by Pete

The Beat Gets Back into the Win Column 12-run uprising in the 3rd seals 18-8 win; 9 score with 2 out.  Bottom 4 batters go 11 for 14 with 7 RBI.  Team improves to 2-3.  Austin gets complete game win

The Beat snapped out of a 3-week funk with a convincing win over the troublesome, but short-handed Renegades, who played the game with 9 players. After a heartbreaking 12-9 last inning loss to the Rhinos last week to drop the team to 1-3, the Beat bats finally woke up from a month-long slumber. Kevin (Special K) Austin gave up just 7 hits, fanned 2 and escaped jams in the 2nd and 5th innings to win his 1st game of the year.

In improving to 2-3, The Beat broke a 1-6 skid that dated back to September 22, 2001 when the team clinched the C-7 division title. Never in the team’s 15-year history had they fallen that far after such an exhilarating accomplishment.

The Beatniks drew 1st blood in the bottom of the opening frame to take a 1-0 lead on Jim Colletto’s (1 for 3, 4 RBIs) sacrifice fly. After a flyout, Austin walked the bases loaded. An RBI single by Kevin Murano and Dan Monar fielder’s choice made it 2-1 Renegades, before Kevin struck out the big #3 hitter Tony Parker to end the threat.

The Beat stranded runners at 2nd and 3rd in the bottom of the 2nd inning to see shades of the previous week when the team stopped hitting after a similar situation in the 4th inning before coughing up a 4-run lead to the Rhinos. Frustration was starting to set in with the defending C-7 division champs as the manager was seen kicking T.C. Wright’s folding chair. There had been an earlier angry exchange with several Beatniks and the home plate blue who had called foul a dropped Jacque Wilson pop-up inside the 1st base line in fair territory.

But in the home half of the 3rd, The Beat broke out. Gunnar Rosenquist, who successfully returned to the leadoff spot after having been dropped to 8th against the Rhinos, led off the inning by boldly stretching a base hit into a double on an exciting, close play. Next, Jacque busted out of a deep slump with an inside the park home run into the right center field gap to make it 3-2. Following a groundout, Donnell (Big Daddy) Moody singled and the latest re-incarnation of Larry Avery, Mark Briscoe, who had walked onto The Beat the week before, reached on a fielder’s choice. Then with 2 runners on, a freak play opened the floodgates and turned the game around for the Beatniks.

On a high pop to shallow right center by BJ Bateman, 2nd baseman Roger Fong camped under the ball ready to make routine catch. However, the ball popped out of his glove and BJ reached safely. The Beat proceeded to capitalize by scoring 9 unearned runs as Jacq Wilson, Pete Wenner, Brian Arcuri, Greg (Luki) Lukoski and Gunnar all singled to make it 11-2. For the second straight week, Gunnar’s base hit to left got by the left fielder and he ran all the way home. After Jacque added to his big inning with a triple to right center, JC singled him in to make it 12-2. Kevin got the Renegades to go down quietly in the 4th and The Beat followed suit.

In the top of the 5th, the Renegades pulled closer. With 1 on and none out, the stocky lefty shortstop Parker crushed an Austin hanger onto 17th Street to make it 12-4. After a fly out, left fielder Dennis Kain singled and advanced to 2nd on an outfield error. Fong then tried to atone for his 3rd inning error, homering to make it 12-6. The bottom of the lineup struck again and parlayed a James Onoe single, Dan Ng triple and Kevin Wong sacrifice fly to close to 12-8 before Murano lined out to Donnell to end the inning.

Instead of collapsing as they did on April 20 against the Rhinos when the boys in gray stopped hitting and blew leads of 6-0 and 8-4, this week the Beat came back in their half of the 5th to add 4 insurance runs highlighted by a Luki 3-run home run.

Kevin got the middle of the Renegade lineup to go down in order in the top of the 6th. All The Beat had to do was stay on the field for another 5 minutes to end it and end it they did. Two runs scored on Wenner’s 2nd double of the game to seal the 18-8 win.

Gunnar was 3 for 4 with 4 runs, a double and 2 RBIs, Jacque was also 3 for 4 with a home run, triple and 2 RBIs, Pete was 4 for 4 with 2 doubles and 2 RBIs. Brian’s bat got well with a 3 for 3 day, 2 runs and an RBI. Luki snapped out of a season long slump that had seen his average plummet to .091 (1 for 11) with a 2 for 3 performance, 2 runs, home run and 3 RBIs.

Kevin only allowed 7 hits in a 6-inning complete game as OB and the bus took the week off in Ukiah.

Mark St. Georges also sat out the game in an attempt to rest an aching right elbow that had been nagging him since week #2. The team hopes to have the Cottonmouth King back in the lineup for next week’s game.

With 24 hits and 18 runs, the Beat team batting average spiked from .364 to .424. In stark contrast, the club had only logged 20 runs and 27 hits in the previous 3 games. It was inevitable that this team would eventually perform up to the ability it exhibited in the opener against the now 1st place Joey Js, who pulled into a tie with the surprising Nine Inch Snails with a 22-4 drubbing. Both teams stand at 4-1 as Nine Inch comes in to play the Beatniks next week. With the anticipated return of the prodigal Pizza Man, who has missed the past 3 games due to a Saturday job conflict, to go with the newly acquired Mark Briscoe (.571, HR, 2 RBIs in 2 games) on the left side of the infield, the Beat looks to play spoilers. Briscoe impressed his new teammates with some dazzling play at shortstop in place of Pizza in the Rhinos game

With the win, The Beat moved out of the cellar and into at least a tie for 4th place with the Renegades in the 8-team division. As of the publication deadline, the Other Guys (2-2), Loose Cannons (1-3) score was not known. It could be a 4-way for all we know. Finnegan’s A&B, the team that mercy-ruled the boys in gray on April 13 dropped to 1-4 with a loss to the Rhinos (3-2).

Next week: The return of the Nine Inch Snails after 2 years in DD. May 4, Jackson #1 at 3pm.

See the scoresheet in pdf (264k) or
On The BEAT News Archive

---

Please send your comments to: TheBeat@Sonic.net