(July 28, 2025 – Coppell, TX) The Spirits (45+) squad used a pair of 4-run innings to pull away from a hot Hurricanes team to advance to the NTABL Masters (45+) Championship following a 10 to 3 win Monday night at Cowboy Field.
Dale Baird led the offense with a 3-for-3 performance, adding a double, a pair of runs scored, and a pair of runs batted in. Mike Sopocy added a hit, walk, run scored, and pair of runs batted in, and Dee Mauldin finished with a double, a walk, and pair of runs scored, while Shawn Hunt added a hit and a pair of RBIs to top off the Spirits offensive box score.
Vinny Diciero picked up the victory after 3 innings of work, allowing just 2 hits and no earned runs while walking 4 and striking out 3. Jonathan Duran added 2 innings of work, giving up 2 earned on 6 hits while walking none and striking out 1. Sopocy closed things out by shutting the Hurricanes down in 1-2-3 fashion in the top half of the sixth to call it a night.
It was the Hurricanes who drew first blood in the top half of the first. Finishing the season as the league’s hottest team, the Hurricanes picked up their first run with two outs after Diciero struck out Eric Reifschneider and Cameron Newell dropped a single just beyond first base to give the Canes a runner. Vince Parello grounded out but Newell was able to advance to second on the play and after Raul Ponce drew a walk, Ben Northcutt reached on a throwing error by Baird that allowed Newell to score before Diciero was able to get Astolfo Parra to fly out.
Down 1 to 0, the Spirits tied the game in the bottom frame after Mauldin doubled with one out. Mauldin moved to third on a wild pitch by Newell, the Hurricanes starting pitcher, and a sacrifice fly by Sipila scored him to tie the game. Baird followed with a double and Cliff Brade singled before stealing second to give the Spirits two more in scoring position but Sopocy lined out to the shortstop to abruptly put an end to the Spirits hopes of scoring more.
The Hurricanes were able to fully populate the bags in the second but a pair of key strikeouts by Diciero spared the Spirits of a run deficit as the ghosts were able to get out of the inning after allowing a single and a pair of walks compounded by a fielding error.
The Spirits took a 2 to 1 advantage in the bottom of the second after Kevin Simmons led off with a single and moved to second when Hunt reached on a Hurricanes fielding error. Earl German popped out to the infield but David Tipton followed with a single to load the bags. Stacy Scott lost a battle on strikes but a wild pitch by Newell allowed Simmons to plate via the Little League method before Duran flew out to end the inning.
The Spirits closed out the Hurricanes in the top of the third following some brief controversy that would eye itself a second time later in the game. Reifschneider drew a walk to lead things off but Newell flew out to Tipton in centerfield. Tipton, known for having a very strong arm, immediately hurled the ball to first to try to catch Reifschneider too far off the bag. The field ump called the runner safe, however, the Spirits dugout made noise because the team felt the runner was out. After team skipper, Shawn Lee appealed the play, the home plate umpire overturned the call on the field and called the runner out to the disdain of the Hurricanes dugout.
“We thought they got it right,” Lee commented afterwards. “That play is a force and albeit, it was bang-bang, but we had the perspective from our dugout and the umpire in the field was behind the play. I understood why he called safe but we felt the plate ump had a better look, hence, the appeal. We appreciate the fact that the younger umps will actually think it through and make a decision. Some of our older umps refused to be ‘wrong,’ but in this case, they thought it through and the correct call was made. I would have been equally frustrated from the opposing dugout, but we think they made the right call.”
The air seemed to get pulled from the sails of the Hurricanes after the play as Parello followed with a fly out as the team headed for defense clearly feeling they got robbed. And to add insult to injury, the Spirits offense showed up in the bottom of the third with their first 4-run inning. Eric McPherson drew a walk to lead things off and a ground out by Mauldin moved him to second base. Sipila followed by drawing a walk and an RBI single by Baird scored McPherson. Sipila advanced to third on the play and Baird was able to move to second on the throw home. Brade grounded out but Sopocy kept things alive by drawing a base-on-balls before Sipila scored on an error by Parra at short that allowed Simmons to reach safely. Hunt was then able to give the ghosts another pair of runs with an RBI single that scored both Baird and Sopocy before Earl German grounded out to close out the inning with the Spirits leading, 6 to 1.
