by K	EXCITEMENT TO BEAT THE BAND

In the words of O.B., "There's no better way to get over a loss than with a win!" The BEAT did just that, breaking their two game skid with a 12-11 victory over Band that really was not as close as the score would imply. Were it not for a five run, sixth inning Band rally with time running out just to make it interesting, the boys in gray would have won handily. But comeback or not, the BEAT still brought their record back to a respectable .500 and at 2-2 are now wrapped up in a three way tie for third place with Band and Hammertime, half a game back of Granada at 2-1-1, but well behind division leaders, Cool Dudes, riding high at 5-0.

The traditional gales blew in from left at Jackson 1 leading one to believe that this would be another low scoring game. O.B. started the game off in true fashion by striking out Band's leadoff batter. Coming just days after Cub's Kerry Wood threw a record 20 strikeouts against the Astros, O.B. proclaimed before the game, "I'm going for a softball record 21!" One down, twenty to go. Denny induced a pop-up for out number two ending his streak at one. Losing his bid for a no-hitter to a line single, the boys picked him up with a quick force at second to end the inning with only four batters. A nice start, nonetheless.

Kevin Austin led off The BEAT's side of the inning with a walk, the first of six in the game thanks to the Jackson wind. Mark St.Georges followed with a single and Chris Young lined a single to open his game-ball day, scoring Austin from second. Young didn't get much work in left field with the wind behind him, but made up for it with his bat finishing the day three for three with a double and four of the teams 11 RBI's. But with only one run in the books, The BEAT fell back on old times racking up three consecutive outs to end the inning with runners on second and third.

With two outs in the top of the second, O.B. walked his first, and that was followed by a triple to right to tie the game. Denny struggled with the wind walking his second of the inning before Band drilled a knuckling liner to 'D' Moody at third to end the threat with the game tied at one.

The BEAT struck hard in the second with leadoff back to back singles by B.J. Bateman and Mike Weiss. Pete Wenner followed with a walk to load the bases. Mike Laffey forced Wenner at second but picked up his first of three ribbies on the game and now leads the team with nine RBIs in four games. Devin Fletcher drilled a line single to bring home Weiss then Denny O'Brien squibbed a dribbler in front of the plate to reload the bases for the top of the order. Austin lined a grounder through the pitcher for an infield single, scoring Laffey. MSG deflected another shot off the pitcher scoring Fletcher. Young drilled another single, scoring O.B. and suddenly The BEAT was up 6-1, bases loaded, one out and number four man, Donnell "The Enforcer" Moody coming to bat. 'D' stroked a liner so hard that it was in the third baseman's glove before he knew it had been hit. With two outs, Mike Buttafuso stepped up and hit a deep fly to right center, but the fielder camped under it for the last out. The BEAT had picked up a quick five, but typical of the last few games, squandered a HUGE opportunity for more, leaving the bases loaded yet again.

Band went down quickly in the top of the third, starting with a pop-up to shallow left that blew almost all the way back to the pitcher's mound before shortstop Austin made the catch. They put a runner on first with a single, but the next batter grounded a sharp ball up the middle that was bobbled twice by #6 before back-handing the ball to MSG at second for a rare 6-6-6-4 force. Austin then made a lunging grab of a liner up the middle to retire the side, and The BEAT was back to take some more hacks.

Following a quick grounder to second, Bateman, Weiss and Wenner combined for back to back to back singles loading the bases for RBI leader Mike Laffey. Laffey grounded into a fielder's choice, but managed to get the run across to put The BEAT up 7-1. Again, The BEAT left the inning with two runners on.

Band started the fourth strong with a single and a triple to add a run. Switzer hit an opposite field sacrifice that took Jeff Ricketts all the way to the fence in right for another run. Two infield grounders ended the inning with the score now 7-3. Eric Schoenauer led off The BEAT fourth with a grounder that ate up the Band shortstop. Austin followed with another infield single and two batters later, Chris Young drove a deep fly to the gap for a two run double, putting The BEAT back up by six, now 9-3.

Band launched four consecutive singles up the middle in the fifth, plating three runs and bringing the score to 9-6. But The BEAT answered back again with three of their own starting with a leadoff single by Jeff Ricketts. Three consecutive grounders to second added up to two errors and two runs scored. Mike Laffey drove an RBI single to round out the inning. The BEAT was now up 12-6.

Top of six, this is where it got hairy. Two singles, a triple, a walk, an error at short, and another rash of singles led to a five run inning that left Band just one run short of a game-tying comeback. Little did The BEAT know at the time that the game was that close. The official game score was 12-10. But a scorekeeping error found after the game showed Band shorted a run in the fourth. The real final, 12-11.

But a win is a win, and had Band caught up, The BEAT still would have had the last at bat. And the boys in gray showed they would not be left scoreless in any inning, even on this blustery spring day. Still the game was not without it's "What if's?" Sure the team had racked up 12 runs. But what of the nine runners left on base and six left in scoring position, while the four and five spots in the order wore a collar with a combined 0 for 6? With the next two games scheduled against the second place Granada and the final game of the season against the team's nemesis, H.G.A., the season now hangs in the balance and clutch hitting looks to be the key. The BEAT hit .437 in the clutch today which is definitely a step up over the last few weeks. But can the team afford to leave runners in scoring position against teams like Granada and H.G.A.?

First place in this division seems all but wrapped up by Cool Dudes. With only three games left, one against a struggling H.G.A. and two against Band, it would take a miracle for Cool to lose more than one. But if The BEAT can pull off a sweep of Granada, the boys could have a solid hold on second with the division's two cellar dwellers left to wrap up their season. So with two weeks off to think about it, we'll see you back on May 30 for CRUNCH TIME!

View The BEAT's 1998 Final Batting Statistics

See the game scoresheet in pdf (238k) or
On The BEAT News Archive

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