by Pete

The Beat Widens Division Lead In an otherwise sad weekend, Beatniks ride pitching and defense to 5-2 win

5-0-1 boys in gray lead division by 4 points with 2 left to play
During one of the worst weeks in American history, softball was initially among the farthest things from our minds. But as the terrible week wore on, the thought of playing a child’s game felt like a welcome diversion out of the gloom. This analogy was made manifest on Thursday night as seven Beat refugees took BP in a raging McCoppin fog. It was then that the luster of a much-ballyhooed big game suddenly began to take shape again. 

At Other Guy’s manager Ken Sommer’s request, our two teams stood along the baselines before the game began on September 15 and took a moment of silence to honor the victims of the New York and Washington, DC tragedies. 

“It was the first time I ever remember shaking hands with the other team before the game,” said veteran Denny O’Brien in complimenting the Other Guys on being the classiest opponent we play. 

C7 Summer 2001 Standings through September 15, 2001 Team W L T PCT Pts GB The BEAT 5 0 1 .917 11 – The Other Guys 3 1 1 .700 7 1.5 H.G.A 2 4 0 .333  4 3.5 Nicoya 2 4 0 .333  4 3.5 Rhinos 1 4 0 .200  2 4

A game for the ages
Against this difficult set of circumstances, The Beat took the field against the OGs in a first place showdown that separated the two teams by a half game and a mere 2 points. In what will now rank among the Beat’s greatest games, Kevin Austin outdueled Other Guys ace Ron Hamilton with a 5-2 nail-biter that turned on a 2-run error in the bottom of the 1st when Steve Hinkebein’s towering 2-out fly ball crossed up OGs right fielder John Rohaley and rover Jeff McCord. Uncharacteristically, it was 2 Other Guys’ errors that led to 3 unearned runs and ultimately, the difference in the game.

It's one thing to win lopsided shellackings, but I find nothing more satisfying than to take charge of a low-scoring, defensive game. It's baseball at its finest and reflects how baseball really is a game of inches.

Following the game, Kevin credited Steve’s girlfriend Lisa with half of his game ball for looking after daughter Ceilidh at the last minute so that he could focus on the tough task of grinding through 7 innings while allowing only 7 hits. “I've been sweating this game out for 2 months,” Kevin said “and look how key the sitter situation turned out to be.”

Efficiency reigns supreme
This game was particularly suspenseful because it seemed much like last summer’s Beat/OGs matchup when they shut us down after we took an early 4-2 lead and came back to win 5-4. This time, The Beat took control as the game wore on with solid pitching from Special K, despite an inconsistent umpire’s strike zone. Kevin was backed with air-tight defense up the middle as shortstop Mike (Pizza Man) Weiss and 2nd baseman Brian (the Rifleman) Arcuri anchored the infield, and across the outfield with (reading left to right) Mark St. Georges, Steve, playing for an injured Jacq Wilson who gamely suited up as EP, Jacque Wilson and Bob (BJ) Bateman. Apart from the Other Guys 3rd, when a 2-out error extended the inning and led to 2 unearned runs on a Fred Ibalio double down the leftfield line, The Beat never allowed more than 4 batters per inning.

The low score was a radical change for the boys in gray after having averaged 18+ runs for 3 weeks against Nicoya, the Rhinos and HGA. But we never expected anything less than an efficient, well-played affair against the Other Guys.

Not quite the 5-run rule but we’ll take it
Prior to the game, Kevin talked about the need to jump out to an early lead to take control of the contest. Big Daddy Donnell Moody always talks about 5 runs in the 1st being the magic number, but against the OGs, the scale slides downward. Austin retired the OGs on 1 hit in the top of the 1st before The Beat strode to the plate looking to make a statement. With 1 out, Jacque (3 for 3, run) singled and took 2nd on a bobble by leftfielder Ed Lee. Wilson then took 3rd on MSG’s groundout to 2nd base and scored on Donnell’s (3 for 3, run, RBI) line drive single. Having regained his stroke, Jim (The Thrill) Colletto (2 for 3, run, RBI) singled D to 2nd setting up the game turning play. 

