Possibly one of the hardest things to remember about softball is that any team is capable of having one blowout inning at any given time. They're called rallies when we do it (and we've had our share), but when the other team has one, it's just trouble. The Renegades waited six long innings before finally locking in on Beat pitching. When the dust settled, the Renegades had walked away with a 15-11 come-from-behind victory with a 10-run 7^th inning, that left the Beat dazed and confused.

Following last week's haunting loss to the Cool Dudes, the Beat came out looking to get back in the win column. The Beat brought nearly a full squad with the exception of Manager Pete Wenner who's on a three week sabattical. Veteran hurler Dennis O'Brien opened this one for the team by setting the Renegades down harmlessly with only one hit in the first.

The Beat answered in the bottom of the inning with 5 quick runs. Leadoff man, Jacque Wilson, opened the inning with a single. Mark St.Georges, who hit lights out this game (4-4, 3B, 2 Runs, 2 RBI), drilled a single then advanced to second on an error. Suddenly the Renegades defense broke down with 2 consecutive errors, a walk, then another error over the next 4 Beat batters. Greg Lukoski followed with a nice sacrifice to give the boys their 4^th run. Then Brian Arcuri capped the inning with a beautiful RBI double down the thirdbase line to make it 5-0 Beat.

O.B. gave up a quick single to open the second inning, but then took his revenge by snatching a comebacker and turning a 1-4-3 double play. A quick pop out ended the inning.

The Beat tacked on a couple more in the bottom of the second started by O.B.'s bloop single to right with one out. Mike Weiss was sent in as a courtesy runner and added considerable speed at first. Jacque dropped another single and St.Georges drilled his second scoring speedster Weiss from second. MSG advanced to second on the throw with Wilson at third. Big Daddy D. Moody picked up his second of three RBIs with a single giving the Beat a 7-0 lead entering the third.

O.B. worked his magic again putting the Renegades down in order. The Beat managed one hit in the bottom of the inning, but went down quietly as well.

The Beat ran into its first sign of trouble in the 4^th when the first two Renegades batters reached base on back-to-back Beat errors with the heart of the order coming up. Following what should have been the third out of the inning, the Renegades pounded O.B. for 4 singles from the next 5 batters putting 4 runs on the board before their half of the inning ended.

Following a lackluster bottom of the 4^th, Beat interim manager Kevin Austin replaced O.B. on the mound. Austin allowed a leadoff single, then settled into the inning forcing a foul ball strike out and a foul pop out, run down by shortstop Dave Maxion. A two out single put runners at the corners, then Maxion was tagged for an error on a sharp grounder to short. Dave recovered and gunned down a runner on third, but not in time to stop the Renegades 5^th unearned run from crossing the plate.

The top of the Beat order connected in the bottom of the 5^th with 4 consecutive singles by Gunnar Rosequist, St.Georges, Moody, and Jim Colletto followed by Austin's sacrifice fly to right leading to 3 more quick runs. Austin made quick work of the 3-4-5 hitters sending them down in order in the 6^th. The Beat managed only a walk in the bottom of the inning.

So, top of seven. The Beat has a 10-5 lead and all they need is 3 outs to win. Seems easy, right? But then the strikes stopped falling for Austin. A leadoff walk. A base hit. Another walk. Bases loaded, but still a 5 run lead. Not wanting to walk in a run, Austin was forced to throw strikes and the patient Renegades as if it were Saturday at the batting cages. Four consecutive singles scored four quick runs. O.B. approached the mound offering to return and Austin handed over the ball wishing only that the move was made 5 minutes earlier. O.B. was now facing a pitcher's worst nightmare: bases loaded, tying run on third base, no outs. Remember, this is not baseball where good pitching beats good hitting. This is softball, and good hitting will always control a game. The Renegades had suddenly found their hitting shoes and they had momentum in their favor. O.B. was tagged for 2 singles, a sacrifice fly, and a 2-run triple. Another Beat error scored the runner at third. O.B. finally wrapped up the inning with a strikeout, but when the dust settled, the Renegades had incredibly put10 runs on the board.

The Beat made an attempt at a comeback in the bottom of the 7^th as Jacque reached on a single and scored on St.Georges triple to right field. But it was too little, too late, and the Beat walked off with their heads down wondering what had just happened.

I confronted losing pitcher Kevin Austin after the game. After urinating on my shoes, he responded, "I've had better games. Hell, I've had better seasons. Now &!%$ off!" The Beat had outplayed the Renegades for the first six innings. But in the end, the Renegades would bring the hammer down when it counted and hand the Beat its second loss of the season in dramatic fashion.

Next week, the Beat takes on old-time rivals the Van Ness Monsters with the goal of again being above .500. Catch us at Jackson #2 at 12:30 on May 12^th.

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