(December 6, 2025 – Carrollton, TX) It’s time for some December baseball; said no one…ever. However, that was the case this past Saturday for the Dallas Spirits (50+) fall squad. The team sat through a 49-day delay since their last league game to face off against the Diablos for a chance to advance to the ice cold DFW ABA championship.
The delay, caused by teams needing to travel for tournament baseball seemed surreal following a previous rain out. Cold temperatures set in and the teams took the field at McInnish Park with temperatures in the low forties.
Neither the delay nor the cooler temperatures seemed to have an affect on Spirits hitting, as the team scattered 14 hits in just 4 innings of work to cruise to a 13 to 3 mercy-ruled win over their red-tailed opponent.
Dee Mauldin, Brian Kellner, James Hardt, and Brad Petty each led the Spirits squad with 2 hits on the day. Hardt added a triple, a run scored, 2 runs batted in, and a walk on his 2-for-2 day, while Petty also finished 2-for-2 with a run scored. Mauldin finished 2-for-3 with 2 runs scored and a run batted in, while Kellner added a run scored and a pair of runs knocked in as well. Ben Northcutt also added a double, a walk and a pair of runs batted in to help lead the Spirits offense.
Mike Sopocy was the story on defense. Sopocy shut down the Diablos offense from the get go, allowing just 4 hits, while walking none and striking out 3. None of the 3 runs scored by the Diablos was earned.
“Mike was dealing,” team skipper, Shawn Lee mentioned after the game. “He made it look easy. Thankfully, he had some potent offense behind him to save him from throwing a few more innings, so that was nice, but boy, we had no idea how helpful it would turn out to be later.”
After Sopocy set the Diablos in order in the top half of the first inning, the Spirits opened for 4 runs after Mauldin led off with a single. Mauldin was able to advance following an error by the Diablos outfield and later moved to third after Kirk Sipila singled. Kellner followed with a single to score Mauldin before Lee was called out on strikes at the dish. Sopocy popped out to the infield to hold the runners, but Vince Parello followed with a two-out single that allowed Sipila to score following another error by the Diablos outfield. Kevin Simmons drew a base-on-balls and Northcutt’s double to the wall allowed both Kellner and Parello to score. Hardt drew a walk as well but Diablos starter and losing pitcher, Rick Oden was able to get Todd Murrah to ground out to escape any additional scoring.
The Diablos then rallied for 3 unearned runs in the top half of the second after Anthony Osburn singled and Pete Harris reached on an error. Todd Arnold then reached on a fielder’s choice that squeezed Osburn at second. Lester Bedford flew out but a single by Gil B and a triple by Mitch Grau cleared the bases before Jesus Diablo flew out to end the top half of the inning.
At that point, it appeared it would be another tight back and forth between the two squads that have a history of competing, however, Sopocy and company had other plans with the game moving forward. The Spirits offense rallied for another 3 runs in the bottom half of the second after Shawn Hunt drew a leadoff walk and Petty singled to put two on with nobody out. Mauldin then singled home Hunt and later took second base before Sipila grounded out at first. Kellner then followed with a single to score Petty and Mauldin also crossed the dish following an errant throw by Grau in the outfield. Lee struck out again but Sopocy kept the inning alive after reaching on another Diablos fielding error, allowing Kellner to move to third and for Sopocy to take second. Parello drew a walk to load them but Kellner was picked off at third base by Bedford, taking the bat out of Simmon’s hands before the Spirits could plate any additional runs.
Sopocy held the Diablos scoreless in the third and the Spirits tacked onto their 7 to 3 lead with another 4-run inning to blow the game open. Simmons drew a walk and after Northcutt lined out, Hardt followed with a triple to score Simmons easily. Murrah’s RBI single scored Northcutt and Hunt followed with another single before Petty dropped a bunt single. Murrah and Hunt both scored on a throwing error by Oden, and with an 11 to 3 lead, the Diablos turned ot Pilly Sierra to replace Oden on the hill. Sierra was able to get Mauldin to fly out before walking Sipila and then forcing Kellner to ground out to end the third.
Sopocy set the Diablos in order in the top half of the fourth before the ghosts tacked on another pair of runs to stretch the game into mercy rule land. Lee grounded out but Sopocy followed with a single. Parello then reached on another Diablos fielding error before Simmons grounded out. Sopocy later scored on a passed ball before Northcutt eventually drew a walk, and Hardt made it hurt with an RBI single to score Parello before Murrah lost a battle of strikes.
Up 13 to 3 with the mercy rule in place, Sopocy made light work of the Diablos comeback ideas after getting Bedford, Gil, and Grau each to ground out to close out the victory and to send the Spirits into the championship game.
“Great win against a great team,” Lee continued. “Timely hitting by a lot of guys here today and thankfully, a little help by their defense kicking the ball around a bit. We like our chances today for a championship. Nobody here is thrilled about back-to-back games, but it’s December and we have to get this thing over with. Hoping we have enough left in the tank to turn it around and to win the next one!”
The team moves on to play the Strangers for the DFW ABA 50 League Championship beginning at 11:45AM.
Ranger Fire, Inc. Players of the Game
Dee Mauldin (2-3, 2 R, RBI)
Brian Kellner (2-3, R, 2 RBI)
James Hardt (2-2, 3B, R, 2 RBI, BB)
Mike Sopocy (5 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K; 1-3, R)