by Pete

The Beat Hangs On To Win Opener 10-run 1st inning outburst, 2 plays at the plate and OB relief job key to 16-12 win over Loose Cannons; Beat bats remain hot from Metro Tournament; Other Guys loom next

Coming off multiple seesaw slugfests in the mid-July Metro Tournament, The Beat stormed out to a 10-0 1st inning lead in the summer season opener and then almost gave it away to the pesky Loose Cannons. As it turned out, the Beatniks never really relinquished control of the game as they scratched out 6 insurance runs after the relentless Cannons had closed the deficit to 10-9 at the end of the 3rd inning midway point.

As the momentum swing back The Beat’s way, veteran pitcher Dennis (OB) O’Brien, just shy of his 50th birthday, came on to relieve starter Kevin Austin in the 4th inning and shut down the Loose Cannons en route to an exciting 6-inning 16-12 win at Moscone #1. OB won a well-deserved game ball for his efforts, but had some critical help from his outfielders as speedsters Alex Briscoe and Jacq (the Rock) Wilson formed an iron curtain on the right side.

The middle of the lineup paced The Beat offense as the number 3 through 6 hitters Mark (MSG) St. Georges, Donnell (Big Daddy) Moody, Jim (The Thrill) Colletto and Alex (Don’t Call me Mark) Briscoe each went 3 for 4. The Cottonmouth King (triple, 2 runs) drove in 4 runs, Donnell launched two deep triples with an RBI, and Jim had three RBIs and Alex 2 more.

The game marked the return of Mike (Butts) Buttafuso playing in his first regular season game back with the boys in gray since June 1999. Mark (M&M) Melin also made his first Beat appearance in a game since 2000.

Patience is a Virtue
Cannons starter Brett Dyer had difficulty throwing strikes and walked Jacq and Special K to start the game. Following an RBI single by MSG and another single by Big Daddy, Colletto and Briscoe each followed with 2-run singles to make it 5-0. Jacque Wilson (2 for 3, run), returning from a torn oblique muscle hurt swinging the bat in game #1 of the Metro Tournament less than 2 weeks ago, quieted the skeptics with a solid single out of the #7 hole. Walk-on Henry Maltez, playing shortstop for the injured Mark Briscoe, added an RBI single to make it 6-0 with 1 out and the hit parade continued with RBI hits from M&M, Jacq the Rock and Kevin Austin. When the dust cleared, it was 10-0 Beat before the Loose Cannons had lifted a bat.

With 1 on, 1 out in the bottom of the 1st, number-3 hitter Hung Luong fouled out to Jacq, who was running to his right. As Edmund Wong, who had tagged on the play, took off for 2nd base, Jacq whirled and threw a strike to Henry who applied the tag for the final out. It was the first of several Beat Web Gems on this day.

The Tide Turns Twice
Typical of so many Beat games throughout history, the offense was shut down for the next 2 innings as the Loose Cannons played catch-up. As a result of 6 Beat errors in the 2nd and 3rd, which led to 7 unearned runs, the Cannons fought back to make it 10-9.

Then the Beat bats reawakened in the top of the 4th as the Cottonmouth King tripled into the gap in right with Austin aboard. Big Daddy followed with another booming triple, this time to right center to score MSG. Moody was allowed to walk home to make it 13-9 as the errant throw to 3rd bounced into the stands. Then, Dyer stiffened to quiet the Beatnik rally.

Perhaps the play of the game came in the home half of the 4th inning as The Thrill tracked down Harrison Che’s deep RBI triple to left and relayed a strong throw to St. Georges at 3rd. MSG alley-ooped an over-the-shoulder pass to catcher Javier Urdiales, who tagged out Che at the plate to choke off the rally. At that point The Beat still led, 13-10.

The Beat got another run in the 5th when Mike Butts’s deep fly to right was dropped for a 3-base error. Buttsy scored on Javier’s sacrifice fly to left center. After OB scattered two hits to shut the Cannons down in the 5th, the Beatniks plated 2 more on RBI hits by Jim and Jacque to make it 16-10.

With two outs and two on, Jacq dropped a fly to right that seemed to take a last second twist in the wind. A run scored to make it 16-11 as the batter, Kenny Wu, steamed into 2nd base to put runners at 2nd and 3rd. Dyer strode to the plate and grounded a single to the charging Alex Briscoe in right center. With one run in, Alex launched an accurate throw to Urdiales, who tagged out Wu in front of the plate for the final out of the game.

See the scoresheet in pdf (286k) or
On The BEAT News Archive

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