by Kev

Beat Step it Up for Playoff Opener! The Boys Mercy Rule Toronado 20-4; Advance to Elite Eight

Last Thursday night the Beat came out flat and handed the C5 division title to their arch rivals Flor de Cana; there is nothing quite like a slap in the face to remind a team what it means to be a team and what it takes to win a big game. However, having secured the wildcard spot, the Beat took the mulligan and learned their lesson. There are no bottom feeders in the playoffs; this is the cream of the crop and we’re playing on their turf…weeknights under the lights. To advance in the playoffs you have to kick it into a different gear because it's single elimination from here on out.

Beat veteran and founder Denny O’Brien sent some magic words for the team to chew on over the days leading up to Monday’s playoff opener: “Every player is involved in every play. Stay focused. Find a way to help your teammates. When you play at your personal best you and the team create something that makes the gods of baseball cry in heaven.”

The Beat heeded these sage words and clearly came out with a new mindset for this one. Pete rallied the troops with a few sage words of his own before the game then opened the floor; every one that wanted to say something had an opportunity to chime in: “back up your teammates,” “take advantage of their mistakes,” “leave it all on the field,” and that’s exactly what the Beat did. The defense played harder, the baserunners were more aggressive, the coaches charted the batters, and the offense, though they started off struggling, never gave up and kicked it into a higher gear each inning.

The opponent du jour? Toronado, having just won the C-4 division wildcard qualifier against Bloom’s Brothers in the 7pm game.

Toronado won the toss and the Beat went about trying to stake an early lead. It started quietly as Jacq (3-3, 3 runs, BB) drew a leadoff walk then Kev (2-4, 2 runs, RBI) and Q (2-4, 3 runs, 4 RBI, 2B, 3B) traded FCs. But with two out, rookie Tim Smith (3-4, 3 runs, 4 RBI, 2Bx2) drove a ball into the dark Jackson night over center field for a 2 run blast to give the Beat a 2 run lead. Toronado battled back with two hits—though D swears he should have had the first one—then pushed them across on outs to tie the score at two apiece.

The Beat managed only two baserunners in the second off errors at short and with two innings behind them, the Beat had batted 10 with only one hit…that hit the big blast by Smith. If this was going to be a defensive game, the Beat needed to hold the bottom of the Toro order. Special K set down the first two on can of corn pop-ups. The next batter hit a shot to short that sideswiped D-Rey, but he and MSG wrapped the inning with a 4-6 fielder's choice on the next batter. After two, still tied at two.

G-Man (2-3, 2 runs, RBI) led off the third with a bloop single and the second time through the lineup the Beat offense started to catch on to the Toro pitcher’s odd drop. Jacq singled and Jacque doubled in Jacq and G to put the Beat up 4-2. Brian (3-4, run, 2 RBI), returning from last week’s injury and hoping to prove that basketball-related contract renegotiation is not warranted, opened a 3 for 4 day with an RBI single to make it 5-2 Beat. Toronado managed two singles in the bottom of the third, but the Beat defense held tight.

The Beat broke it open in the 4th when MSG (0-3, run) led off the inning with his second E6 of the game moving Mark to second on the overthrow. Jim (3-4, 2 runs, 2RBI) singled in Mark then D (1-4, run, RBI, 3B) hit this beautiful deep drive down the first baseline; the only question was “would it stay fair?” It did, and D hustled all the way around to third. The second baseman tried to gun him down which resulted in Toro’s second errant throw of the inning and D walked in to score. D-Rey followed with a single to center that skipped past the fielder and he came all the way around. Toronado was starting to self-destruct having given up 4 quick runs on a single and 3 errors. With one out, the Beat dropped the hammer. Jacq and Kev singled then Jacque drove a ball down the third baseline looking for extra bases. Toro’s left fielder turned in the play of the day with a diving catch at the foul line to rob Q of a 3-run homer. "He looked like Superman," a fellow Beatnik said. Big Tim got Q’s back with a double to score Jacq then the Toronado defense committed yet another error scoring Kev and moving Tim to third. Brian drove in Tim with another RBI single and suddenly the Beat was up 12-2.

By this time Special K was in a groove with four pitches working and Toro mumbling to themselves not to “swing at the junk” (hey man, that’s all I throw). Toronado led off the bottom of the 4th with a single to right center but the next batter hit a sharp comebacker to the mound. Kev lobbed a pass to D-Rey who rifled to D at first for a 1-6-3 double play. Brian caught a can of corn in left center to end the inning 1-2-3. After 4 innings Toro had been held to just 5 singles and the Beat defense had retired 12 of the last 15 without allowing a run.

Entering the 5th, the Toronado manager decided enough was enough so he took the mound himself (he was the winning pitcher in the opening game against Blooms). He didn’t fare quite as well as his teammate did the first time through. The Beat offense was like a pool of sharks smelling blood. Jim Colletto, D-Rey (2-3, 2 runs), Gunnar, Jacq, and Kev all singled driving in three. Q followed with a 2-run triple and Tim followed with an RBI double. Brian, Mondo (2-4, RBI), and JC (again) singled and before you could say “D Moody is the beer beatch” the Beat had dropped an 8-bomb and up’d the score to 20-2. With the bottom of the 5th coming up, all the Beat had to do was close the door for the early mercy rule exit out of the oncoming drizzle.

The first batter drilled a grounder into the whole between first and second. Big Daddy went prone to knock it down and shoveled it to Kev racing over to cover for the first out. The next batter hit a deep drive to right but Jim reeled it in for out number two. The last batter was Toro’s manager in his second at bat…that’s a sign of a great defensive game when you’re looking at closing out the 5th inning on only 20 batters. Kev started him with three quick strikes, but he reached for the 0-2 and blooped it into center to turn over the order for a third time. Boom, boom, boom, three singles and a bobble in left and suddenly the score is cut to 20-4 with runners on second and third. A single would score both and the game would head into the 6th …the blue was even rooting for us to end it at this point. At the plate was Toro’s cleanup. His teammates pleaded with the hitless hacker to take a pitch and he quickly went down 0-1. Strike two was a sharp grounder to short. D-Rey smothered it and rifled to first to put the game in the books. The Beat had notched its first playoff win since June 2003 by 16-run mercy rule.

Beat pitching and defense turned in a banner game holding Toronado to only 9 hits. Eleven of Toro’s 15 outs were turned on the infield with a couple sweet web gems and only one bad-hop error. Outstanding!

The Beat offense slowly worked itself into the game then dropped the hammer with 15 runs in the last two innings to put it away. The 3-4 tandem of Q and Tim turned in quite a game combining for 3 doubles, a triple, a homer and eight RBI! Nine Beat batters had multiple hit games, 10 scored runs, and 8 drove in runs. The ’07 freight train was on a roll again. An all around excellent team effort.

Now that the team knows what it takes to win in the playoffs, they need to keep that level up for a few more games. Right around the corner is the quarterfinal against Bloom’s Kamikazes Thursday the 18th at 7pm on our home field, Jackson #1. Bloom’s finished their division at 5-3 also drawing the wildcard berth, but you can’t look past anyone in the playoffs. Every game becomes harder and more critical than the one before. It requires all-out, 110%, blood in the mud effort. Come on Beat! Let’s make it two in a week!

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