What is the Beast of the East?
2010 will be the first year there will be a team who will be able to call themselves the best team in the Northeast. There are three separate events that will be tallied together to decide the “Beast of the East”. Each of these events will host the same four teams in 2010. Each team will play a total of three games against each other over a span of a month for a total of nine games. The team with the best record will be named the Beast of the East. If two teams finish with the same record, the tie-breaker will be head-to-head. The events are
- The Long Island Classic held on the campus of Hofstra University on June 26th
- The Philly Hall Of Fame Classic in Haddonfield, NJ on July 10
- The Blind Citizens Beep Baseball Championship in Sudbury, MA on July 24th
Please note that due to the weather in Haddonfield, the three city tournament will be based on 7 games in 2010.
The Boston Renegades are the Beasts of the East
First Place: Boston Renegades 6 Wins and 1 Loss
2nd Place: Long Island Bombers 5 Wins and 2 Losses
3rd Place: New Jersey Lightning 3 wins and 4 Losses
4th Place: Pennsylvania Wolfpack 0 Wins and 7 Losses
The All Stars of the Beast of the East
Offensive All-Stars
The All-Star team is made up of the players who have the best batting average. All players must have a minimum of 18 at-bats to qualify (which is roughly 2.5 per game). The top 4 players will be named to the team
1st tie breaker is quantity of runs scored
2nd tie breaker is lowest strike out percentage
3rd tie breaker is runs scored in games won by their team
For complete Team stats click here
Defensive All-Stars
The All-Star team is made up of the players who have made the most stops on defense. The top 4 players will be named to the team
For complete Team stats click here
The Games
The Blind Citizens Beep Baseball Championship
Scores (home team in CAPS):
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The Standings:
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The first ever beep baseball tournament in New England’s history took place in Sudbury, Mass on July 24th. The weather was a bit sticky but all the teams had their eye on the prize. There was two trophies at stake. The Blind Citizens Beep Baseball Championship and the overall Beast of the East. Coming into this event, Long Island and Boston were tied at 3 wins and 1 loss and New Jersey was in the hunt at 2-2.
Game #1 The Wolfpack came out hitting the ball much better than in their previous contest but would have little to show for their efforts. Boston scored twice in the first and would be up 8-0 before the Wolfpack scored their lone run in the 5th inning. Boston’s highlite was a defensive stop by 3rd year player Melissa Hoyt for her first career defensive stop. Shayne Cantan would pace Boston with three runs. The Renegade defense would stop 12 of the 13 balls put into play. The Wolfpack’s Greg Gontaryk led both sides on defense with 6 stops.
Game #2 This was the most exciting game of the day as New Jersey stomped out to a 7 run lead in the first inning as Sherlock Washington and Kevin Szott each scored twice to pace the offense. Slowly but surely, the Long Island Bombers chipped away at the lead and found themselves down 8-5 after three innings. New Jersey answered in the 4th, plating three runs to build a 6 run lead. Long Island kept scratching. Going into the last inning New Jersey led 12-11. All Stars Jeff Stevens and Nick Esposito plated runs on back to back at bats to walk off with a 13-12 victory. Nick Esposito would have a 5 for 5 game for the Bombers while Stevens paced both teams with 4 stops on defense (and a 2-5 performance at the plate).
Game #3 New Jersey won their first coin toss in 7 tries and elected to be the home team in front of the Boston crowd. To date, the Lightning were the only team to beat Boston on the East coast with a decisive victory in New York. Boston plated 7 runs in the first inning, three more in the second and third innings to invoke the 12 run rule with a 13-0 lead. The Boston defense would stay on the field for the remainder of the game and would stay hot as they stopped all 10 balls put into play by the Lightning. Shayne Cantan and Dino Vasile would pace the offense (which hit .619 in the game for a tournament best) with 4 runs each. Justen Cantan would pace both teams with 4 stops on defense.
Game #4 Long Island would not continue the hot hitting they had against New Jersey but they would generate enough offense to shut down the Wolfpack by scoring 4 runs in the first two innings. Bomber, Joe Dejesus would score the first run of his career in the second inning for Long Island. Jim Hughes and Jeff Stevens would each score two runs to lead the offense. Nick Esposito would lead both teams on defense with 4 stops.
