In what once looked to be  the most difficult division the Beat had ever played in, the boys in gray stepped up for the challenge and as effortlessly as Bryan Williams turning a play at short, the Beat smacked down this division with a game to spare then accentuated it with a solid 14-8 victory over wildcard hopeful Ronin. The Beat finished the spring 8-2 with the two losses by only one run scored in the bottom of the 7th in each. Along the way, the team outscored its opposition 125-94. The victory extends the team's current win streak to five games dating back to April.

Since the boys clinched the division a week early, we came into this, the first game in years that was meaningless to the team's standings, looking for three things: 1) Momentum into the playoffs; important as the team has a layoff for round 1 next week; 2) Revenge for the Beat's 6-5 loss to Ronin on April 26th (the only time the Beat was held to single digits all year); and 3) spoilers to blow Ronin out of a 3-way tie for the wildcard. The team accomplished all 3 in a business-like fashion as they have all year. If someone has a bad game, one of his brothers will pick him up, and that's why so many game balls have gone back into the bag this year. That says a lot. No superstars; just a softball machine that goes out there and gets it done week after week.

It was unusually calm with a high sky at Jackson 1 as the Beat took the field at 10am. Special K tried to steal a flat strike to leadoff hitter Syckle to open the game but Syckle turned on it driving it well over Tim Smith's head in left for a lead-off 4-bagger. So it's going to be one of "those" games; tip your cap and get back into position. Ronin managed a couple more baserunners on a single and a grounder to third that Rob "Riggs" Villegas just couldn't get a handle on. But with two on, Kev made a tough basket catch on a high pop foul and Bryan chased down a fly to shallow left with an over-the-head catch to end the threat at 1-0.

The Beat, averaging more than 4 runs in first innings this season, got down to business. Kev (1-2, run, 2 RBI, BB, SF) drew a 1-out walk and Jacque (2-4, HR, run, 2 RBI) roped a liner to deep left-center (how many times have I said that over the years) for his third homer of the year and as quickly as you can say "That's a nice tutu Jethro" the Beat was up 2-1. Q has been on fire the last five games and as Pete simply put it, "those swings are just electric." Tim (2-4, 2 runs) started the rally up again with a single that glanced off the pitcher's glove into no-man's land, Jim Colletto (2-3, 2B, 3B, RBI, 3 runs) walked, and Williams (1-2, run, RBI, SF) singled to load the bases. Brian Greenblatt (1-3, 2B, run, 2 RBI) roped a clean double to right center that cleared the bases when the fielder kicked it and Brian waltzed into third. Brian was left stranded but the Beat headed confidently into the 2nd with a 5-1 lead. Ronin went down quietly with only one hit and the Beat proceeded to add to their lead.

Horseshoe walk-on Bill "Don't Call Me Ted" Nugent (2-3, 2 runs) singled in his first Beat at bat and Pete reached on an error when the shortstop was pulled off the bag at 2nd on what should have been an easy force. Jacq (1-4, 2B, RBI) hustled out a bloop double scoring Bill and Kev sacrificed to left scoring Gunnar (1-3, run, RBI) running for Pete. The Beat entered the 3rd up 7-1 and feeling pretty good, but this was Ronin and the top of their powerhouse order was leading off. With one down, James roped a ball to center that Q went gracefully horizontal for but the ball popped out of his glove on impact. Pitcher Art Eller followed that with a Q-like liner splitting the gap in left center for two quick runs. Joe Tang, resplendent in an orange Hawaiian Tropic surfer dude wig doubled. Then Ronin strung together two singles and two dropped balls in left for 3 more runs before a couple popups ended the inning. As they always seem to do, Ronin had snuck back into the game with a 5-run 3rd now trailing only 7-6.

Working without the typical Jackson wind, Kev mixed high knucklers and lots of backspin to get two quick grounders to Bryan at short to start the 5th. Watkins scorched a comebacker off K to reach, but a popup to Q in left center set the side down.

The Beat tacked on a couple runs in the 5th with a leadoff single by Tim and an RBI triple by Big Jim. Williams sacrificed Jim in to give the Beat a little 12-8 cushion before Gunnar grabbed Beer Beatch honors grounding back to the pitcher for the second time in the game (extra super demerits for doing this twice after pre-game warnings not to hit to pitcher Eller--I think we're talking tequila shots here).

Syckle again led off in the 6th and Bryan smoothly turned his fifth 6-3 of the game. James lined back to the mound, but Eller followed with a 2-out double. With first base open, Tang was given the 4-finger salute (a play that has returned excellent results for the Beat this spring) and Bailey played right into K's hands popping a backspin to Nugent at second to end the inning.

Bill led off the bottom of the 6th with a single. Big Daddy, coming off the bench after a couple weeks sidelined with a separated shoulder, pinch hit for Pete and golfed an opposite field fly into the gentle wind that was just starting up in right. The drive was dropped on an over-the-shoulder attempt by the right center fielder for a 2-base error. Kev and Q capitalized on the mistake with singles to drive in two and put the Beat up 14-8; you could hear the air go out of Ronin's balloon. Ronin managed two baserunners in the 7th but three popups ended the game with the Beat on top again 14-8.

The Beat scored 14 runs on only 15 hits but made the best of every opportunity stranding only six. Ronin managed 13 hits but was held scoreless with only three hits over the last three innings. In a telling stat, the Beat finished the season allowing an average of just over 2 runs per game after the 4th inning. Nobody can say that the Beat doesn't have closing power. To wit, Ronin stranded 11 including 5 left in scoring position.

Big Jim paced the Beat offense with a double, triple, walk, and an RBI. Bryan Williams paced the defense with 5 assists and 3 put outs. The Beat had 7 batters hit .500 or better and 8 batters drove in runs in a classic "team win." The fact that the team went 8-2 decisively after the loss of last year's MVP and 40 RBI man Mondo Lopez and shortstop Derek Rey, could not have been as easy if the Beat didn't have a magic Horseshoe in its back pocket all season.

Next stop, the playoffs. The Beat is still awaiting word on its opponent; as of this writing the idle Bloom Brothers sat precariously atop C4 with a 7-1 record as the Swing Kids played their final regular season game on Thursday night. The bracket is posted on the schedule page and will hopefully be updated regularly.

Who's Hot?
Wrapping up the spring regular season, Tim Smith led the team batting (.577), slugging (1.115), OPS (1.731), extra base hits (6) and runs scored (16) and he still thinks he should be hitting better. Pete showed his patience drawing a team-high 4 walks in 20 appearances and leads the team with a .700 OBP. Pete's having a great season and was leading the team with a .643 average heading into the finale. Jacque is pulling away in the RBI board with 18, 50% more than the 2 spot, and he leads the team with 29 total runs. Kev leads the hits category with 16 (and what does that say that Q has more RBI than anyone on the team has hits? Fantastic!). Kev is hitting .647 with 7 RBI and a 1.773 OPS over the last 5 games. Big Daddy was on fire going 11-15 (.733) with 7 ribbies over his last 4 games before separating his shoulder. We're looking forward to having his bat back for the playoffs. Big Jim has also returned to pre-2007 form holding the 2 spot in average, slugging, and OBP. Over his last 5 games Jim is hitting .647 with 8 RBI and a 1.781 OPS.   

Late Breaking News
Monte Carlo lost to Flor in the late game to hand the wildcard spot to Old Clamhouse. The Clams go against the loser of Tuesday's divisional playoff between the Heads and More Cowbell for the right to go against Horseshoe next week. Bloom's Brothers plays Swing Kids Wednesday with the loser facing Judge Smails next Wednesday and the winner facing the Beat next Friday. 

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