(June 14, 2021 – Dallas, TX) The ghosts made a trip back to Reverchon Park after nearly a month of games rained out the historical ball diamond. After Mother Nature finally gave the field a break, the Spirits (45+) squad was just happy to play baseball and the night’s opponent came in the form of the Dallas Bulls.
Earl German was solid, picking up the complete (shortened) game victory with 6 innings of work delivered. German gave up a handful of hits, but solid timing of pitches combined with an error-free defense helped make it easy as he allowed just a pair of earned runs on 11 hits, walked one, and struck out 5. Kirk Sipila finished with a pair of hits to lead the Spirits offense. Sipila, Sean House, Chris Lewis, and Brian Hackney each doubled on the night to lead all hitters.
After striking out the first two hitters, it appeared it may be easy work for German but the next three Bulls hitters each singled to load the bases with two down in the top half of the first inning. German was then able to get Matthew Diamond to fly out to kill the scoring opportunity.
The Spirits then added a pair of runs in the bottom half of the first after Sipila doubled with one out. Sipila advanced on a wild pitch and then scored on an RBI single by Shawn Lee. Lee went on to swipe second and after David Tipton flew out, Lee scored on a double by House. John Hefner flew out to end the inning but the Spirits held a 2 to 0 advantage.
The Bulls cut the lead down to 2 to 1 after Darren Grub singled to lead off the second. Grubb advanced to second when Phil Luna grounded out and after German set down Samuel Peters on strikes, Dave Wylie followed with an RBI single to score Grubb.
In the bottom half of the inning, Lewis doubled to lead things off for the Spirits. Hackney grounded out, but German followed with an RBI single to score Lewis. John Holmquist drew a walk and then moved to second after Eric McPherson reached on a fielder’s choice that squeezed German at third. A pitch later, Holmquist crossed the dish on a passed ball and the Spirits lead grew to, 4 to 1.
The Spirits added another run in the third when Tipton crossed the dish following a base-on-balls and an error by the Bulls defense that allowed House to reach base. The score remained 5 to 1 until the bottom half of the fifth when the ghosts tacked on another 4 runs to make it 9 to 1. Sipila singled to lead off the Spirits half of the inning and Lee drew a walk. Tipton singled to load the bags and House flew out without allowing anyone to move. Hefner followed through with a single that allowed both Sipila and Lee to score. Lewis reached on a fielder’s choice that squeezed Hefner at second and after Luna attempted to pick off Lewis at first base, Tipton sniped home before Lewis scored on a double by Hackney.
The Bulls added another run in the sixth but then retired due to lack of pitching. The win gives the Spirits a 4-2 record, good enough for second place in the NTABL Masters League standings. The squad has a bye next week but returns to the field on June 28th as they visit the Royals at Graham Field. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30PM and you can click here for additional details or to download the iScore Central app to listen online.