(September 7, 2016 – Dallas, TX) Oh the sweet taste of avenging a loss. The Dallas Spirits (45+) squad enjoyed that taste this past Wednesday as they won their first round playoff game versus the DFW Hurricanes, 7 to 2.
Pitcher John Holmquist was in a zone, pinpointing his pitches and was backed by solid defense which all contributed to the victory. Just last week, the Hurricanes beat down the Spirits 9 to 1 in a game that seemed to have a greater margin of loss. “The guys showed up tonight,” mentioned team manager Kirk Sipila following the victory. “On the mound, John looked as if he didn’t miss a beat after missing two months with a couple of injuries. Complete game win, we’re proud of his effort.”
The Spirits attacked with 10 hits, including 4 free passes via walks by Hurricanes pitching. Brant Finchum and Dennis Gonzalez each contributed two hits with Finchum, Eric McPherson, and Kirk Sipila all contributing a double. Sipila added 3 RBI as well. Shawn Lee, Brian Hackney, Tony Davis, and Jack Nash all added hits, while Hackney and Lee contributed 2 runs apiece.
“Our defense was error-free,” continued Sipila. “We had a great web-gem from our Fountain of Youth (Finchum) as well which seemed to fire the guys up.” Sipila referring to a diving stab by third basemen, Brant Finchum who dove for a hard grounder and made a great play to record the out. “We’re looking forward to our second round match-up with the league-leading Orioles. I’m sure they’re wanting to score some revenge on us considering we were the only blemish on their record during the regular season. We’ll need our best effort to move forward within the Winner’s bracket.”
The team takes the field for round two of the NTABL Masters League Playoffs on Monday, September 12th at Graham Field, located at Prestonwood Christian Academy. First pitch is 8:45PM.
Waxahachie Autoplex Players of the Game
#27 John Holmquist (6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 3 K)
#13 Brant Finchum (2-3, RBI)
#7 Dennis Gonzalez (2-2, 2 RBI, BB)