It was a warm, calm day at Jackson #2 as the Beat faced off against Ronin for the twelfth time in just over five years. The Beat handed Ronin a serious blow last summer with a 22-1 mercy ruling but traditionally these two teams have played each other very close. In fact, with the Beat loss today these teams are now 6-6 in the series with four games decided by only one run.

There would be no mercy ruling today as Ronin pitcher Art Eller held the Beat to 5 runs on only 10 hits while the Ronin defense played tight 1-error ball. In contrast, the Beat played a sloppy first committing four errors before kicking it into gear to turn in a season's worth of web gems in an effort to make up for their quiet bats. But as we've said before, you can't expect to win a game in 'C' with only 5 runs; against Eller on this day, that's all the Beat would get. 

Jacq Wilson (2-3, 2 doubles, run) led off the Beat first with a hustle double but Eller quickly retired the 2-3-4 batters and the Beat would take the field without the momentum of a first inning lead. The Beat defense came out as flat as the offense and Beat pitcher Special K struggled to get the elevation required to tackle a hard hitting club like Ronin. Ronin parlayed 5 hits and 4 Beat errors into a quick 4-0 lead in the first. Ronin had the bases jacked with two outs and were looking to bury the Beat early when Leong popped to Jacq in right center to end the threat and hold the score at 4-0.

The Beat got a couple back in the second; Big Daddy (3-3, run) led off with a single, Rob Riggs (0-2, run, BB) walked and Brian Greenblatt (1-3) drove a liner to right center loading the bases. Two infield flies all but ripped the heart out of a nice rally but Brett Goldstein (2-3, 2RBI) came through with a clutch 2-run single to put the Beat on the board. The first of many comebackers to Eller ended the Beat half of the inning at 4-2 with the Beat stranding two. Berline opened the bottom of the second for Ronin with a sharp grounder up the middle. It was right about here that the Beat defense kicked it into high gear. Leadoff hitter Van Sychk drove a liner into the gap just left of center. Brian "White Lightning" Greenblatt made the play of the day racing over to make a shoestring catch of what was sure to be extra bases and the start of another Ronin rally. Next up, number two hitter Watkins drove a liner just right of center that looked like it would roll to the fence for a two-run knock. Not to be outdone, Jacq came flying out of nowhere to make an all-out, horizontal diving catch; if you've seen the previews of Will Smith in Hancock you've got an idea what Jacq looked like as he upped the ante for today's play of the day. Either of those hits could have put the Beat in a deep hole early; however with Berline still stranded on first, Kev broke out the knuckler and Eller grounded out to Gunnar (0-2, run) at second to end the inning and give the Beat a huge boost heading back to the dugout.

Eller was holding strong and set the Beat down in order in the top of the third. Following a leadoff groundout to second, Jacq and Kev both rifled 2-out liners back to Eller who shut down the middle of the infield to the Beat offense. Ronin went down quickly in the bottom of the third with just a line single by Joe Tang. With two infield outs and Tang still on first, Kev went 2-2 on Rupright then dropped a backdoor knuckler on the outside corner for strike three, inning over.

Leading off the fourth, the heart of the Beat's order went down quickly on three outfield flies with only D's single to break up a streak of seven consecutive outs by Eller. Montcleone and Conlan opened the bottom of the fourth for Ronin with back to back singles and again Ronin was threatening to add to their lead. Leong grounded into a fielder's choice putting runners at the corners with one out. Berline drove another sharp grounder up the middle but Kev knocked this one down. Picking up the all on a pivot, Kev threw behind shortstop Riggs coming across for the force in what looked to be the Beat's 5th error. Rob turned in play of the day #3 reaching back to barehand the ball behind him as he crossed the bag then rifled over to D at first for an inning ending 1-4-3 double play and leaving yet another Ronin baserunner stranded in scoring position. Berline, trying to beat out the throw to first, suffered a severe leg injury when he hit the bag and was removed from the game.

