(July 16, 2022 – Carrollon, TX) It started as what appeared to be a pitcher’s duel, but the Spirits (50+) saw it’s chances for a win over a higher seeded team disappear in the fifth inning after the Diablos put together a 5-run inning to eventually walk away with a 6 to 2 win.
The Spirits finished with a handful of hits on the day, but did nothing as a team to put runs across the plate. Vince Parello was the lone Dallas Spirit with more than one hit, finishing with a pair of hits and a run batted in.
Spirits starting pitcher, John Holmquist was solid most of the way, but a string of hits led to 4 earned runs and eventually overshadowed the fact that he walked nobody and struck out 3 hitters. Earl German finished the last two and a third innings, allowing an earned run on two hits, walking and striking out one.
Brian Hackney and Kirk Sipila accounted for the only two Spirits run scored, each finishing with a single, while Stacy Scott, Shawn Lee, Will Nash, German, and Jack Nash each added a single on the day.
“Any time your pitcher delivers five innings of work and allows just 4 runs, you got to get him a win,” Lee commented after the game. “It truly was a disappointing season. We really felt like we had a shot a title when we put this team together to get into this league. Any one of these guys will tell you the same thing. We didn’t necessarily play bad this season, but we did nothing on offense. It was hard to watch while we were playing. There was just something missing this year. We look forward to the opportunity next season. We’ll see how we do with some pluses and minuses this offseason and we’ll be ready to give it another crack in 2023.”
The team finished at .500, finishing 8-8 and failed to qualify for the playoffs for the single-A division. Statistically, the team out-hit opponents finishing with a team batting average of .390 compared to their opponents at .335. They outscored their opponents 134-98, and outhit opponents by a margin of 191-147. What was missing was opportunity. The team didn’t score runs or string together hits when needed. When they won, they blasted opponents. When they lost, they were missing in action.
Kirk Sipila led the team with a .587 average that included 5 doubles (second on the team), and a team-leading 27 hits, and 22 runs scored. Sipila finished second in RBIs with 14, and added 6 walks to his dossier. Eric McPherson finished the season at .500 but was limited to just 7 games due to a recurring foot injury. Will Nash finished at .467, added 13 runs batted in (third on the team), and also added 6 free trips to first alongside 5 stolen bases. Earl German added a .467 average alongside a 4-1 record pitching, finishing the season with a 2.31 ERA, and 14 strikeouts. Shawn Lee finished at .447, led the team in doubles with 6, walked 6 times, added 10 runs batted in, and led the team with 8 stolen bases.
MacArthur 121 Tire & Service Players of the Game
Vince Parello (2-3, R)
Brian Hackney (1-3, R)
Kirk Sipla (1-3, R)