Game #5 New Jersey would find itself in another dog fight as they played two of the closest matches of the day. New Jersey built a 4 run lead as they plated two runs in each of the first two innings. The Wolfpack would make it close by scoring a pair in the third but Sherlock Washington answered scoring his second run of the game in the 3rd inning and they would hold on to win 5-3. Washington and Kevin Szott paced New Jersey with 2 runs each. Greg Gontaryk kept the Wolfpack close as he made 7 stops on defense. Ohmny Romero led New Jersey making 5 strops on defense for the Lightning to hold on to the lead.
Game #6. Boston and Long Island entered the game with identical 2-0 records on the day for the Blind Citizens Beep Baseball Championship AND 5-1 in the Beast of the East. The winner of this game would win both of the events. The Renegades plated 2 runs in the first inning and then 9 consecutive defensive stops before Long Island scored their first run in the 4th inning. At that time Boston had a commanding 8-1 lead. Boston would score in every inning and top it off with a 3 run sixth to delight the home town crowd. the Boston defense looked sharp as it stopped 14 of the 17 balls hit in play. The Boston Bats were equally impressive as they hit .419 in the game and put the ball into play 87% of the time. Shayne Cantan would turn in another outstanding performance with 4 runs in 5 at-bats. Matt Puvogel of the Bombers led both teams with 7 stops on defense.
The Philly Hall of Fame Classic
Scores (home team in CAPS):
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The Standings:
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The teams took the field and the rain started just around the time of first pitch. During the first set of games, the fields took on a lot of water and three players threw their bats. A thrown bat is always dangerous but becomes even more dangerous when players can not see them coming. Wolfpack Captain, Greg Gontaryk was hit in the leg by a thrown bat and play was suspended.
Game #1 Boston came out of the gates hitting the ball hard and often as they only struck out 3 times in 20 plate appearances. The Wolfpack played tremendous defense as they made 17 stops on 21 balls put into play as five different defenders made stops. Boston would win this game 5-2 and score 4 of their 5 runs in the first two innings Shayne Cantan would score twice to pace the Boston Offense and both Greg Gontaryk and Mike Patterson would have 4 stops each for the Wolfpack defense.
Game #2 The rains may have effected both teams as they totaled 24 strike outs between them. Through 4 innings Long Island held the largest lead of the game at a 6-4 margin but they would bust out for 3 runs in the 5th and hold on to a 9-7 win. Nick Esposito would pace the Bomber offense with 3 runs. On the other side of the field, Paul Daye would keep New Jersey in the game with 2 runs scored and 5 defensive stops
The Long Island Classic
Scores (home team in CAPS):
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The Standings:
*Tie breaker was run differential |
On a nice sunny day, the four teams met for the fist leg of the Beast of the East. From the start, we would see how even the teams were. Here are some quick blurbs about each game.
Game #1: The upstart New Jersey Lightning came back from a 4-2 defect in the 3rd inning by scoring 9 runs in the last three frames of the game to win their 3rd game in a row 11-6. Sherlock Washington would turn in an outstanding 5 for 5 performance with 4 stops on defense for the Lightning.
Game #2 Long Island would be too tough for the Wolfpack who struck out 13 times in this game (65% of their at-bats) as Long Island cruised to a 9-2 victory. Jim Hughes, Jeff Stevens and Braulio Thorne each plated a pair of runs while Hughes and Matt Puvogel each had a pair of stops on defense to pace the Bombers victory.
Game #3 Boston would come out swinging as they plated 10 runs in the first two innings and cruised home to a 16-8 victory for their largest margin of victory over the Long Island Bombers in the history of the Renegades. The offensive attack was spread out as Dino Vasile, Shayne Cantan, Larry Haile and Justen Cantan scored three times each. Dino Vasile paced the Renegades on defense with 5 stops
Game #4 The New Jersey Lightning would score single runs in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th innings to take a 3-0 lead before the Wolfpack would score twice to close the score to 3-2 after 4 innings. The Wolfpack would then tie it up in the bottom of the 6th with back to back runs by Matt Wallace and Mike Patterson. In the eight inning, New Jersey’s Paul Daye would score his third run of the game which would be the eventual game winner. Daye would pace the Lightning with 3 runs. Greg Gontaryk kept the Wolfpack in it with 12 defensive put-outs. He made more stops in this one game than any other player made in the whole tournament.
