by Kev

BEAT 3-PEAT!!! The Beat wins its 3rd consecutive division title with a decisive 19-9 victory over 2nd place Other Guys; Jacq Wilson named winner of the 2003 Brass Beat Award; Playoffs start Thursday October 9, 7pm at Moscone #1 vs. C3 champ Olympic Club Greys

While the summer 2003 Beat may not have been the dominant force it was in the previous two seasons; nevertheless, the team pulled off the big win when it counted and won their third consecutive division title in the late afternoon swirling dustbowl of Jackson #1.

In a classic match-up, the Beat was set head-to-head against the rival Other Guys for the division championship in the very last regular season C-league game of the year. Both teams had shown sparks of brilliance and fits of self-destruction during the season. Both teams came in tied for first place with 5-2 records, but the Beat led the season series 1-0 with a definitive 19-6 victory on August 23rd and narrowly led the 14-game lifetime series dating back to 1990, 8 games to 5 with 1 tie. More often than not, these teams have played close, low-scoring games. Nine of the 13 decisions came by a margin of 5 runs or less; 4 were decided by a single run. These two teams have always been well matched and have developed a friendly rivalry over many years. However, this is the first time since the Beat’s current 22-3 run dating back to May of 2002 that a regular season game mattered so much. The Beat’s goal as visitors was to come out with 5 runs in the first and try to hold the Other Guys down as long as possible.

With the absence of Manager and driving force Pete Wenner, the team haphazardly pulled it together in time for the opening pitch. Jacq Wilson, a classic in the leadoff spot, drew a opening walk as OGs pitcher struggled to find the season’s smallest strike zone in the 3pm wind. Following a fielder’s choice that forced Wilson at second for the first out, Mark (MSG) St.Georges, Donnell (Big Daddy) Moody, and Jim (The Thrill) Colletto lined back-to-back-to-back singles. Jim’s opposite-field drive to left bounced past the left fielder clearing the bases, and leaving Colletto at third. Jacque Wilson followed with a grounder through third-baseman Wiener plating Colletto, then Armondo (Mondo) Lopez drove a clean triple in the gap to score Wilson. Following another error at third that froze Mondo at the bag, Mark Briscoe grounded an RBI fielder’s choice to plate Mondo for the 6th and final run of the Beat first. The Beat had met its goal and now it was time to shut down on defense.

2003 Summer Standings Team W L PCT Pts GB x The BEAT 6 2 .800 12 – The Other Guys 5 3 .625 10 1 Finnegan's 4 4 .500 8 2 Loose Cannons 3 5 .375 6 3 Solid Smack 2 6 .250 4 4

Kevin (Special K) Austin took the mound having allowed only 6 earned runs over the last 3 meetings with the OGs. Austin induced Other’s manager Ken Summer to pop up to third. Two quick outfield pop ups followed and  the Beat had set them down 1-2-3 in the first and were heading back to the bats.

Three singles mixed with a couple fielder’s choices, and the Beat made the tally 7-0 entering the bottom of the second. Then the Other Guys made their move.

Playing station-to-station small ball and taking advantage of a couple early misplays that seemed innocuous at the time, the Other Guys quickly batted around. By the time the dust settled, the OGs had tied the score at 7 and it was a whole new ballgame.

The Beat played a little small ball of their own in the third, stringing two hits and a walk into the go ahead run on Kev’s RBI single. Following a leadoff single in the bottom of the inning, the OGs were shut down on two comebackers to the mound and a fly to right.

Then the Beat added some much needed insurance in the top of the 4th. Following singles by MSG and D, Jacque tore into a pitch that rode a rope into the teeth of the wind and over the left fielder’s head for one of the most impressive homers of the year for the Beat. That 3-run shot padded the Beat lead to 11-7 and bought the boys in grey some breathing room.

