MCSN: August 18, 2012

The Transformers battled a swarm of Killer Beehs

Beeh-utiful Start to the Playoffs

First-Round Playoff Recap

Mon, Aug 20, 2012

The 2012 MCSN playoffs began with the first-ever play-in game between familiar opponents Cannon and the Killer Beehs, who had played to a 1-1-1 draw during the regular season.

The visiting Cannon opened with a two-run barrage in the top of the first, but the Beehs long-dormant offense stung back with five runs in each of the first two innings to stake the team to a comfortable lead that Cannon would never threaten, as the Beehs won 16-7.

Bryan Beeh, Bill Van Tuinen, and Isac Malmgren were all perfect from the plate, while Malmgren's five RBIs led the attack. Workhorse pitcher Sammy B(eeh) threw three complete games on the day, the most since a rain makeup-filled day on Aug 13, 2011.

After their play-in victory, the Beehs lined up against the undefeated Transformers in the 9am game.

A big mismatch on paper, the 2-9-1 Beehs had played a close game with the 10-0 Transformers the previous week and came into the game hoping for the upset.

The Beehs had a sweet start, getting two runs on Bill Van Tuinen's first over-the-fence home run of the year in the first inning. Having held them to their three lowest outputs of the year, Sammy B continued his relative mastery over the Transformers' big guns by throwing a scoreless first inning.

As the game wore on, the Immovable (some would say incorrigible) Sammy Beeh relented to the irrestible force of the Transformers, who scored three runs in the 4th and five more in the 6th en route to a 11-5 win.

Robert Martinez led the balanced Transformers attack with four RBIs while Beehs manager Bryan continued to be a Beehst at the plate with another perfect performance.

In the morning's next game, the second-seeded Pass the Plate hosted the red-hot #3 Believas.

Both teams showed they were primed for action by scoring five runs in their first at-bat and the scoring continued as the score was 10-9 Pass the Plate after two innings.

After that much passing the plate by both teams, defense took over the rest of the game as Pass the Plate eked out a 13-11 victory.

In the day's finale, the Killer Beehs took the diamond for the third time of the day against the Believas for the right to stay in the tournament.

“I'm beginning to think having four outfielders is overrated.”

- Transformers manager Rob Tong on his team's struggle to take advantage of the Beehs' three outfielders.

Pitcher Sammy B(eeh) once again stymied a high-powered offense by limiting the Believas to six runs, but the Beehs' bats were nowhere to be found as they were limited to two runs by the always-difficult-to-hit Gary Lockwood, the godfather of the league's pitchers.

The always balanced Believas attack was powered by David Zuperku's 3-for-3 performance including two clutch RBI's to break open a one-run game in the fifth inning. Monica Wright was also perfect from the plate with three hits.

Matt Terry and David Cho combined to go 7-for-8 at the top of the Beehs' lineup, but the rest of the order couldn't bring them home, and the Beehs were sent home for the winter.

Looking forward to Championship Saturday, the Transformers and Pass the Plate will meet in the Winner's bracket final, with the always-dangerous Believas waiting to face the loser in the next game.

The Transformers will no doubt be hoping for another cool day to preserve their energy and a barometric reading below 30 for their old joints. A potential triple-header could mean a run on Sportscreme for the local drug stores, while the young guns of Pass the Plate and Believas will be hoping the Autobots turn into Oldsmobiles after sitting in the sun for a couple hours.