by K	NO LEAD IS SAFE! The Comeback Kids Do It Again

Just prior to gametime, a Buckethead wandered over to The BEAT bench and said "I understand no lead is safe with you guys." The BEAT is gaining a reputation and they backed it up again on Saturday, fighting their way from a 4-0 deficit to defeat the Mushy Bucketheads 5-4.

The weather was perfect for a morning game in the City. Cool, overcast, and just a hint of the incessant wind that blows in from left field at Jackson #1. This is The BEAT's defense field, the field where fly balls go to die and where the best right-handed pull hitters ground out to second trying to take the ball to right field. Coincidentally, The BEAT has always emphasized defense and the team's offense (except for the summer of '95) has always been streaky at best. Such is the saga of this summer.

The Bucketheads led off game five with O.B. on the mound for The BEAT. Right off the bat, the first two "heads", Wright and Vermer, hit singles up the middle. A fly ball advanced Wright to third. A deep fly to Jeff Ricketts in left sacrificed in the first run of the game. Another quick single and the Bucketheads were up 2-0 entering the bottom of the first.

The BEAT's top two didn't fair quite as well as Mushy's today as both Kevin Austin and Mark St.Georges combined for an 0 for 6 outing putting the burden on the middle of the line-up. Mike Buttafuso answered the call with a 2-out double. An error by the shortstop on a sharply hit ball by 'D' Moody advanced Butts to third. But The BEAT couldn't make up for the first two outs and went down scoreless.

O.B. struggled with the rookie ump in the top of the second and walked the first batter, Mosites. Jacques followed with a fly to Greg DeMaestri in center. DeMaestri parked under the ball but lost it as the sun broke through the clouds. With runners at first and second, the next batter hit another ball to Greg in short center. DeMaestri raced in and as he slid into the catch, the ball popped out of his glove. The runners, frozen on the shallow fly, were hung out to dry as DeMaestri railed the ball to Mike Laffey at third to pick off the lead runner. Laffey had enough time to snap the ball to MSG at second for the double play. The BEAT had dodged a HUGE bullet and now had just one runner at first to deal with and two outs. Unfortunately, this was far to easy for the softball gods of Summer '97. O.B. issued his second walk and back to back singles quickly put Mushy ahead 4-0.

The BEAT bounced back with two quick runs on singles by Pete Wenner and Laffey. Peter sprinted around to third on Laffey's hit and when the throw followed him, Laffey sauntered into second standing up. Wenner scored on an error by the third baseman and Laffey scored next on a fielder's choice by B.J. Bateman. The BEAT had fought back 4-2.

O.B. led off the third inning defense in awesome fashion with consecutive strikeouts. The Bucketheads managed only a quiet single before their half of the inning was over. But in the bottom of the third, The BEAT played it one worse going down 1-2-3.

The "heads" sent only four batters to the plate again in the fourth before The BEAT started to battle back. Butts led off the bottom of the inning with a single followed by another from Moody that sent Butts skating to third. Greg DeMaestri sacrificed to left and The BEAT had cut the lead to 4-3.

Mushy pulled out two hits in the fifth, but The BEAT infield clamped down as St.Georges and Austin traded assists and putouts for two quick outs. A fly ball to Mike Weiss left two "heads" baserunners stranded.

The BEAT came back again as Rocks drilled a sharp grounder down the third baseline. With two outs, Bateman and Wilf Spoon drilled consecutive singles. Rocks scored and Wilf picked up the tying RBI. The game was locked at 4-4.

The Bucketheads opened the sixth with two singles and once again the game was on the line. A grounder in the hole made for an easy force by shortstop Austin to Laffey covering third. The next batter grounded up the middle forcing Austin to flip the ball to MSG at second and giving the "heads" runners at the corners. The next batter also grounded up the middle, but St.Georges picked it up and took it himself to end the threat. Once again, The BEAT had bailed out of a no-out situation with a runner in scoring position and the momentum was beginning to shift.

Butts came back again with two outs in the bottom of the inning and drilled his third hit of the game. 'D' Moody scorched a double but the speedy Butts was held at third. DeMaestri sunk the nail with a single that scored Butts for the go ahead run. As Butts came in collecting his high fives he asked "That's it, right?" Alas, the Mushy Bucketheads would have one last chance.

Following an infield pop-up, the "heads" strung together two singles and here we are back at nail biting time again. Runners at first and second, one out. A single ties the game. An extra basehit would put Mushy ahead with the quickfooted Wright on first. O.B. induced a pop to right for the second out. With the "heads" number three batter at the plate and the runners going, O.B. got one last pop-up to Bateman in right field to close out another gut-wrenching game.

In four of The BEAT's five games this summer, the opponent has had the tying or go ahead run in scoring position in their last at bat and The BEAT defense has held. On offense, a team that is struggling overall at the plate with a pitiful .390 team average has managed to score just enough runs to win with a new hero stepping up every week. There were many clutch hits and great plays to go around, but when the dust settled, the game ball went to Mike Buttafuso for going 3-3 with a double and two runs scored, excellent hustle on the basepaths and a rock at first base. Peter Wenner now takes over as The BEAT's current hitting streak leader at 12 games as Austin went down without a hit for the first time since July 29, 1995 ending his team record hit streak at 30 games.

The BEAT now stands proudly at 4-0-1. With Cool Dudes 16-2 humiliation of HGA today, last week's opponent now stands securely in second with a 3-1 record. The BEAT's destiny is in their own hands, but they must win the remaining three games or hope that someone hands the Dudes their second loss for insurance. The road to the championship still must go through HGA on September 20th. But up next is the fast and furoius TMJ on September 6th.

View The BEAT's 1997 Final Batting Statistics

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