The Other Guys put their rally caps back on with a 2-out rally in the bottom of the 4th. Austin walked the pitcher Dorry Steinberg and it came back to bite. The top of the order strung together 4 consecutive singles to drive in two runs, but the Beat minimized the damage with a fly to Mondo to exit the inning with the bases jacked. Beat 11, Guys 9.

Hammer Time
It seems to be a theme for the team this summer: if they can rally late, they’ll pull away and put it away. Hammer time this week was the pivotal 5th. The Beat followed a leadoff popup, with 3 consecutive singles by Briscoe, Greg (Luki) Lukoski, and Austin for a run. Up came leadoff man Jacq Wilson, devoid of an extra base hit this year and determined to bring an end to that streak on his last regular season at bat. Jacq drilled a 2-run triple to put the Beat up 14-9, but they weren’t done yet. Mike (Butz) Buttafuso plated Jacq on a hard-hit ball that got by first baseman Creary; then MSG and D connected again on back-to-back singles. With Mark on 3rd, Colletto drove a fly to deep left for the sacrifice. With 2 outs, Jacque singled driving in Moody then advanced to third on an errant throw to the plate. Mondo wrapped up the scoring with an RBI single and suddenly the Beat was on the upside of a 19-9 cakewalk. All they had to do was close the door.

Easier said than done. After making it through 6 of 7 games this season with only 1 intentional walk, Austin succumbed to the wind and shrinking strike zone starting the inning with 7 consecutive balls. A fielder’s choice forced the lead runner at second followed by a popup to right center momentarily slowing the Guy’s momentum. Austin gave up a single and another walk before finally inducing a grounder to Butz at second to hold the Guys scoreless with the bases jacked for the second straight inning. Game, set, match!

The Beat shook hands and walked off happy and proud, but wholly aware of the unfinished work ahead of them. Last summer they came one run short of making the finals. In the spring they made the finals only to lose the championship to Joey J’s 18-15. Now coming in with the experience of 4 playoff games over the last year, the Beat hopes to turn the tide and bring home their first City Championship.

MSG and Jacque walked off with co-game balls. Mark went 4-4 and scored 4 runs. Jacque was 2-4 but had the pivotal 3-run blast that pushed the Beat ahead to stay and finished the game with 4 ribbies. Big Daddy also had a big game going 3-4 with 2 RBI, Colletto was 2-3 with 3 RBI, Mondo went 2-4 with a triple and 3 ribbies, and Austin was 2-3 with 2 RBI.

The Brass Beat
The prestigious honor of the Brass Beat was again awarded following the last regular season game of the year. The 2003 Brass Beat award went to Jacq Wilson, bestowed upon him by his brother and 2002 winner Jacque. Jacque felt a little awkward at the choice, not wanting to show favoritism, but Jacq Wilson was truly a deserving winner. In his two and a half years with the Beat, he has taken control of two very difficult positions, right field and leadoff hitter, and made both of them his own.

The challenge of playing right field at Jackson #1 with the strong cross wind and tree-lined fence is one of the most difficult positions in city softball. In 15 years, only BJ Bateman had shown the skill to hold down the fort consistently. But in barely more than 2 years, Jacq Wilson has become possibly the best right fielder to ever play Jackson #1. Built in the new speed-burner right-fielder mold of Juan Encarnacion and Jose Cruz Jr., opposite field bloop singles now die in Jacq’s glove, long balls don’t go over his head unless they go over the fence, and a foul ball is no longer another chance to swing for an unlucky hitter. He doesn’t just make outs, he takes hits away.

As a leadoff hitter, he has shown more consistency in the role than we’ve seen since Special K’s peak in the mid-90’s. He went from an RBI position in the order to the top and learned his new position with a passion. He’s led the team in walks for the past two years and goes first to third without consideration for the base in between. Following a rough spring in which he struggled with a .357 batting average, Jacq bounced back with a vengeance hitting .667 in the summer, a .310 point improvement. He finished the year with a .509 average and .651 on base percentage. Only MSG scored more runs this year.

Congratulations to Jacq, a deserving winner of the 2003 Brass Beat!

