Ronin 15, The Beat 11
It's become frightfully clear that the lack of a spring training and the unusually high absenteeism that has made the Beat infield look like a game of musical chairs this spring are starting to take their toll on the boys. The Beat has now matched one of it's worst starts in recent memory. Spring 2002 was the only other season since 1992 to see the Beat start 1-3...until now. The good news is, the toughest part of the schedule is past us. The Beat has already played 2 undefeated teams plus the only team that has never lost to the boys in gray. The 4 teams remaining in the season are a combined 2-11.

However, the way the team has been playing, there are no sure things.

For the third week in a row, the Beat lost a game they easily could have won. They out hit Ronin 17-13, but Ronin walked away with an easy victory on the back of 7 Beat errors that led to 12 unearned runs. 

The game started out nicely with Ronin's first two batters going down quickly. But an infield error that would have ended the inning was parlayed into 3 quick runs. The Beat strung together a walk and 3 hits scoring 2 on RBI singles by D Moody (1-2, SF, 2RBI) and Brian Greenblatt (2-3, RBI) but left runners on the corners.

Ronin went down with just a single in the second and the Beat tied the score in the bottom when Derek Rey (0-3, run) drilled a grounder through the 3rd baseman's legs. Derek advanced to second on an error by the second baseman and scored on a single by Mark Briscoe (2-3, 2 runs, RBI). Briscoe wound up at third on another error but with only one out was stranded there. 

Then with the score tied at three, the hubcaps fell off. The Beat committed 4 errors (2 infield and 2 outfield) and allowed 2 walks handing Ronin 7 unearned runs and 9 total in the inning. When the dust settled, Ronin was suddenly up 12-3.

The Beat managed to answer back with 3 when a walk and 2 singles loaded the bases. Moody sacrificed the first run across for his second ribbie of the day. Jacque Wilson (2-3, 2 RBI) singled driving in 2 more.

Up 12-6 in the fourth, Ronin tacked on 2 more insurance runs on 2 hits, a walk, and then another infield error but a third run was avoided when a Ronin runner at third broke for home on a comebacker to the mound and was easily gunned down at the plate. The Beat scraped back for 3 more on singles by Gunnar Rosenquist (1-3, run) and Greg Lukoski (1-3, 2 runs). Pete Wenner (1-2, BB) walked. With the bases loaded and 2 outs Kevin Austin (1-3, run, 2B, BB, 2RBI) scorched a double down the first base line to drive in 2. Jim Colletto (3-4, 2 runs, RBI) added an RBI single to make it 14-9 before the inning ended.

Ronin finally went down 1-2-3 in the fifth. With 1 out, Ronin's cleanup hitter, Eller, drilled a curving liner to right center when Jacq Wilson (2-3, 2runs, RBI, BB) went horizontal for an outstanding catch to take away extra bases. The Beat managed a couple hits in the fifth, but for the second week in a row the fifth inning ended on a double play (that's beer and Tequila Mr. R!)

Ronin tacked on 1 more in the 6th on yet another error to make it 15-9. But the chance of a last rally was quashed by Jacque Wilson, matching his brother with another awesome diving catch to end the inning. The Beat made a last ditch effort with singles by Briscoe, Wenner, and Jacq. A Ronin error made it 15-11 but that would be the final.

In every one of the 6 innings the Beat stranded runners in scoring position. Three times a runner was left on third base. The Beat has now committed 19 errors in only 4 games, more than doubling that given up by our opponents. That's pretty much the key to the season on both sides of the ball.

With a few less errors, a few less walks, a few more clutch hits, this is a team that could easily be 4-0. But we're not...so the best we can do is run the table the rest of the way and hope a 5-3 finish is enough.