With 2 strikes, the left-handed Hinkebein turned on a Hamilton knuckler and sent it deep to right-field. McCord and Rohaley converged. At the last minute McCord stepped in front of Rohaley, as he seemed to have the catch made. With both runners going on 2 outs, Moody and Colletto steamed home as it became apparent to the base coaches that Rohaley had surprisingly dropped the ball. This extended the Beat lead to 3-0, which in an anticipated low scoring game, makes a big psychological difference.

Special K got out of the OGs 2nd unscathed as a Moody-to-Arcuri-to-Colletto double play scattered 2 hits. In the home half of the inning, the Beat missed a great opportunity to extend the lead against Hamilton. This helped keep the OGs in the game. 

Brian Arcuri led off the inning with a single and took 2nd on another boot by Lee in left. Brian advanced to 3rd on BJ’s fly to right center and scored on Austin’s sac fly to the same place. 4-0 Beat. Then, Michael Weiss and Greg Lukoski, fresh off a harrowing plane ride back to SFO from Chicago, singled to set up a 2-out, 1st and 2nd threat, but Hamilton induced Gunnar (Yellow Nails) Rosenquist to fly to the busy Jeff McCord in right center. 

The Other Guys come back
In the top of the 3rd, Austin got Hoffman and Lee to fly to Jacque and BJ before the first baseman Jim Creary grounded a slow-hit ball that got under Donnell’s glove. The catcher Bill Pair and shortstop Ken Sommer singled sharply to load the bases. Thereupon lefty Fred Ibalio aimed a scorching shot down the left field line that tailed away from converted infielder Mark St. Georges in left. But MSG got to the ball quickly and fired it back into Big Daddy keeping the 3rd run from scoring. Kev then induced the dangerous number 3 hitter Cyrus Crafft to fly to the steady BJ into the tricky wind in right.

“I made one really bad pitch, to the man in Burgundy (Ibalio),” said Kevin. “After he drilled an outside pitch down the third baseline in the first, Gunnar and I decided that we would pitch him inside. In his next AB I gave him that same outside pitch and he drilled it again, this time for a 2-run double. 

“Bastard”, Kevin laughed. “Tip of the hat and don't come back!”

A pitchers’ duel in softball?
The game settled into a 4-2 pitchers’ duel in the middle innings as Austin and Hamilton traded doughnuts from the 4th through 6th. Pizza Man, who has arguably been the team MVP for the summer by solidifying the middle-of-the-diamond defense, made 2 tough plays in the 4th and 5th on ground balls up the middle that took last minute hops to a charging Weiss throwing on the run. Jim Colletto made a couple of nice stretches on high throws. In the 6th, Steve and Jacque playing shallow, and BJ in medium-right made running catches to shut down an OG threat after a lead-off error.

The knuckleballer Hamilton was equally impressive, getting The Beat to go down in order in the 4th and 5th. Apart from Jacque, Donnell and Jim, Ron was relentless against the rest of The Beat lineup. Indeed, 6 Beatniks in a lineup that was hitting a combined .502 for the summer, wore collars this day.

Hamilton’s mound counterpart Kevin Austin was most complimentary. “He continues to tie us in knots, maybe more than even Vic (Victor Loggins, the veteran Cool Dudes tosser) ever did. I'd have to give him my vote as the league's best pitcher.” 

In the bottom of the 6th, The Beat bats awakened. With 1 out, Jacque singled but was forced at 2nd on MSG’s grounder to Ibalio at 3rd. Moody singled to put runners on 1st and 2nd and the Cottonmouth King scored on JC’s 2nd hit to make it 5-2. Bidding for more, Steve was robbed on a nice play by Dan Rei at 2nd base to end the inning.

Crafft led off with a single, but it looked like Pizza’s throw after a beautiful backhand stop in the hole beat the runner by a half step. Undaunted, The Beat defense took over as Brian, Pizza and Jim converted a 4-6-3 double play before Jay Katz grounded out to Brian to end it. 

A humble and business-like Beat team walked off the field still undefeated at 5-0-1 after shaking hands with the scrappy Other Guys. With a suddenly-hot Nicoya team looming following a bye in 2 weeks, any post-game celebrations would have been pre-mature. An OGs loss to Nicoya next week would put the Beat in position to clinch its first title since winning a DD-league title in 1995.

Look for Beatniks in the stands next Saturday at 1.45pm to see what happens as Nicoya hosts the Other Guys on the wind tunnel at Jackson #2. 

See the scoresheet in pdf (294k) or
On The BEAT News Archive

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