Game #5 The Wolfpack offense would keep the team in the game as they found themselves down 7-4 after two innings. The Wolfpack would put up bagels on the score board in the 3rd, 4th and 5th innings while Boston plated 8 runs. Boston was led by Shayne Cantan with 4 runs while Larry Haile and Joe Quintanilla each plated three runs each to pace the offense. Justen Cantan had 4 stops on defense for the Renegades while Mike Coughlin (5) and Greg Gontaryk (4) led the defense for Pennsylvania.
Game #6 If New Jersey won the game, they would win the tournament with 3 wins. A win by Long Island would force a tie breaker based on run differential. The New Jersey Lightning would get three runs from Tony Santiago in this match up but the rest of the team would go 0 for 17 with 9 strike outs as the Long Island Bombers won 12-3. For Long Island, Nick Esposito would plate 4 runs while Jim Hughes, Jeff Stevens and Steve Guerra would score 2 runs each. Stevens and Matt Puvogel would each have three stops on defense for the Bombers.
The Teams
The Boston Renegades
The Renegades started playing recreationally in 2001 but started playing in NBBA events in 2002. Of all the teams on the east coast, they have logged more miles than any other team in the past few years as they are the only team from the east coast to play in the World Series every year from 2003-2009. Boston also sports the largest roster on the east coast and could have the largest team in the entire NBBA. The Renegades have a style different from most teams in the league and that may stem from a coaching staff that unlike most teams in the league includes almost nobody related to the players. The Renegades have had a few players earn honors in the NBBA in recent years including Defensive All-Stars Darren Black and Dino Vasile.
2010 Record: 8 wins and 3 Losses
2009 Record: 8 wins and 6 Losses
2008 Record: 8 wins and 6 Losses
Career vs Long Island: 5 wins and 9 losses
Career vs. New Jersey: 1 wins and 1 loss
Career vs. Pennsylvania: 12 wins and 3 losses
The Long Island Bombers
The Bombers are the oldest of the teams in the Northeast as they formed in 1998. They have represented the Northeast as the highest seed in the World Series in 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2008. They have built a rival with the Boston Renegades on the field that really got going when the two teams faced each other in the Consolation Championship game in the 2004 World Series. The Bombers have had a core of players play consistently for them through the years including Jim Hughes and Frank Guerra who have each been named to Defensive All-star Teams in the World Series.
2010 Record: 5 wins and 2 Losses
2009 Record: 1 win and 1 losses
2008 Record: 4 wins and 4 Losses
Career vs Boston: 9 wins and 5 Losses
Career vs. New Jersey: 3 wins and 0 Losses
Career vs. Pennsylvania: 7 wins and 2 losses
The New Jersey Lightning
The Lightning are the newest team on the east coast, as they formed a team in 2010. Though the team itself is brand new, they do have three players with ties to beep baseball and the east coast rivalries. Sherlock Washington, Tony Santiago and Ohmney Romero headline a new team that calls Matawan, New Jersey their home. They are the first NBBA team in the New Jersey area. All three of the above mentioned players played parts of their careers with the Pennsylvania Wolfpack which should spark a nice rivalry in the Beast of the East tournaments. Washington and Romero played in the 2009 World Series and received rings as part of the World Champion West Coast Dawgs.
2010 Record: 5 Wins and 4 Losses
Career vs Boston: 1 win and 1 Loss
Career vs. Long Island: 0 wins and 3 losses
Career vs. Pennsylvania: 4 wins and 0 losses
The Pennsylvania Wolfpack
The Wolfpack formed in 2005 as veteran Greg Gontaryk took his years of experience and started a team in the Philadelphia area. An instant link formed between Boston and the Wolfpack as Coach Carolyn Tassini decided to leave the Boston area but not the sport of beepball as she moved from the Renegades to the Wolfpack in 2006. The Wolfpack have had many roster changes and in 2010 they sport one of the youngest teams in the NBBA. They have recruited five players all under the age of twenty. Greg Gontaryk is known as one of the games best defenders as he brings years of experience and many defensive All-star trophies to the table.
2010 Record: 0 Wins and 9 Losses
2009 Record: 0 Wins and 4 Losses
2008 Record: 3 Wins and 9 Losses
Career vs Boston: 3 Wins and 12 losses
Career vs. Long Island: 2 Wins and 7 losses
Career vs. New Jersey: 0 Wins and 4 losses