Flashbacks into the past when Spread the Glove was 9-Inch Snails and then Solid Smack brought back happy memories. The Beat came in at 7-3 lifetime against these foes, but remembered some tough losses in a history that has seen its share of unlikely upsets.  -Pete

MOVEMENT I: Andante
The first few innings were fairly quiet.

Spread the Glove strung together two walks, two singles, and a sac fly for two first-inning runs. With a runner at first and two outs, 2b Gunnar took a wicked hop off his chest, but couldn't make a play anywhere. The next batter skated one right through 1b Donnell's mammoth wickets, scoring one more before a fly-out ended the threat. The Beat, still half-awake, knocked three quick ground balls for three quick outs. Spread 3, Beat zip.

The Glove got four singles in the second inning, but encountered Fly Ball Death and left the bases loaded with only one run scored. The Beat answered with Tim ("Scrappy Doo") Smith's monster home run, which rolled way out to the steps at the far fence, but that was all for now. Spread 4, Beat 1.

Neither team scored in the third; the highlight was Donnell's Style Points Scoop to buy an extra couple feet on Derek's throw from deep short -- snapping the glove up and through the short hop, while taking a biiiiig stride toward the throw. D's sweet pick enabled an efficient 1-2-3 inning.

Spread the Glove scraped up one more run in their half of the fourth: back-to-back singles and a fielder's choice put runners at 1 and 3 with one out. The Beat infield then turned what appeared to be a nifty inning-ending 6-4-3 DP, but the home-plate ump stepped in to override the infield ump's emphatic call, ruling that Donnell's Style Points Redux had pulled his foot off the bag. 5-1, Spread. One lazy fly to LCF Jacque later, the Beat jogged off the field for the second time that inning and put their hitting shoes on.

MOVEMENT II: Allegro molto crescendo, con brio
Jacq started the Beat fourth with a single. The left fielder couldn't handle Jim's twisting liner, committing the first of five Glove errors in the inning. MSG worked a walk, Jacque hit another drive the LF couldn't corral. Tim then skied one to shortstop for an out, but that was the only out for awhile: Moody reached on another outfield (RCF) error; D-Rey singled in two; Mondo stroked a three-run homer onto the opposite diamond; Brian singled; the shortstop made a nice stop on Gunnar's grounder up the middle, but couldn't do anything with it; Kevin’s hit went for two runs and three bases; and Pete drove Kevin in with a high, arcing drive onto the furthest reaches of the infield, directly behind second base. Jacq erased Pete with a fielder's choice, but made up for it by scoring on Jim's one-base shot through the first baseman. When the scorekeepers sifted through the carnage, the Beat had sent fifteen batters to the plate and scored 11 runs -- taking the lead for the first time, and for good. 12-5, Beat.

Not that Spread the Glove was done. Back-to-back walks, followed by two RBI singles, had us all a bit nervous. But P Kevin snagged a hot line drive right around his left holster, and RF Jacq made a fine running catch of a medium-deep foul ball. Two outs, almost there... but Yoon, the Glove leadoff hitter, coolly took two strikes, somehow did not swing at a ball that was about 3 inches deep, then cleared the outfield and the bases with a three-run homer.12-10, Beat.

That was too close, and we all knew it. The boys in gray came right back out of the gate with three consecutive singles; Mondo followed up with another long drive, this time a two-run triple to right (you just can't defense this guy). Brian singled, Gunnar moved him to third with a grounder through the 3.5 hole (TM), and he scored on Kevin's sac fly. Gunnar went to second on the throw home, and scored on Pete's single. Jacq singled, then Jim, but the inning ended when Jim tried to "steal" an extra base behind Jacq and was cut down at second -- thereby throwing himself upon the cold, foamy hand grenade that is Beat Beer Duty. At the end of the fifth, the Beat was up 19-10.

MOVEMENT III: Adagio decrescendo
The rest of the game went quickly. Spread the Glove managed just two singles and no runs in its last two innings, while the Beat tacked on some insurance in the sixth, as Timmah hit a two-run triple and scored on D's sac fly. Final score: 22-10, Beat.

FINALE: yay, us
The Beat bats really came through in this one, with 21 hits including five for extra bases. And even when the ball didn't get through, the team was hitting hard and DOWN: through the first five innings, we had ten outs on ground balls. Beat hitters took advantage of a flat strike zone and went up there ready to hit: other than MSG's four-pitch walk, we were up there hacking, to good effect.

The team played well on the other side of the ball, too, making just three errors -- but two of those came in the first inning, and only one run scored as a result. Other than a couple of shaky spots in the first and fifth, Kevin steadily kept them swinging under the ball: every outfield position put away two or three batters each.

Game ball honors went to Mondo, for his seven-base, 5-RBI performance, but everybody played well. This team can easily be a 20-run-per-game powerhouse, and now that we've seen and felt it clicking along, we're all looking forward to a turbo-charged summer season!