The Hurricanes made some noise in the fifth inning after Mike O’Hornett and Johnnie Sanchez both singled to start off the inning. A sacrifice bunt by Dave Wylie moved the runners over and a single by Adam Althouse loaded the bases with one out. Reifschneider lined out to give the Spirits defense and Duran, who had replaced Diciero in the fourth, some hope to leave unscathed. That hope quickly faded as Newell’s RBI single scored both O’Hornett and Sanchez to cut the Spirits lead to, 6 to 3. The play once again was countered by controversy as Tipton relayed the single from the outfield to Sopocy at third base. Sopocy mishandled the throw as Althouse was en route before locking up the brakes and attempting to retreat to second base. While making his way back to second, Newell had rounded and headed for second following Arthouse’s move forward. Both runners realizing that there would be a sure out at third attempted to make their way back to the previous bag. Sopocy pump faked to second and then hurled the ball to first in another bang-bang situation that saw Siplia catch the relay and tag Newell at first base.
The field umpire once again ruled in favor of the Hurricanes but the decision was met with another appeal by Lee as he and the Spirits dugout felt the runner had been tagged out in time. The umpires discussed the play and the home plate umpire once again ruled in favor of overturning the call.
“I was able to chat with Kirk (Pruitt), the Hurricanes manager when I went out to play third the following inning and they weren’t happy. I don’t blame them. We again felt that the view of the field umpire in the secondary slot didn’t have a clear view of the play. This is an appealable option, so we visited the opportunity and we felt they got it right. Clearly, if I’m in their dugout, I’m thinking that our momentum just got killed on ‘another bad call,’ but our perspective was they got it right. It’s tough. We love the guys on both these teams, but we just felt they didn’t get it right initially and they corrected it. Obviously, we had to agree to disagree with our opponents on those decisions.”
With the lead cut to 6 to 3 and heading into the bottom half of the fifth, the Spirits offense looked to remove any additional doubt by separating the game by using the box score. The ghosts added another 4 runs following a lead off single by McPherson and a walk to Mauldin. McPherson, who moved to third on the single after swiping second base, then scored on a wild pitch by reliever, Jim Crombie. Crombie was able to get Sipila on a dropped third strike, and after Baird picked up his third hit on the night to score Mauldin, he was able to later moved to third on an error by the Hurricanes center fielder. Brade drew a walk and both runners then scored on an RBI single by Sopocy to make it 10 to 3, Spirits. Simmons then squeezed Sopocy out at second after reaching on a fielder’s choice before Hunt grounded out to end the frame.
Sopocy came in to relieve Duran in the final frame before the league’s two-hour time limit came into play. Parello was able to reach on an error but he was quickly forced at second after Ponce reached on a fielder’s choice. Northcutt then flew out before Parra ended the game with a flyout that saw the Spirits advance to their fourth straight championship.
“Good to be in this spot,” Lee continued. “We saw a season we were essentially running away with get extremely tight by some solid play by our opponents. Much respect to them for their efforts. The parody makes this league a blast to play in. Any team can win on any night. We’ll look to focus on getting the job done next week whether it’s these same Hurricanes or if it’s the Reds.”
The Spirits will host the winner of the Reds at Hurricanes game next Monday night for a chance to finish at the top. Should they lose next Monday, a final game will occur on the following Monday. Fans can click here for schedule details.
Five Star Ford Players of the Game
Dale Baird (3-3, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI)
Dee Mauldin (1-2, 2B, BB, 2 R)
Mike Sopocy (1-2, BB, R, 2 RBI; IP, 0 H, 0 R)