by Pete

The Beat Goes on the Road Winning 2 of 4 in long afternoon at Twin Creeks no small feat; Beatniks nearly pull off dramatic comeback wins over top seeds Gamblers and Unstrung Heroes in Games 1 & 4; Beat bats stay hot after coming alive in spring finale; Austin sparkles on mound

Rolling the dice on a tournament against unknown competition at as professional looking a softball complex as one can find in Northern California, The Beat acquitted itself well in splitting a tough stretch of 4 consecutive games on a hot June afternoon that turned into a chilly gale by 5pm. After playing for 6 years in San Francisco on ragged Jackson Playground diamonds that resembled the lunar surface, the jaded Beat were treated to the sight of green grass, electronic scoreboards and symmetrical outfield fences. Coming out of a sobering spring season in which the mighty Beat bats of 2001 largely slept, the Beatniks scored 54 runs in 4 games against stiff competition. The team batted .492 as a unit for the tourney compared to a paltry .407 in the spring that was inflated by an 18-run outburst in the season finale. 

Batting stars abounded in the “1050AM Ultimate Softball Tournament” at the Twin Creeks sports complex in Santa Clara. Jacq Wilson solidified his bid for the summer leadoff spot with a .692 BA and .750 OPB clip and Mark St. Georges reasserted himself in the critical number 3 spot (.615 BA/7 runs/6 RBIs) after a sub-par spring. Donnell Moody hit .538 and slammed a prodigious 2-run homer in the 1^st inning of game 4 that got up into a stiff wind and sailed beyond the left-center field fence. Mark Briscoe, Jacque Wilson and Greg Lukoski all hit .500 or better on the day.

For 3 games, Kevin (Special K) Austin was masterful on the mound, a fact belied by shaky defense in the final 2 contests as the elements and fatigue set in on a team not used to playing more than 1 at a time. Working fast and picking up on the Twin Creeks tradition of herky-jerky movement on the mound, Kevin worked fast and featured the backspin to get consistent strikes. 

In losing a 9-8 heartbreaker to the Gamblers, a muscular team that had crushed its first opponent 26-1 and eventually moved into the semi-finals of the 12-team tourney, The Beat narrowly missed a chance at the winner’s bracket. Undaunted, the boys in gray came right back to rout RJ’s All Stars 14-5 in game 2 as Kevin allowed no earned runs.  Needing a breather after playing two 70-minute games in succession, The Beat got a 25-minute reprieve before game 3, which gave the Beatniks the energy to win a 15-13 test of wits against a tough Steele Hammers ball club. Moving onto a new diamond for game 4, the dream died as the Unstrung Heroes prevailed 20-17 in a game that really wasn’t as close as the final score appears. 

Game One

In scouring the brackets for the location of the opening game, Manager Pete Wenner (who won all 4 coin tosses to keep The Beat entrenched as the home team) and Cottonmouth King MSG took note of the fact that first game opponent the Gamblers had just trounced its competition by 25 runs in its maiden voyage of June 8. The two veterans agreed to keep the score a secret from their unsuspecting mates to keep the pregame spirits high

Against this ominous backdrop, the 2 hurlers surprisingly settled into a pitchers’ duel for the first 3 innings. Austin held the Gamblers to 2 hits through 3 frames as the Beatniks ran themselves out of 2 early opportunities to jump out to a lead

Then in the top of the 4^th, the Gamblers struck fast with 4 runs as the Beat defense committed 2 costly errors. For much of the spring, a 4-run deficit would have been enough to put the Beatniks into a deep funk. Showing a resilience that would characterize the long afternoon, the boys in gray loaded the bases with none out and struck back for 3 runs courtesy of a 2-run single by St. Georges and a Moody sacrifice fly. However, the Gamblers hung up another 5 runs in the 5^th inning to make it 9-3 and put the Beat on the ropes

Undaunted, the black & gray made it close at 9-7 and threatened for more as Jacq the Rock was gunned out at home on a questionable call trying to score on Big Daddy’s RBI single which scored Brian Arcuri and left 2 runners stranded

Austin stranded 2 Gamblers runners of his own in the 6^th to set up what looked to be a fantastic finish. With no outs, The Beat loaded the bases on singles by Jim Colletto and Jacque, and an error by the 2^nd baseman on Steve Hinkebein’s grounder. The Thrill scored on Briscoe’s hard grounder to the shortstop who smartly threw to 3^rd to nip the speedy Jacque. With 2 out, Kevin walked to set up a classic match up with the Gamblers ace and Luki, who worked the count before flying to left center to end it

Despite the close loss in a game even the home plate umpire said The Beat should have won, the contest was reminiscent of the kind of defensive classics the team played last summer against Magilla’s Guerillas in sweeping the Sports for the World’s Children charity tournament. There was no reason for heads to hang and they did not.

Game Two

RJ All Stars were anything but. The boys in gray got their first clue when the RJ’s manager greeted Pete at the plate for the pre-game coin toss and announced “We’re all drunk. We’ve been 2-fisting them in the bar for the last hour. Go easy on us.” 

Needless to say, The Beat was in no mood to grant favors. The boys jumped out to a 10-0 second inning lead that proved insurmountable. Brothers Jacq (4 for 4) and Jacque (3 for 3) went a perfect 7 for 7 with 4 runs and 4 rbis as Austin handcuffed the reeling All Stars sending them to an early shower or, as the case may have been, a trip back to the bar

Game Three

The Beat once again jumped on top early against a feisty Steele Hammers team that had just come off a 10-inning extra inning affair while the Beatniks caught their collective breath. But this time it wouldn’t come easy. Unlike RJs, the Hammers weren’t hammered. 

