(May 18, 2022 – Euless, TX) After a quiet first inning, the Spirits (40+) offense came alive on Wednesday night, picking up 4 runs in the second and 3 more in the third inning to cruise to a 9 to 4 win over the Dallas Mustangs in DFW-ABA 40 League play, despite a brutal 8 errors in the field defensively.
Don Massound, Eric McPherson, and Jonathan Duran each finished the night with two hits to lead the Spirits. Shawn Lee, Massoud, and Stacy Scott each knocked in a pair of runs, and each finished with a double on the night to lead the box score.
Duran picked up the victory from the mound, tossing 3 and a third while allowing just 2 earned off of 5 hits. Duran also walked one, and struck out 2 before Massoud finished the final 2 and two thirds. Massoud allowed no runs on one hit, and struck out 3 as the combined effort by the two seemed to stave off any offense attempt by the Mustangs.
Duran and company escaped a bases loaded, one-out jam in the bottom of the first after Duran was able to strike out Matthew Hinders and then was able to get Scott Baxley to fly out. The Spirits then opened up the scoreless game by adding 4 runs in the top half of the second. Shawn Hunt singled with one out and was forced at second after Duane Aponte reached on a fielder’s choice. With two down in the inning, the offense found a spark after Earl German walked, and Scott followed with a double to the right centerfield gap to score both runners. Duran then singled to score Scott, and the inning continued after Duran swiped second base and later scored on an RBI single by McPherson.
The Spirits made it 5 to 0 in the third after Hunt reached on a two-out error. Aponte was hit by a pitch and German singled home Hunt to increase the lead. That lead increased to 8 to 0 in the fourth after Duran led things off with a single and moved to second when McPherson picked up his second single of the game. Kirk Sipila flew out and Travis Hitzeman reached on a fielder’s choice that squeezed Duran at third, but the team continued with two-out offense as both McPherson and Hitzeman scored on a double hit to the left centerfield gap by Lee. Massound then singled to score Lee and the Spirits were coasting.
The Mustangs weren’t ready to call it a game, however. The team rallied for 3 runs in the bottom of the fourth, so Sipila turned to Massoud to close things up and to give the Mustangs a different look. The Mustangs closed the inning by picking up a fourth run following a throwing error by Hunt, trying to pick off a stealing runner at third.
That score remained intact until the sixth, when the Spirits added another run after Sipila walked and moved to second on a Mustangs error later in the inning. Sipila snagged third and then later scored on an RBI single by Massoud, and the Spirits were able to stave off any additional Mustangs offense to pick up the 9 to 4 victory.
The team returns to action next Wednesday night when they play host to the Redbirds in a battle for second place ownership. The Redbirds bring in the league’s top offense and the Spirits will have to look for a way to slow them down as the teams face off starting at 6:30PM. Click here for schedule details.
CORE Physical Medicine Players of the Game
Eric McPherson (2-4, R, RBI)
Don Massoud (2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; 2.2 IP, H, 3 K)
Jonathan Duran (2-2, R, RBI, BB; 3.1 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, BB, 2 K)