The Jersey Shore Tides are heading into the ABCCL playoffs with a strong regular season finish as they beat the Toms River Black Sox, 9-4, and the Middletown Monarchs, 5-1.
The playoffs start tomorrow.
The Tides capitalized on a big inning in each of the contests to gain the victories. Tottenville, N.Y.’s Matt Dilgen (Dominican College) was shutting down the Black Sox with three scoreless innings, when the Tides erupted for eight runs in the bottom of the third. Holmdel’s Marty Cecire (Ramapo College) started the inning with a base hit and was followed by Middletown South’s Matt Miller (Middlesex College), who was safe on an error. Upper Arlington, Ohio’s Ben Toussant (Ohio State University) made the Sox pay for the miscue, with a double that cleared the bases. After a walk to Hazlet’s Alex Mautone (Wesleyan University), Holmdel’s Chris Kapsales (Niagara University) followed with another base-clearing double to put the Tides up 4-0. A single by Tottenville’s Tom Ambrosole (Lafayette College) and a walk to Nutley’s Vin Sangemino (Rutgers University) loaded the bases for Columbia, Mo.’s Joe Gaboury (William Jewell College), who slammed another double for the Tides. Columbia, Mo.’s Nick Steponovich (Ohio State University) finished the eight-run inning with a base hit and RBI.
The big inning again came into play for the Tides against the Middletown Monarchs. The Monarchs took a 1-0 lead against the Tides, which held until the third inning when Ben Toussant doubled and later scored after two wild pitches to give the Tides a 1-1 tie. The score held behind the strong pitching of Yardley, Pa.’s Eric Lovelace (Temple University), who allowed only one run over four innings with four strikeouts, followed by three perfect innings by Trenton’s Bob Buskett (TCNJ), who also struck out four Monarchs. The Tides started their big inning in the seventh with some patience at the plate, as Chris Kapsales drew a walk and Tom Ambrosole followed with a base hit. Three more walks to Joe Gaboury, Marty Cecire and Matt Miller gave the Tides two runs, and a Monarch’s error on a Ben Toussant ground ball allowed two additional runs and a 5-1 lead for the Tides. Ocean’s Bobby Fox (Rowan University) closed the game for the Tides, securing the victory.
The Tides provided strong representation at the 2006 ABCCL Pro-Showcase and All-Star Game, which was held on Sunday, July 23 at FirstEnergy Park, home of the Lakewood BlueClaws. The game was rescheduled after being canceled due to wet field conditions on July 22. It featured standout players from each of ABCCL’s eight teams in a special 10-inning contest designed to showcase their talents for Major League Baseball scouts, including a special workout prior to the game.
Representing the Tides for the Berra Division were position players Tom Ambrosole, Chris Kapsales and Alex Mautone, and pitchers Nick Amabile (TCNJ) of Holmdel, Bill Opel (TCNJ) of Bayonne, and Bill Wieland (Virginia Commonwealth University) of Marlton.
Amabile started the game and easily retired the Doby Division’s first three players with two ground balls to second and a pop fly to right. His TCNJ teammate Bill Opel also had a perfect inning, with a strikeout and two ground-outs. Wieland let an unearned run when the defense let him down, but stopped the Doby Division from taking further advantage to keep the game close. Kapsales started the offense for the Berra Division with their first hit of the game, and his Tides teammate Alex Mautone provided the late-inning heroics with the game-winning hit, giving the Berra Division a 3-2 win over the Doby Division.