Following yet another comebacker to Eller to open the fifth, Mark St.Georges (1-3, run) and Brett both singled. Ronin's throw from the outfield rolled all the way to the backstop allowing the runners to advance to second and third for Ronin's only error of the game. While it didn't allow a base runner, the error proved huge as Dylan Esson (0-1, SF, RBI) sacrificed Mark in to cut the Ronin lead to 4-3. Gunnar grounded to short to end the Beat fifth taking Beer Beatch honors for the day. Ronin took that run right back in the bottom of the inning. With one down, Watkins drove a knuckler deep over Jacque's (0-3) head in left for a solo shot that Q was still tracking down when Watkins rounded third. Ronin was back up by two, 5-3 after five.

Pete Wenner (0-1, BB) led off the Beat sixth with a walk and Gunnar came in to run. Jacq roped his second double of the day putting runners on second and third with no outs. Special K (1-3, 2 RBI) stepped up and drove a clutch 2-run liner to right tying the game at 5-5. The momentum pendulum appeared to swing back to the Beat's side again and the Beat was back in the game. But Eller again retired the heart of the Beat order, broken only by Donnell's third single of the day. For the fourth time in six innings, Ronin opened their half of the inning with a hit, this one by Weiss. Rupright doubled to put runners at second and third with no outs and Ronin was again threatening with a big inning. Montcleone popped out to Q in left on a tight backspin and with Leong (0-2) on deck, Conlan was given the nod to load the bases with only one out. Leong hit a sharp grounder to Brett at third and Brett turned play of the day #4 smothering the ball, stepping on third then throwing home to MSG who tagged out Weiss to kill another potentially huge Ronin rally. The Beat defense had shut down the Ronin offense allowing only 1 run on 9 hits since one out in the first inning; meanwhile Ronin had left a staggering 11 runners on base and 5 in scoring position in 6 innings.

At 5-5, top of the seventh, the Beat had one last chance to break the tie but went down meekly on three fly balls. That was all Ronin needed. Like sharks in the water, this team is known for their late-inning rallies and they could smell blood. Back to back singles and another monster drive down the third baseline by Watkins were all they needed to plate the winning run and the Beat walked away with a very hard fought loss. I have to say, if we absolutely had to lose a game I'd want to do it this way; a see-saw battle with no more than a 2-run differential for six innings, tied at the top of the seventh, and some of the best, most exciting defensive plays you'll ever see on a softball diamond.

Although the Beat was definitely flashier on defense and turned some huge plays to end Ronin rallies, the four errors in the first created a deficit that took 5 innings to erase. Errors happen in softball and if we only give up 2 runs on errors that’s usually a pretty damn good day. But the bats need to make up the difference and if they don't those two runs become huge in a 6-5 game. The Beat was outhit 17-10 posting a season low .333 team average. But what really puts it in perspective is this: six Beat players wore collars for the game and the three through eight spots were 5 for 17 (.294) with no RBI. Only three players had more than one hit and those were spread through the lineup in the one, five, and nine spots, That we tied it in the 6th and only lost by one run was a miracle made possibly by four incredibly clutch defensive plays turned in by Brian, Jacq, Rob, and Brett. Otherwise, Ronin won every aspect of this game; offense, defense, and pitching.

The team knew this would be a tough division when the league dropped all the marginal teams leaving the cream of C-League in one small division. Huge breakouts so far by Clamhouse and the Onsters added to the mix and the Onsters victory over Clamhouse later in the day turned this very tight division on its head as 4 of the 6 teams are now tied for first at 3-2 while only the reigning city champs Flor de Cana are out of the race at 1-4.   

With the season now half over, the Beat loss concludes the team's 5-game roadie at 3-2; the Beat will play host and own the hammer for the remaining 5 games. Next up, The Beat hosts the Onsters on May 3rd at 1:45pm on Jackson 2 to see which team will remain at the top of the standings..

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