by #6

Beat Loses Defensive Battle with Joey J's 4 Double Plays and 3 Outs at the plate lead to 8-5 loss.

They say it's a game of inches. In this case it was three. The Beat saw three potential runs gunned down at the plate. Each play was close and two even controversial. And in the end, the team lost an exciting 8-5 match to Joey J's, by that very same three run margin.

The weather at Jackon 1 was perfect for this 11:15 a.m. match-up; warm with a mild breeze blowing straight in from center field. Excellent conditions for a game against a hard-hitting team that recently scored 33 runs in a blowout of the Monsters. Word was they could hit, but their pitching and defense were suspect. Any doubts about Joey J's defense and pitching were put to rest as their pitcher, Sanchez, kept Beat batters baffled all day and held the team to just 3 runs in the first six innings. Joey's defense turned 4 double plays, 3 in consecutive innings including one in the 2nd in which both outs were made at the plate. If there was one point that seemed to take the wind out of the Beat's sails, that was it. But we'll get to that.

The Beat took the field first with Kevin Austin on the mound. The goal today was to keep the arc high to induce pop-ups into the wind, and the umpire assisted this effort with a deliciously deep strike zone. The Beat went through the first two innings on defense allowing just two runs, one earned. Sanchez had the same idea and baffled Beat batters by following a leadoff walk with three quick outs against the strength of the Beat lineup. D. Moody admitted to being totally perplexed on a ball that the big guy cleanly whiffed. 

Jim Colletto led off the Beat second reaching on an infield error. Brian Arcuri singled moving Jim to second. A outfield pop-out advanced Colletto to third and Mike Weiss followed with a single to left. As Jim marched in from third, the left fielder came up throwing nailing the unsuspecting Colletto at the plate. Arcuri advanced to third on the throw. The alert catcher whipped the ball back to third to cut off Arcuri but the ball skidded once again into left field. The fielder came up throwing again as Arcuri headed for the plate. This time the throw was up the line and when Arcuri saw the catcher pull away from the bag, went in standing up. The catcher grabbed the ball and spun around catching Arcuri's trailing foot just as he touched the plate. An inning ending double play on a clean single with both outs at the plate. As Hank Greenwald used to say, "You come to the park everyday, and still see something different."  Joey's still up 2-0. 

At this point it seemed the prior inning's drama had truly shifted the momentum in Joey's favor. The team showed signs of defensive trouble when bad outfield hops and long throws to the plate started giving extra bases to the J's. They stretched that lead to 4 in the next inning as the top of the lineup drilled 4 line drives for two runs. The Beat weakly responded by sending only 4 batters to the plate for the third consecutive inning.

Joey's extended their lead further in the 4th with 3 runs on 5 hits and more defensive breakdowns. It was the overzealous attempt of one of Joey's runners to turn yet another single into a double that ended the inning. Left-center fielder Greg Lukoski tried gunning down an advancing runner at third. The throw was late, but third baseman Mark St.Georges, turned and threw to Arcuri at second who tagged the oncoming runner three feet from the bag.

The Beat finally got on the board in the bottom of the 4th with 5 consecutive singles by St.Georges, Moody, Colletto, Arcuri, and Lukoski led to 2 runs. But with the Beat's first true rally in the works, Joey J's turned the second of three inning-ending double plays to cut down the boys in gray with the bases full.

Dennis O'Brien came in to pitch for the Beat in the fifth and cruised through the next two innings ending each with foul-ball strike outs. The Beat offense fizzled again in the fifth as the bottom of the order went quickly, 1-2-3. They put one more on the board in the 6th as Jacque Wilson led of with a single. Gunnar Rosenquist hit a high popup to right that tied up the right fielder in the swirling wind. The ball when in and out of his glove allowing Gunnar to reach first, but Jacque was hung out and easily forced at 2nd. St.Georges stepped up with that look he gets when he sees a fielder disrespecting him by playing shallow. MSG drilled a ball over the right fielder's head for a triple scoring Gunnar from first. Moody followed grounding sharply to the shortstop who looked St. Georges back to third, then threw to first. MSG broke for home on the throw and the first baseman wheeled and threw home. By the catcher's own admission, St.Georges slid under the tag, but the blue called him out. Joey J's had turned their 4th double play in 5 innings. Strolling off the field, one of Joey's players muttered, "Haven't you guys learned your lesson yet?" Left standing on deck, bat in hand, was the Beat's RBI and slugging leader Colletto.

The Beat gave up one more run in the 7th as another bobbled single led to two bases. The runner advanced to third on an outfield fly, then scored on a sacrifice fly for the J's 3rd unearned run. Joey's was up 8-3 and the Beat had one at bat left to work with.

Colletto, Arcuri, and Lukoski led off with back-to-back-to-back singles. Weiss forced in a run on a fielders choice. Austin lined a ball at the pitcher's head who chose to duck rather than put his glove up, and another run was across. Another fielder's choice left runners on the corners with two outs and two in. Javier Urdiales was reinserted to bat for O.B. and scorched a liner that just happened to catch the second baseman in a shift, who grabbed the ball for the game-ending out.

It was a hard-fought game and you can hardly fault the Beat's aggressiveness on the basepaths. You have to tip your hat to Joey J's. The Beat managed to dilute their vaunted offense by inducing 13 fly outs, but in the end it was Joey's defense that made the difference. They played solid ball with only two errors and made the big plays when they needed to. With 4 double plays and 3 outs at the plate, you have to say that this defense earned some respect today, and Joey J's earned the win.

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