Vol.XVI, No.2 |
March 30, 2002 |
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The Beat Romps in Spring Opener
9-run outburst in 4th keys 16-8 win over Joey J's
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The script couldn’t have been better for an opening day that had been delayed
for a week by rain. A hot, sunny, 12.30pm start-time at
Jackson #1 with surprisingly
little wind. A matchup between the two defending summer Saturday C-league
division champs in a newly consolidated division. All the elements were set for
a closely fought battle between two defensively oriented teams whose only
experience together had been a tense
8-5 Joey’s victory in the
spring of 2001.
Then reality intervened.
It was indeed close for half the game as the J's parlayed three 1st inning
Beatnik errors into 4 quick runs and The Beat answered back with three tallies
of their own sparked by a leadoff
Gunnar Rosenquist home run to left field. The Joey’s leftfielder was
thoroughly flummoxed by Gunnar’s deep fly, which he initially broke in on, then
retreated back too late as the ball rolled past the foul line on Jackson #2.
It was 7-3 Joey's in the bottom of the 3rd before the boys in gray rallied back
to make it 7-6 on a two-run homer by
Jacque Wilson with Gunnar on,
a double by Mark (The Cottonmouth
King) St. Georges, and a RBI single by
Donnell (Big Daddy) Moody.
Dennis (OB) O’Brien, who like
the proverbial Puxautanny Phil, walked on from a long Winter’s nap to relieve
Kevin (Special K) Austin in
the top of the 3rd with Joey's up 6-3 and get the win, held the Js to a single
run in the middle innings as The Beat stormed ahead 15-7 in the home half of the
4th. In dramatic fashion, all of the damage started with 2 outs.
With Brian Arcuri on 3rd,
Mike (Pizza Man) Weiss lined a
clutch single into center to tie the score at 7-7. The sure-handed shortstop had
made a diving stop of a grounder up the middle in the 1st with two runners on
that could have possibly blown open the game with Joey’s already up 4-0. No word
yet from Austin on when Pizza will get his Rolex watch for keeping the game
close.
With Weiss on 1st , Joey’s defense came unraveled and the hit parade began.
Gunnar reached on a boot by the 3rd baseman before the left-center fielder
overthrew the ball on Jacque’s double to clear the bases and make it 9-7 Beat.
Ironically, a good throw would have had Rosenquist for the 3rd out on a
bang-bang play. The flood gates then opened as MSG, Big Daddy,
Jim (The Thrill) Colletto and
Jacq Wilson followed with
singles before outfielder Steve
Hinkebein doubled, Arcuri singled and
Bob (BJ) Bateman reached on a
throwing error. When the dust cleared, The Beat had a commanding lead it
wouldn’t relinquish.
Kevin, who re-entered to bat for OB in the 4th inning uprising, came on for the
final 3 innings to close out the win.
Offensive stars included Gunnar, who won the game ball by going 3 for 4 with a
home run, RBI and 3 runs scored, Big Daddy (4 for 4, triple, 3 RBIs and a run),
Jacque (2 for 3, home run, double, walk, 3 RBIs and 3 runs), MSG (2 for 3,
double, 3 runs) and Brian (3 for 4, RBI, 1 run).
Following the game and the awarding of the game ball, Gunnar told his brethren,
“We’ve got the best talent in the league. I want to end this with not only
another division championship, but a city (C-league) title as well.” Indeed, the
Beat took a strong first step toward fulfilling the lofty goal of The Splendid
Stump, continuing their winning ways which started with a summer tournament win
in 2001, a summer division title and a tie (as the SF Park Ratts) for the
Mission Delores division title in the Winter League under the leadership of
Greg (Luki) Lukoski.
Sixteen years and the Beat still goes on…..Tune in next Saturday for another
tough challenge from long-time nemesis, The Other Guys at 3pm, Jackson #1.
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TheBeat@Sonic.net