by Pete

The Beat Rolls On Over HGA The Beat rocks HGA 18-7. Moves into first with 4-0-1 record. 3-0-1 Other Guys up next!

As the Other Guys sat idle with a bye, the Beatniks surged into first place alone for the first time this late in a season since Summer 1997 with a convincing win that capped a 3-game run of dominating offense, good pitching and slick defense. Averaging 18+ runs over this span in taking control of Nicoya, Rhinos and HGA, The Beat rolls into the eagerly awaited showdown with longtime nemesis the OGs. 

Chalk up another one on the Magical Mystery Tour for the boys in gray this summer. In addition to its 4-0-1 regular season record, The Beat has compiled an 8-0-1 mark since July 7 against C-league competition counting tournament and scrimmage games. 

C7 Summer 2001 Standings through September 8, 2001 Team W L T PCT Pts GB The BEAT 4 0 1 .900 9 – The Other Guys 3 0 1 .875 7 .5 H.G.A 2 3 0 .400  4 2.5 Rhinos 1 4 0 .200  2 3.5 Nicoya 1 4 0 .200  2 3.5

An almost mercy killing for good measure 
Up 18-4 in the bottom of the 5th and vying for a second consecutive mercy rule victory over HGA this season, 3rd base coach Kevin Austin sent Jacque Wilson who, despite a valiant effort, was thrown out at the plate by a hair as he tried to sneak his hand in over home plate. HGA scored 3 runs with 2 out in the 6th to make it slightly more interesting but HGA knew it was over as the Beat came out to bat 4 hitters in the 6th before time was called.

Maybe they knew it earlier. HGA manager Robert Finney tried to psych his veteran team by shouting out to his men that “these guys are undefeated—this is the best team in baseball.” It was hard to miss the sarcasm, but The Beat wasn’t about to be psyched out like the old days when HGA used to beat us with regularity.

Another slow start
Similar to the season opener, the game started off slowly, but this time even more so. On a hot September day, the umpires took a 10-minute break before game time, delaying the start to 11.25am. Since there was no game on the field at 12.30, they could do that. One of HGA’s players had a dog run out onto the field, which Gunnar (Red Nails) Rosenquist tried to corral. There was a brief exchange of words as the dog owner yelled at Gunnar to “get your hands off my dog!” What’s an HGA game without an edge?

Matt Ringhofer led off for visiting HGA with a single to left. Guy Hudson popped out to Mike (Pizza Man) Weiss for the 1st out before dog owner Stretfew Ryder grounded sharply to Donnell (Big Daddy) Moody, who started a 5-4-3 double play with Brian Arcuri on the pivot at 2nd. 

The Beat came out looking to reach Donnell’s 5-run rule but could only sweat out 2 as Mark St. Georges started off his big day (4 for 4, run, 5 RBIs) with a 2-run single to score Gunnar and Jacque Wilson. 

Thence the explosion
After HGA scored 3 runs on 6 hits in the top of the 2nd inning, the Beatniks romped for 11 runs, including 5 with 2 out. 

Lefty right fielder Steve Hinkebein, who has the most natural, languid swing on The Beat since Eric Meyer, tripled to right on a fly that took off to right and rolled up against the fence. BJ Bateman, who has been extremely hot in 3 games this summer, capped off a succession of no out singles by Arcuri, Austin, and Wenner with a 2-RBI double. Following back-to-back errors on grounders by Pizza and Gunnar, Jacque, of all people, grounded into an unassisted double play to the 2nd baseman Peinner, who was playing in.

With 2 outs, The Beat exploded to make it 13-3 on RBI hits by Jim (The Thrill) Colletto, Jacq Wilson (2 RBIs), Arcuri and Austin.

HGA tried to scratch back as the catcher Hudson scored from 2nd to make it 13-4 on a long flyball that drove Jacq backwards, but Michael Peinner flied out and Craig Bleibart grounded out to Donnell to end the threat.

Kevin got the Grimies to go down in order in the 4th and the Beat pecked away with 2 runs in the home half of the inning to make it 15-4. 

Up 16-4 in the top of the 5th Javier Urdiales was brought in to pitch. Austin has been battling a sore wrist from a slide in the Rhinos game and the manager didn’t want to push Kev further with the OGs coming up. Jav had pinch hit for Kevin (2 for 2, run, RBI) in the previous inning. With 1 out, Seamans singled, but the 12-hitter Jose Elias grounded to Donnell, who started another double play with Arcuri and Colletto.

Remembering the past while looking ahead
The Beatniks will practice on Thursday night at McCoppin (5.45pm til dark) to prepare for the Other Guys, who they haven’t beaten in 4 close games since April 29, 2000. Prior to the drought, the Beat had dominated the OGs with 4 straight wins in the summer of 1999 and spring 2000.

Playing without the Wilson Brothers (Jacq .588 avg, 3 HRs, 13 RBIs in 5 summer games, Jacque .583 avg. 2 HRs in 2001) and Steve Hinkebein (.818 summer avg.) in game 2 on August 4, the short-handed Beat came back from a 7-3 5th inning deficit to tie the score and set up a confrontation that will take place next week at Jackson #1. The OGs contest will be the most meaningful one for the boys in gray since 1997, when the Beat stood at a similar 4-0-1 mark after beating the Cool Dudes 5-4. That team, in the last hurrah of the Spoon era, collapsed in the final 2 games losing to HGA and the Rhinos. The Beat was also 4-1 and tied with Hammertime in spring 1999 before getting hammered by HT 20-8 and knocked out of the race. The margin for error in an 8-game season is always tenuous at best. 

But things feel different this summer. We’ll soon see how different.

The Beat has significant momentum going into the Other Guys showdown with a 3-game win streak. Needless to say, the team will need punch next week as knuckleballer Ron Hamilton, who along with Kevin Austin is neck and neck for the league’s best pitcher, seeks to return from a severe calf strain suffered in the OGs 10-7 HGA win on August 25. With the number of close games we’ve played over the years going back to the late ‘80s, the Other Guys rivalry has become almost as intense and spirited as earlier ones with teams like the Monsters. 

Come join us at 12.30pm on Jackson #1 next week and make some noise.

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On The BEAT News Archive

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