Spirits (42+) Roll Past Hurricanes in 13 to 0 Onslaught

(June 19, 2023 – Coppell, TX) The top three hitters in the Spirits (42+) lineup reaped on Monday night, accounting for 9 of the team’s 13 hits as the squad rolled to an easy 13 to 0 win over the Hurricanes.

Contests between the clubs are typically much closer but the Spirits offense was relentless, starting with its top three hitters including Eric McPherson, Kirk Sipila, and Travis Hitzeman. The three collectively finished the night 9-for-11 from the plate, adding 2 doubles, a triple, a stolen bag, walk, 7 runs scored, and 6 runs batted in. McPherson finished perfect, ending the night 3-for-3 with a walk, double, stolen base, and 3 runs scored. Sipila followed suit with a 3-for-4 performance that included a triple, 3 runs scored, and 3 runs batted in. Hitzeman also finished 3-for-4, adding a double, run scored, and 3 runs batted in. Defensively, Earl German cruised to an easy win himself, tossing 5 innings and allowing no runs on 3 hits, walked two, and struck out one.

The Hurricanes ended up packing the bags in the top half of the first but failed to score after Brad Petty reached on a Spirits fielding error. German struck out Terry Helm but then walked both Vince Parello and Raul Ponce. Jim Crombie flew out to the infield and Eric Reifschneider grounded out to end the Hurricanes attempt to break scoring ice. The Spirits then followed with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the first inning after McPherson led off with a single and swiped second base. He moved to third on a single by Sipila and both runners scored on a double by Hitzeman before Ryan Marsland grounded out and Shawn Lee flew out. Mike Sopocy kept the inning alive with a single but Brian Hackney flew out to close out the first.

The Hurricanes finished 1-2-3 in the second and the Spirits opened up the offense with a 5 run second to gain a 7 to 0 lead. German led things off with a walk and Shawn Hunt singled to move him to second. An RBI single by David Tipton scored German and moved Hunt to third. Tipton stole second base before Lester Bedford lost the battle on a strikes following a blown call by the plate umpire. The plate ump lost vision after the pitch bounced and saw Bedford’s shoulders move out of the corner of his eyes. He took this as Bedford swinging, however Bedford’s bat never left his shoulders. Nevertheless, the inning continued after McPherson drew a walk to load the bases for Sipila who promptly tripled to the wall to clear the bags. An RBI single by Hitzeman scored Sipila before Marsland and Lee both flew out to end the inning.

A walk to Sopocy and an Hurricanes fielding error eventually led to another run to make it 8 to 0, Spirits in the third and the team went on to tack another 5 runs on in the fourth after Bedford walked and McPherson singled. Sipila singled but Bedford was picked at third base after rounding, and a single by Hitzeman loaded them. Marsland then reached on an error that allowed both McPherson and Sipila to score. Lee reached on a fielder’s choice that put out Marsland at second but allowed Hitzeman to score, and a walk to Hackney again loaded the bags for the Spirits. A walk to German scored Lee and a follow up single by Hunt scored Sopocy before Tipton grounded out to end the inning with the Spirits up 13 to 0. Reifschneider doubled to start the Hurricanes fifth, but the hit would turn out uneventful after the next 3 Hurricanes hitters grounded out to seal the game’s final score.

The Spirits return to action next Monday night when they visit the Cardinals. The Cardinals blew out the Spirits in an earlier season match up by a score of 9 to 1. The Spirits will have an opportunity to hand the team its first loss starting at 6:30PM on Cowboy Field in Coppell. Fans can click here for additional schedule details.

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