Summer Stat Wrap
And what would the last game be without a summer and full season stat wrap. We’ll start with Jacque’s honorable mentions for the Brass Beat Award. Big Jim Colletto (aka Jethro) has been a model of consistency in the years since becoming the Beat’s first Cyber-recruit. Jim set a new team record last year with a 33 game hitting streak (for those of you counting, that’s over 2 years without a collar) and has won 2 batting titles in the last 4 years. A solid outfielder and first baseman, this year Jim merely hit .538 and tied for the team lead in RBIs with 27 while placing on the team leader board in just about every category. Mike Buttafuso also received mention for his exceptional work. Mike returned to the Beat last year after a couple years off and moved into his old spot at second base allowing Brian Arcuri to cross over to short solidifying the middle infield. As the Beat’s best lefty pull hitter, Butz fell right into the second spot in the order and shined. Mike was right behind Jacq with 7 walks and 25 runs scored and finished the year with a solid .574 on base percentage and 13 RBI to boot.

Rounding out the top six, where would we be without MSG, Big Daddy, and the Jet? Mark led the team in hitting for most of the year, and though he struggled through a brief slump in the summer, he finished with a bang going 4-4 with 4 runs in the finale to take his 4th batting title with a .585 average. Mark set a new single season record with an incredible .800 on base percentage and tied the single season record for runs scored with 32 set by John Palmer in 1991 (as well he should, he was on base 48 times this year!) Right behind MSG in the order is Big Daddy Moody. D led the team in hits with 32, tied big Jim with 27 RBI, and placed 2nd in hitting with a .561 average. He also led the team in extra base hits and posted a solid .754 slugging percentage. As for Jacque, he joined the ranks of Brass Beat winners that followed their award year with an even better one. Jacque, like his brother, started slow in the spring but came on strong in the summer batting .667 and finishing the year with a .510 average. Jacque missed the first few summer games recovering from a hairline fracture in his knee suffered in a tournament collision just days before the start of the season. But Jacque couldn’t be kept away and when he came back he just got better. Jacque was on the leader board in just about every category, posted a .796 slugging percentage with a team leading 4 home runs and had 21 RBI, 10 of which came in the last 2 games of the season.

So what about the rook? Armando Lopez displayed range and a solid glove in right-center and brought another power bat to the Beat lineup. Mondo was an awesome choice as the only full time rookie in 2003. He led the team with an outstanding .826 slugging percentage, had 3 triples and 3 home runs, and tied MSG for 4th on the team in RBI with 19.

Brian Arcuri placed 4th on the team in runs scored with 20 and continues to display skill and determination at shortstop with excellent diving grabs and a rifle arm. Greg Lukoski has mastered his position at receiver while continuing to score and drive in runs. Mark Briscoe spent much of the year on the IR but still managed to post 8 ribbies in just 31 at bats while struggling to get his stroke back. But Mark always comes through when it counts and he put the hammer down in the playoffs with an incredible 7-RBI game with a home run and double in the first round earning him the game ball and followed that with 2 more ribbies in the final on just 2 at bats with 2 walks.

And the old-timers? Well, manager Pete Wenner posted another solid season at the plate while managing the team to 2 more division titles. Pete finished with a .565 average that would have placed him second on the team if he hadn’t missed a few weeks recovering from appendicitis which kept him just short of the leader board's required appearances. Special K quietly posted one of his best seasons ever this summer after struggling at the plate for the last couple years. Kev hit .545 for the summer with 10 RBI from the bottom of the order. He also set a team pitching records with a 4.34 era for the spring season, and a streak of 16 consecutive innings without an earned run over 3 games. He had a career high 7 strike outs in the summer and finished the year with a record 4.84 era allowing 32 fewer walks than the Beat drew. OB saw limited duty this year but still managed to pick up a couple saves while hitting .600 at the plate.

So that’s it for the wrap. Stay tuned for playoff news as the Beat heads into the post-season again!

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On The BEAT News Archive

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