Picture yourself trying to play ball on a dirt field in Kansas during a twister and you've got an idea what the conditions were like at Jackson 1 on this nasty day. I've played in this league for 21 years and over 350 games and I've never been pelted by 45mph dirt clouds for 70 minutes like this; I half expected to see Dorothy's house or a cow go flying past. Through it all these teams displayed gutsy and, dare I say, gritty performances combing for 26 runs on 37 hits, four of those line-drive homers hit into the teeth of the pounding wind. In the end The Beat came out on top of a 15-11 nail-biter that put our heroes in a two way tie for first place in this very evenly matched division.

Facing off in the tornado were two veteran hurlers, Monte Carlos' Slick Vic v. The Beat's Special K who throughout the gale force winds combined for only 3 walks while inducing ten infield flies. Before the game Pete advised the team to take pitches as Vic was prone to walk batters, but on this windy, dusty day, Vic was spot on. The Beat led off in the 4th of their record 5 consecutive road games this spring. Jacq Wilson (2-3, 2 runs, SF, RBI) started the game with a fly to right booted by the fielder in what would be the first of many wind-aided hits and errors on the day. Special K (2-4, double, 2 runs) doubled to  left putting runners at second and third. Mark St.Georges (2-4, 2 runs, 2 RBI) singled in Jacq and Jacque Wilson's (0-2, run, BB, SF, RBI) sac fly brought in Kev to make it 2-0 Beat. Tim Smith (3-4, 2 HR, double, 6 RBI!), fresh off a trip to the cages, launched the first pitch he saw for a monster 2-run dinger to straightaway center to give the Beat a 4-0 lead.

Monte Carlo strung toether three singles in the bottom of the inning plating one. With one out, walk-on shortstop Bryan Williams juggled a grounder then threw a seed to first that nailed the runner at first and left the team bug-eyed. First baseman Jim Colletto simply said "That scared the shit out of me!" Bryan is the latest of a number of infielders auditioned by the Beat this spring to fill in for injuries and absences and this guy has a gun like I've never seen on a softball diamond. Brought in from Brett Goldstein's weeknight team, Horseshoe, Brett admitted after the game that Bryan used to pitch for USF. I can see that.

Brett (3-4, HR, run, RBI) led off the Beat second with a line drive solo shot that had Jacque written all over it. The ball passed the outstretched left fielder on a line and just kept going putting the Beat up 5-1. Monte Carlo fought back in the bottom following two quick outs. Kev walked Colbert on a 3-2 knuckler then gave up a first-pitch single to Slick Vic. Carl Thompson Jr. came up and launched a 3-run bomb over left fielder Smith's head to bring MC back into the game; Beat 5, MC 4.

Slick Vic took that momentum and quickly downed the Beat's 3-4-5 hitters in the third. Carl Sr. led off the bottom of the third with a triple, then it was the Beat's turn to struggle with the gale. Two hits and four errors later the Beat was looking at a 7-5 deficit. The Beat's two singles in the top of the fourth netted nothing and Monte Carlo was back for more hacks. MC strung together two singles and a triple to up the score to 9-5 with a runner on third and no outs. Special K bore down with some extra backspin inducing MC's two toughest hitters, Carl Sr. and Vic, into infield flies to Gunnar at second and Jim at first. A grounder to Bryan short ended the threat; now all we had to do was hit!

Gunnar (2-3, double, run) led off the fifth with a pop to right; G broke for second but was out on the tag. Jacq, Kev, and MSG followed with consecutive singles bringing scoring Jacq. Q walked to load the bases and Big Tim the Intimidator drove a ball to right center that rolled to the fence clearing the bases. Just beating the throw at the plate, Tim scored a grand salami and his sixth RBI of the game. Colletto (3-4, run, RBI) singled then moved to second on an outfield error; big Tim came back in to run for Jim. With two down, Brian Greenblatt (2-4, RBI) hit a sharp grounder to short but Tim was winged by the ball off second for the third out. But the Beat had come from four runs down to retake the lead 10-9. Special K induced three pop flies to put MC down quickly and we were heading into the sixth with a one run lead but MC still had the hammer.

The Beat scored some insurance in the sixth on a single by Williams (1-4, run) and a double by G that rolled through the outfield scoring Bryan and moving G to third on the error. Jacq sacrificed G from third and the Beat had extended their lead to 12-9. MC started the bottom of the sixth with a single and a wind-aided error in left. With two on and no one out, leadoff hitter Duran grounded to Bryan at short. B turned the play of the day stepping on second then rifling to first for a clutch double play that killed the MC rally and preserving the Beat's narrow 3-run lead.

Top of the seventh and the Beat's 3-4 hitters go down quickly. Up steps Tim, two homers on the day, and he bloops a can-of-corn pop just behind first base but on this rather blustery day the ball dropped between all fielders and Tim sauntered into second while John (the blue) and Mike (MC's catcher) cackled at the irony (when things are going good...a can of corn looks like a solid double in the book). Colletto (3-4, run, RBI) singled in Tim from second and Big Daddy (2-4, triple, run, RBI), who has often struggled against Slick Vic, drove a liner to right that rolled all the way to the fence for a stand-up triple. Brian G. drove in D to bring the score to 15-9 and the Beat had finally shown some of that 2-out lightning that won game two against Flor de Cana.

Bottom of the seventh, Big Carl popped up to second to start the inning. Third baseman Vic and catcher Mike singled putting two on then with two outs Anderson grounded what looked like the game ender to Bryan at short. Bryan bobbled then unleashed that cannon right over first into no man's land as two runs crossed on the overthrow. With Anderson at second but still a comfortable 4-run lead and two out, Special K got ahead of Mitch and some backspin sealed the deal with a pop to left to end the game.

Big Tim scored the game ball in his first game of the spring with an outstanding 3 for 4, 2 homer, 6-RBI performance. He also scored beer bitch honors by getting in the way of Lightning's sharp grounder to end the fifth. There were a number of clutch plays and clutch performances that turned this game on offense and defense. The Beat came through with 22 hits, outslugging MC with 3 homers, 3 doubles and a triple while stranding only six. Monte Carlo had 15 hits but stranded ten, five in scoring position.

This game was a perfect example of how close this division is. Two games separate first from last. Perennial bottom dwellers Old Clamhouse are in the driver's seat with a 3-1 record and wins against the Beat and Flor de Cana. The reigning city champs Flor are 1-3. With six games left this is still anyone's division. Next up, the end of the Beat road trip with the season's last away game against Ronin. Following that the Beat will have the hammer for the last five games and another shot at every team.

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