by Pete

THE BEAT REPEATS Beatniks clinch back-to-back C-league division titles with 20-5 mercy ruling of the Rhinos; Straight out of the Hood holds off late comeback, eliminates Ronin 15-11; Beat finishes season at 7-1

When the Jackson #2 blues finally called the mercy rule on the winless Rhinos with The Beat at bat in the bottom of the 6th inning, the boys in gray repaired to the right field sidelines somewhat satisfied with a mixed sense of closure and incompleteness. The team had done all it could in reeling off 7 straight wins following a tough opening day loss to Ronin to clinch at least a tie for the division lead. They had just annihilated the injury-depleted Rhinos in a 15-run rout that put a cherry on top of the season. But all that could be done was wait. It was out of the Beat’s hands for now and there would be no dancing off the field.

The Beat would have to watch to see if the Hoodlums could make their season end on May 31st. Ronin was 4-1 and still had 3 games remaining, so a one-game playoff was possible if the upstarts could somehow reel off 3 in a row. The 2nd place team had made a remarkable comeback against Finnegan’s 2 weeks before to stay in the race and showed they could not be written off. As the confident Beatniks partied near the compost pile in right field foul territory cautiously contemplating tie-breaker scenarios, many looked intently on the unfolding game quietly rooting for Straight Out badness.

The Beat captured its second straight division flag as the Hood rode slugger Carl Thompson’s 3-run blast onto the right field tennis courts to a big 14-4 early lead and hung on despite a furious Ronin comeback. With its 2nd loss, Ronin was officially out and the Beatniks are back in the playoffs on June 17 following a 1st round bye. When the dust cleared on the June 7 rainout makeups, Ronin finished the season at 5-3, in a 2nd place tie with Straight Out of the Hood.

Only 2 games now stand between The Beat and its 1st C-league championship.

2003 Spring Standings Team W L PCT Pts GB The BEAT 7 1 .875 14 – Ronin 5 3 .625 10 2 The Hood 5 3 .625 10 2 Finnegans 2 6 .250 4 5 Rhinos 1 7 .125 2 6

Back Together Again
The Beat jumped all over the Rhinos early and never trailed after blowing open the game 5-1 in the 3rd on RBI singles by Pete Wenner and Mark (MSG) St. Georges. The Beatniks built on the lead over the final 4 frames including 9 runs to put it away in the 4th and 5th innings. Brian Arcuri broke out of a season-long slump and won the game ball with a better than perfect 4 for 4, 5-run, 3-RBI day. The “Man with the Golden Arm” was the main man on 3 spectacular inning-ending double plays which helped Kevin (Special K) Austin hold the hapless Rhinos to only 3 earned runs.

The Beat offense, as usual, got fat on the Rhinos pitching as it broke out of a 2-game slump. MSG was 5 for 5, with a run and 3 RBIs to take the lead in batting average (.667), on base percentage (.867), runs scored (16), walks (5) and RBIs (tied at 11 with Donnell Moody and Jim Colletto) for the spring. Jacq Wilson also scored 5 runs on a 2 for 5 day at the plate. Brother Jacque blasted his 1st home run of the season in the 4th to put the game on ice. Summertime is when the Wilson brothers seem to get hot.

Everybody had come back for the finale except OB and Mark Briscoe, who were out due to prior engagements. MSG, Jacq Wilson, Armando Lopez and Greg (Luki) Lukoski returned from Memorial Day weekends away. Surviving the curse of the rescheduled makeup game against Finnegan’s, as it did in its cliffhanging 9-6 win, turned out to have been key to the spring success.

Wrappin' up the Spring
Following a shocking 11-8 opening day loss to upstart Ronin, a recent entry to C-league which had moved up from DD in the summer of 2002, The Beat saw ominous visions of the nightmare spring of 2002, in which the boys had tumbled to a 3-5 tie for last place after its 1st division title in summer 2001. But this time was different as the Beatniks hopped on the back of Special K, who held opponents to a league-leading 4.34 ERA, possibly the best single-season mark ever compiled by a Beat pitcher.

Austin was particularly rough on the middle of opponents’ batting orders. Cleanup batters hit only .321 (9 for 28) off Kev and apart from the legendary Ronin slugger Joe Tang, Special K held all others to just 3 for 20 for a .150 average.

Perhaps one of the most telling stats of the spring season was the walks differential between The Beat and its opponents. K and OB gave up only 8 walks in 8 games while the boys in gray took 29 walks over the same span, which put the division champs at +21 on the walks for/against meter. Since the Beatniks became more patient at the plate in late spring 2002, they’ve reeled off 16 wins in 17 regular season games. Catcher Greg (Luki) Lukoski was the field general behind the plate who anchored this dynamic pitching duo.

A solid Beat defense featured a highlight reel of diving catches by Jacq and Jacque Wilson and rookie sensation Mondo in the outfield. Jacq the Rock made perhaps the most spectacular diving catch in Beat history to cut off a Ronin rally in the rubber match between the two teams. Jim (The Thrill) Colletto was solid in left getting in a fair amount of action at tricky Jackson playground. Brian and Mike (Butts) Buttafuso solidified the middle of the infield for the 2nd straight season while Donnell (Big Daddy) Moody and MSG anchored the corners at 1st and 3rd.

Denying the rally was the key to the Beatniks’ latest championship season. Since the opener, when one bad inning against Ronin led to the team’s only loss, the Beat never gave up more than 3 runs in an inning. In the final 7 games, no opponent came close to batting around.

“Teams earned their hits, and this awesome defense kept them from stringing them together,” said Kevin after the finale. “This may be the best defensive team I’ve ever seen on a softball field. In fact, this is the most fun I've ever had in a Beat uniform.”

Strength on defense and speed on the basepaths were keys to the season as the Beat slugging was down by 90 points (.537 after a .628 last season) and runs were scarcer until the final game onslaught.

On the offensive leader board, other than the ubiquitous MSG, Big Daddy led the team in hits with 18 and extra base hits with 3. Mondo had a solid rookie season at the plate with a .600 BA (tied for 2nd with Donnell), led the team in slugging with a .941 mark and was 4th in OBP at .619. Having finally overcome 2 straight seasons of injuries, Jacque Wilson was moved from the #6 to the #2 spot behind leadoff man and twin brother Jacq to form a lightning fast 1-2 punch to spark the Beat attack.

In total, The Beat won 2 tough games against Finnegan’s and Straight out of the Hood, crushed the Rhinos twice and split with Ronin including a thorough 18-7 thrashing in the rematch, which was reminiscent of the way Hammertime had handled the boys in gray when they were upstarts in spring 1999. Once again, in distinguishing itself as the only repeat division champ in C-league this spring, the Beat was in command.

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