The Plainedge softball team is 11-0 in ABC-I, and with coach Jason McGowan, it’s a safe bet that his players know about hustle and his flow.
The son of Bay Shore skipper Jim McGowan is a recreation-time rapper. Yes, the 35-year-old coach is ‘bout it ‘bout it. When he isn’t coaching or spending time with family, he transforms into the Microphone Fiend. And he isn’t bad. 
J-Bitter wrote and recorded the Bay Shore theme song – which blares at Fifth Avenue Elementary School as the Marauders take the field – and created enough buzz to garner interest from the Bellport football team and the Long Island Ducks.
His hip-hop hero is Eminem and he often spits over the thumping, bass-heavy “Fight Music” beat (off the D-12 “Devil’s Night” album). On the Bay Shore track, he raps about the program’s success – naturally – and gives props to his pop’s practice regimen.
“5:30 in the morning, that's right, before school/ Everybody’s sleeping except you, and it’s cool/ Because you’re getting better, and you’re getting stronger/ Practices are harder, practices are longer/ But it all pays off in the end, you see/ You gave it all you got and connected as a team/ Now you’re much better as a player and a person/ You look back and laugh about those days of 2-a-days when you were cursin'…”
It’s actually 5:45 (Jim has softened a little), but those bars ain't bad. Far cry from Slim Shady or Jay-Z, but his flow is consistent and his lyrics are much more coherent than say, Soulja Boy’s.
As a rap connoisseur (I’ll post a softball-related verse one of these days), I approve. And, more importantly, the kids love it. When the song is blasting, the Marauders get almost as hyped as Busta Rhymes in a music video.
If you’re wondering: (1) Jim McGowan, 56, prefers The Temptations, Robert Cray, The Four Tops and Bruce Springsteen. (2) The picture is of PaRappa the Rapper. It was a PlayStation video game that came out in 1997. (3) No, I was never able to beat the first level of the game.
Here’s a download link to J-Bitter’s "Bay Shore Song.” Feel free to e-mail me (or contact McGowan) for an .mp3 of the Bellport football theme. Bootleggers are welcomed, too. And don’t let the moniker fool you, he’s a pleasant fella and there’s no parental advisory sticker necessary.