After batting around in the home half of the first inning, The Beat held a 6-1 lead that would quickly evaporate as the defense committed 5 errors. When the dust from the dirt infield cleared, the Steele Hammers led 8-6 and the Beatniks went down in order in the bottom of the second

Another unearned run in the third made it 9-6 Hammers, but The Beat came back to tie it on Briscoe’s clutch 2-run single. It looked bleak for the boys in gray in the top of the fifth as they committed 2 more errors to hand their opponents a 12-9 lead

Back in San Francisco in the Spring, The Beat’s goose may well have been cooked after committing 9 errors and sitting on the wrong end of the seesaw with time running short. But in the bottom of the fifth inning, the lucky winners of the coin toss showed they weren’t done. Jacq led off with a single and Gunnar Rosenquist, playing in his final Saturday in a Beat uniform, reached on an E-4 to get the rally started before MSG plated The Rock on an RBI single. Big Daddy singled to load the bases and JC scored Gunnar with a sacrifice fly to right to make it 12-11. With 2 out, Mark Briscoe drove in Moody to tie the score, bringing the designated hitting manager to the plate. Wenner lined a 3-2 pitch past the shortstop to plate 2 runners. As the Hammers threw the ball wildly around the diamond, The Beat went up 15-12. 

After the final Steele Hammers’ run crossed the plate on a fielders choice, Kevin Austin and The Beat defense stiffened in the top of the sixth to close out a gritty 15-13 win.  The hard-fought victory reflected the same tenaciousness that had gone unfulfilled in game 1 against the Gamblers but perhaps could signal a turning point for the club heading into the summer. Almost lost in the gaudy score was the fact that Special K only allowed 2 earned runs. In going the distance over the first 3 games on June 8 (18 innings), Austin worked to a sparkling 3.11 ERA.

Briscoe led the way with a 3 for 3, 4 rbi performance and Big D also went 3 for 3 to pace a 20-hit attack. 

Game Four

As the late afternoon wind whipped through the valley, the venue switched from field #5 to #6 where the elements turned out to be quite a bit different. At one minute the wind seemed to be blowing out to center and left to right at the same time. The Beat finally met its match in the Unstrung Heroes, a broad-shouldered team obviously used to the competition and quirks of Twin Creeks. 

The Heroes immediately served notice when their leadoff hitter crushed an Austin hanger into the jet stream in center field for a home run. Down 3-0 with 2 outs in the bottom of the first, MSG singled to give The Beat a pulse. Then early in the count, Donnell coiled and cranked a titanic moon shot deep into the gale to make 3-2. That was as close as The Beat would get for the rest of the game

The elements played a significant role, as the gusts seemed to whip up whenever the Heroes were at the plate and quieted down when The Beat came up. Sure the Unstrung Heroes were a strong hitting team, but many of their runs scored on pops and fly balls into the wind that were difficult for fielders to judge. At least two high pops to shallow left and right enter blew back into the infield and out of the grasp of flummoxed Beat infielders

When the Heroes lead ballooned to 20-8 after 4 innings, the Beatniks appeared to be a tired and beaten bunch until Kevin switched to a knuckler, which he threw into the teeth of the wind getting perhaps the best movement of the day. That seemed to quiet the Unstrung bats a little and the boys in gray retired the mighty Heroes in the top of the fifth without allowing a run. 

Digging deep into the Beat psyche and perhaps galvanized by a terrible 3^rd strike call on Big Daddy by the home plate umpire, the resilient Beatniks mounted a valiant comeback. They batted around in the bottom of the fifth and closed to 20-17.  However, that’s where it ended as the Heroes got Donnell to fly out to left to end it. Everybody was a hitting star in this one, but 20 runs were alas, too much to overcome.

Nobody really knew what to expect coming into Twin Creeks for a one-day double elimination tournament. Horror stories had abounded with tales of trophy-hungry ringer teams that sandbagged their way to titles by dropping down a classification to beat up on unsuspecting opponents. The Beat were strangers in a strange land, who were told by ballplayers in the know to enjoy the experience of playing in a top notch complex and to feel lucky if we were skillful enough to win a game. The Beat accomplished more than that, hanging tough for 4 games, winning 2 and almost upsetting a top team that went deep into the tournament.

However, a bittersweet undertone marked the day as The Beat later said goodbye to Kev’s battery mate and one of the most inspirational players in team history. Gunnar (The Splendid Stump) Rosenquist played his final games in a Beat uniform before moving on to the summer cauldron known as Washington, DC in late June to settle in for a 3-year law school stint at American University.

Postscript

The boys in gray now look forward to the San Francisco Metro Tournament July 16-18 at Moscone Playground prior to the opening day of the summer season on July 27. However, the 2001 Open C-7 summer division champs were jolted to learn of a potential season-ending injury to newfound slugger and shortstop Mark Briscoe, who hit .542 with 2 home runs and 11 RBIs in 8 games spanning the spring and June tournament. Faced with the loss of Briscoe, the retirements of Gunnar, BJ Bateman and the absence of 2001 Brass Beat winner Mike (Pizza Man) Weiss, the Metro Tournament will offer the team a much-needed chance to evaluate some new players and welcome back the versatile Javier Urdiales, who was inactive and greatly missed in the spring.

As it has for 15 years, The Beat goes on. But it will be tested.

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