(August 16, 2025 – Carrollton, TX) The Spirits (50+) squad handled business in their first game of the best-of-three championship series against the Redbirds on Saturday, using a 6-run third inning to ruffle the feathers of Redbirds ace, Troy Key, picking up a 1-0 series lead with a 6 to 3 victory. However, the ghosts seemed to run out of gas in the second game, letting the game get out of hand late as the Redbirds rallied with a 13 to 5 win after breaking a 5 to 5 tie in the fifth inning to later coast to the victory to tie the series at 1-1, forcing a third and final game for Sunday morning.
Big Third Inning Leads to Game One Victory:
In game one, the Spirits opened up the offensive arsenal against Key with a 6-run third inning that started with a double by Brian Hackney. Hackney advanced to third on a passed ball before Todd Murrah drew a walk and then later scored on an RBI single by Chris Allen to give the Spirits a 1 to 0 lead in the game. With runners on first and second, Dee Mauldin singled to load them up and an RBI single by Kirk Sipila scored both Allen and Murrah to make it 3 to 0 with nobody out. Shawn Lee followed with his second single of the game and a sacrifice fly by Kent Fischer allowed Mauldin to score with Sipila moving to third on the throw. Eric McPherson followed with a single to score Sipila and a walk to Mike Sopocy once again loaded the bases. Shawn Hunt followed with an RBI single before Kevin Simmons grounded into a double-play to end the frame, however, the Spirits held a solid 6 to 0 lead heading in to bottom half of the third.
The Redbirds later rallied with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the fourth inning after Rich Beller and John Mahalik both singled. A 2-run single by Jerry Gamez scored both runners before Mark Tierney lined into a double-play and Sopocy, the Spirits starter, was able to get Aaron Nowells to fly out.
The Redbirds cut the score to 6 to 3 in the sixth following a Spirits fielding error, but the team was able to hang onto the 3-run lead the rest of the way to take a 1-0 lead in the series headed into the second game.
Sopocy went the distance, picking up a great complete-game victory, working 7 innings while allowing just 3 earned on 8 hits, while walking and striking out one against one of DFW’s top hitting squads. Key also went the distance, allowing 6 runs off 14 hits, while walking 2, and striking out 6.
“We felt good after the first one,” Lee commented on his team’s performance afterwards. “When we don’t make mistakes, we’re as good as anyone. Mike (Sopocy) did an outstanding job on the hill but more importantly, we play solid defense, limiting our mistakes.”
Sipila finished with a single, run scored, and a pair of RBIs while Lee added a 3-for-3 performance with 3 singles and a run scored. McPherson, Hunt, Hackney, and Allen each added a pair of hits on the day, with Hackney adding a double and a run scored. Allen finished 2-for-2 with a run scored and an RBI, while Hunt and McPherson each added a run batted in to cap off the Spirits offensive box score.
Gas Tank Empties Too Soon in Game Two:
Similar to the season doubleheader against the Redbirds, the Spirits appeared to run out of gas in the second game. Earlier in the season, the teams split, with the Spirits taking full advantage of the Redbirds in game one, only to see the tank run short and for the Redbirds to surpass them running their offense on full throttle. The championship’s second game seemed to mock this as the Spirits initially held their own against former big arm, Shawn Onley. Onley, a 1994 MLB draft by the New York Yankees still has plenty of big in his arm, with solid command and a sweeper that can prove to be fairly deadly and did so late in the game as the Rebirds were able to break a 5 to 5 tie to eventually cruise to a 13 to 5 win to even the series, 1-1.
Simmons took the hill for game two and set the Redbirds in order in the first inning and the Spirits offense woke the Redbirds giant early by picking up 2 runs in the bottom half of the inning after Mauldin and Sipila led off with back-to-back singles. Onley struck out Lee and then saw Fischer follow up with a hard single to load the bases. McPherson made it hurt by knocking in Mauldin with an RBI single and Sopocy followed with another RBI single before Onley was able to get Hunt to ground into a double-play.
The Redbirds rallied for a run in the top half of the second inning before the Spirits offense picked up where it had left off after Earl German singled to start things off. Hackney flew out but a single by Murrah put looks of concern on the Redbirds faces as the Spirits seemed to be poised to finish the job without moving into a decisive game three on Sunday. Allen drew a base-on-balls but Onley was able to get Mauldin to fly out to slow things down momentarily. Sipila once again played here with a hard single that was good to score both German and Murrah, and the Spirits held a 4 to 1 lead before Onley was able to get Lee to fly out to end the inning.
“Our confidence level was through the roof at that point,” Lee mentioned, reflecting back on his team’s early lead. “Shawn had my number, but the rest of the guys were hitting him, and hitting him hard. That moment felt really good. It was awesome to see some of their players losing their normal composure of coasting over every team they play. We knew we’d be facing a talented fresh arm. That’s the main difference between our teams. They have depth and they have a high degree of pedigree in their dugout. We plan for that every season. You going to play one team in the regular season and then in the playoffs, you can expect a former pitching talent of some type to show up and try to shut the door on your hard work.”
The Redbirds stormed back in the top half of the third after Lester Bedford singled with one out. Kevin Fought followed with a single before Rich Beller walked and after Simmons hit Mahalik with a pitch, Gamez made it hurt for the Spirits by adding an opposite field single that scored both Fought and Beller. Daron Wilkinson followed with an RBI single to score Mahalik and just like that, the Redbirds held a 5 to 4 advantage. The Spirits then turned to Sipila to replace Simmons and Sipila was able to get Tierney to line out before squeezing Nowells with a ground ball to close the frame.
Both teams traded 1-2-3 innings before the Spirits evened things up in the fourth inning after Hackney singled with two outs. Murrah followed with a double that scored Hackney and the game was tied before Onley was able to get Stacy Scott to ground out.
Playing perfect defense is part of the recipe to victory and the moment the Spirits began to show signs of fatigue, the Redbirds quickly took advantage. Fought was able to reach on an error by the Spirits defense in the fifth and the move proved to hurt as Beller followed with a single to move him to third before Mahalik drew a walk and Gamez was able to reach on a fielder’s choice. Fought was able to score on the play and the Spirits were able to flip two to close the frame but the Redbirds held a 6 to 5 advantage that they would not relinquish.
The Redbirds then went on to pick up another 7 runs in a game that appeared to already be over. Onley found his spots and his sweeper proved fairly deadly the rest of the way as the Spirits offense shutdown following Mauldin’s leadoff triple in the bottom half of the fifth. The tied series forces a decisive game three on Sunday where the winner will earn the title of champion. Game time is slated for 11:45AM at McInnish Park, Field #11.
Five Star Ford Players of the Games
Kirk Sipila (3-6, 2 R, 4 RBI, BB; 3.2 IP 3 ER, 4 H, 3 BB)
Brian Hackney (3-6, 2B, 2 R)
Mike Sopocy (7 IP, 3 ER, 8 H, BB, K; 1-5, RBI)