The Beat continued their 20th Anniversary victory tour on a warm and relatively windless Jackson 1 day with a tight 11-7 victory over the Onsters and for the second game in a row the Beat defense was the shining star. The victory, followed by a close 8-7 Monte Carlo upset over perennial division champs Flor de Cana, puts the Beat in sole possession of first place as the only undefeated team in this 9-team division.

This was the first meeting of the two teams and the Onsters, an upstart promoted from DD in the spring, put on a prototypical performance of Asian ball with good hitters top to bottom, speed on the bases, and a handful of guys with some serious pop. The Beat entered the game on the heel's of a 22-1 trouncing of Ronin last week (who, by the way, defeated the SF Ballers in similar fashion today) and expected to put some damage on the upstarts.

Special K was on the mound and fed the competition a steady diet of knucklers and backspin to start the game with two quick outs. The next two batters, J. Hsu and M. Hsu, singled putting runners on the corners. Talk about a boy named Hsu...this team has four! "I was amused with all the Hsus," Pete said, "It made it easier to write out the lineup." Kuo popped to Brian in right center ending the inning and stranding two Hsu.

The Beat took their first licks looking to repeat last week's success but against pitcher Green's high hanging arc they looked anxious and off balance. Jacq Wilson (2-3, double, 2 runs) reached on an error by shortstop Hsu but a fielder's choice and two quick flies ended the Beat first without a hit.

Miyamoto led off the second with a shot into the hole between short and third. D-Rey turned in the first web gem of the day with a diving stab and rifle throw that nailed the runner by half a step. Drey is displaying some sparkle from short this summer and plugging that left side will be key to a successful Beat pennant run. A strikeout and comebacker set down the side in order.

The Beat finally found their hitting shoes in the bottom of the second as Tim Smith (2-3, run) singled sharply up the middle. Two quick fielder's choices made it look to be a long, hard day on offense for the Beat, however an overthrow by second baseman Hsu on Jim Colletto's FC put the Thrill on second. Mondo (1-3, run) took advantage with an RBI single to put the Beat on the board 1-0. Austin added some 2-out lightning with a double down the first baseline. A kick by the right fielder (Hsu?) and an overthrow by Mitsu at second on the relay plated both runs putting the Beat up 3-0 after two.   

The Onsters bounced backly loudly in the top of the third with a 2-out rally of their own. With Hsu's on first and second, Hsu drove an outside pitch over Jacque's head in center for a 3-run bomb to tie the game at 3 all.

As the Beat reached the dugout Brian pronounced "that's okay, we're going to score four right now." Pete led off the inning with Green's only walk of the game. Jacq and Mike (1-3, run, RBI) singled scoring Gunnar who was running for Pete. Jacque (2-3, HR, 2 runs, 4 RBI) followed with a 2-run double and Tim reached on shortstop Hsu's third error driving in Q. Brian (1-3) singled moving Tim over to third and JC's FC pushed him across putting the Beat up 8-3 after three. Kuo led off the fourth with a deep triple in the gap and Miyamoto singled him in making it 8-4.

The Wilson brothers took matters in their own hands (and legs) to provide some much needed insurance in the bottom of the fifth. With one out, Jacq legged a single into a double beating a wide throw from left. Then with two out, Jacque drove a deep fly into left and was off to the races. The relay from Hsu was on the money but catcher Hsu couldn't hold on as Q slid in safely for a 2-out, 2-run dinger. "That homer just took off," said G-man. "You could see it sailing on the backspin, right over the LFer. Beauty." Big Daddy (1-3) and Tim followed with back to back singles but a grounder to first ended the inning with the Beat now up 10-4.

With a 6-run lead entering the 6th, Special K began to struggle with his control walking leadoff hitter Kuo. Three quick singles and a sac fly to Mike in left quickly cut the margin to 10-7. Then with two outs and a runner in scoring position, Green drove a liner to right that looked to extend the damage but Jacq raced into to grab the ball at his knees ending the threat and the inning.

The Beat got one run back in the bottom of the sixth when Austin drove a 2-out triple over the right fielder. A drop of D-Rey's pop to shallow right made it 11-7 Beat.

Top of seven; the Onsters had one last chance. Hsu led off with a single but was forced at second on a grounder by Hsu. One down and Hsu on first, Hsu drove a ball into deep left center that had trouble written all over it (are you following me here?). Mike raced back and made a reaching snow cone catch saving a potential 2-run homer. That catch seemed to break the O's backs and they went out quietly to end the game.  

The final of 11-7 was closer than the Beat would have liked. The Hsu brothers out hit the Beat 13-12 but in the end defense was what won and lost the game and for the second week in a row the Beat played sparkling defense. The Onsters are a team that is clearly capable of putting together a big inning on offense, but the Beat kept them in check never allowing more than 3 runs in a frame. The only Beat error was a dropped foul by D in the fifth; Big Daddy redeemed himself on the next pitch with an inning-ending 3-unassisted. The Onsters, on the other hand, committed seven errors which the boys in gray converted into five unearned runs.

The game ball went to Jacque for an outstanding day at the plate with a homer and four RBI. Play of the day is a coin toss between Mike's snow cone catch in the seventh and Drey's diving stab and assist in the top of the second. Beer bitch goes to White Lightning for grounding out with two on to end the fifth.

After the game all the guys shook hands and sent warm wishes with Mike Licari who is heading back down to San Diego to continue law school. Mike was brought in by Tim Smith for the last spring game and is hitting .700 with a 1.100 slugging percentage in his three league games for the Beat. We hope to see more of Mike next year (that's if Pete doesn't have him flown up earlier for the Flor de Cana game in three weeks, or possibly the playoffs).

The Beat now takes a week off to rest and let D-Rey heal that nasty, shredded knee of his. But next up comes the hardest part of the schedule, back to back games against the Ballers and Flor de Cana. These are the games that will separate the men from the boys.