spirits fielding error that allowed McCune to score. Todd Murrah followed with a single and another rocket throw from Tipton in center field gunned down Zubillaga at the plate with about 10 feet to spare to record the second out. With Battani at third and Murrah at first, Murrah took off for second base and caught himself in a run down that allowed Battani to score before Murrah was eventually tagged out in a short game of pickle.
Lee singled with one out in the top half of the sixth and after stealing second and then moving to third when Simmons grounded out, Sopocy drew a walk and then also took second to give the Spirits two runners in scoring position with two outs. Goetz followed with a line drive up the middle but Miller, the Knights shortstop was able to snare the liner before it hit the grass to get out of the inning.
The Knights added a run in the sixth after Simmons replaced Duran on the hill. Scott McCain grounded out but McCaskey reached on his second hit of the night before McEwen flew out. Smith was able to reach on another Spirits fielding error that allowed McCaskey to score but Simmons was able to retire Lawley on a ground out to leave the sixth with an 8 to 3 advantage.
The Spirits then opened up for a 6-run seventh to take the wind out of the sails for any thoughts of a Knights comeback. Scott singled and Baird drew a walk. After both runners stole bags to advance, Tipton walked to load them up and a two-run single by Mauldin score both Scott and Baird. McPherson followed with an RBI single to score Tipton and Sipila later reached on a fielder’s choice that squeezed Mauldin at third. Hitzeman popped out to the infield but a single by Hunt kept the scoring alive after McPherson crossed the plate. Lee reached on an error that allowed Sipila to score. Simmons singled to load them up again and McCune, the Knights reliever, struggled with a few pitches that allowed Sopocy to draw a walk and score Hunt before Goetz grounded out to end the scoring frenzy.
Simmons was able to close out the bottom frame to help give the Spirits their third straight win.
“Great job with the bats tonight,” Lee mentioned at the end of the game. “We seemed to pick up some momentum after the homerun by Travis, and then after Duran shut them down on 4 pitches in the bottom half of the inning, I felt like we were cruising. I let the guys know not to let up on this team as they can hit at any given time. When it was 8 to 3, I had some small concern that if we let up, they could stage a comeback. Both Duran and Simmons were great on the hill tonight and we had consistency through the order. We’re hard to beat when that happens. Great win. That’s a nice game to build on moving forward.”
The Spirits return to action next Monday night when they host the Reds at McInnish Park, Field #11 starting at 9:00PM. Click here for schedule details and instructions on how to download the iScore Central app to listen to the game live online.
Five Star Ford Players of the Game
Travis Hitzeman (1-3, HR, 3 RBI)
Stacy Scott (3-3, 3 R)
Dee Mauldin (2-3, 3 RBI, R)