by K	STANDING TALL!

The last inning loss to HGA on August 3rd looms heavy. Mid-season standings came out today, and that one bad inning is proving to be the only flaw in what otherwise would be sole possession of first place in C-7. Yet, The BEAT is holding strong to third place in a nine-team division, trailing only HGA (4-0), and Finnegan's Wake (3-0) who they have yet to play and who always prove to be competitive rivals.

The BEAT is on a summer roll and shows little sign of slowing down now. Last week's solid 14-4 victory over Fahey's Flakes (1-3) showcased some brilliant performances and has boosted The BEAT's reputation as an awesome summer team!

Fahey's broke out early when a single was followed by a two-run homer that caught the Rossi jetstream out of left and sailed over right-centerfield. But two was all this team would get until much later, when the game was already a lock.

Kevin Austin led off the bottom of the first for The BEAT with a walk, followed by Mike Buttafuso reaching on an error at first and a sharp single by Frank "Pepe" Green, loading the bases for Greg Lukoski. Lukes came out of the gate fast and never looked back going 4-4 with five RBI's and walking away with the game ball and a hefty .548 batting average. With the ducks on the pond, Lukie lined a three-run triple to put The BEAT ahead, a lead they would never relinquish. Peter Wenner continued his awesome streak with an RBI single, one of his three hits on the day boosting his average to .538. Two batters later, rookie Matt Vaughan started his 3-4 game with an RBI single giving The BEAT a 5-2 lead.

The BEAT's defense behind pitching ace, Dennis O'Brien, then shut the door, allowing no more than four batters in any of the next four innings. At second base, Mark St.Georges posted one assist and five put-outs for six of the first nine outs against the Flakes.

After a flat second of their own, The BEAT came back in the third with two more runs when Pepe lined his second of three singles. Lukoski followed up with a double and Pete put both across with his second hit. The BEAT strung together three more hits but left the bases loaded and had to settle for only two.

With two outs already in the fourth, Donnell Moody came up to hit for St.Georges and drilled a solo blast to right-center boosting his team-leading slugging percentage to an awesome .903. Butts followed with a double and Pepe drove him in to up the score to 9-2. Lukoski and Wenner hit back to back singles, but for the second inning in a row, The BEAT left the bases loaded.

The BEAT went down quickly in the fifth and Fahey's tried to take advantage of The BEAT's ten stranded runners through just five innings. The Flakes struck quickly in the sixth with three singles and a sacrifice fly. One out, two runs in and a runner at second. But the next single broke their Flakey backs when rookie Mike "Pizza Man" Weiss scooped up the ball in left and rifled a bullet to Pepe at the plate who had enough time to juggle the ball and still make the tag for out #2. A quick 6-3 to retire the side and The BEAT was ready for one last rally.

After extending his current hitting streak to 14 games with a single in the second, Austin eeked out his second lead-off walk. 'D' Moody reached on an error, then Fahey's posted two quick outs. But who's up next? The man of the day, Lukiman, who answered back with a two-run single. Pete reached by way of an error on the second baseman, and Mike Laffey capped off a 2-4 game with an RBI single scoring Lukes from second. Pizza Man finished the scoring and a 4-4 game at the plate with a single and two RBIs giving The BEAT a 14-4 victory and Weiss a .750 average after his first four games. But the heart of the order posted the real numbers in this one as Green, Lukoski, and Wenner went 10-12 while bringing across seven runs and nine RBIs in the 4-5-6 spots. These guys are on FIRE!

The BEAT is back at Jackson next week, August 24, to face the 0-2 Tornados before taking a week off for Labor Day. The return is where The BEAT come face to face with their destiny, playing two of their last three games against Finnegan's Wake and Connecticut Yankee, the teams immediately in front and behind them in the current standings. Those two teams and game seven opponents, Cool Dudes, were responsible for three of The BEAT's spring losses, whipping the home boys with a combined score of 61-10.

But this season is payback for The BEAT. So far they've done it to Pat O'Shea's and Bravo Pizza, and came one faulty inning short of putting away HGA as well. This team is steam-rolling! So anyone in their way had better trade in their bats and gloves for running shoes!

View The BEAT's 1996 Batting Statistics

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On The BEAT News Archive