Tides playing well in early ABCCL action It must be summer time - the Jersey Shore Tides are back winning baseball games. The Tides won their fifth and sixth straight games over the weekend, as they swept the Wall Angels, 5-3, in the opening game, and 10-6 in the second. The Tides now stand at 8-2 on the new season. The first game started out as a pitching duel between the Tides' and Angels' pitchers through the first six innings, with the Tides putting the only run across on base hits by Farmington, Conn.'s Mike McGuire (St. Peter's College) and Bridgewater's Greg DeSantis (Long Island University). The 1-0 lead was held by outstanding pitching by Chatham's Mike Ness (Duke University), Totowa's John Masklee (Long Island University), and Hampton's Dan Ramos-Dominko (The College of New Jersey) until an error was responsible for two unearned runs, which put the Angels in the lead, 2-1. The Tides mounted a two-out threat to regain the lead in the bottom of the seventh as Manalapan's Jordan Noval's (Felician College) doubled, and the bases soon became loaded after a hit batter and base on balls. Matawan's Nick Avello (Wagner College) came to the plate in a clutch situation and proceeded to blast a grand slam home run over the right center field fence, giving the Tides a 5-2 lead. Westwood's Tim Klein (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) earned the save for the Tides as he finished the final two innings. The long ball played a big role in the second game also, as Staten Island's Frank DiMasi (Long Island University) hit two home runs, Avello hit his second of the day, and Jordan Noval hit his first of the year. The four home runs were the most the Tides ever hit in a single game. The Tides would take the game, 10-6, as Lincroft's Dan Anderson (The College of New Jersey) would close the game with four perfect innings. During the week, the Tides beat the Protocall Starz, 5-2, behind the pitching of Cedar Knolls' Brian Kelley (Dickenson College), Hazlet's Sean Donovan (Stockton College), and Long Valley's Bill Schmolze (County College of Morris). They added another win with a 5-3 victory against the Freehold Clippers. The Tides also swept the Toms River Black Sox last Sunday, 5-2 in the first game and 6-4 in the second game of the doubleheader. Strong pitching from John Masklee, Mike Ness and Dan Ramos-Dominko held the potent Black Sox lineup to only two runs on seven hits in the game. The Tides jumped to a 1-0 lead in the second inning on consecutive base hits by Nick Avello, Elmwood Park's Adam Gomez (Wesleyan University), and Oakhurst's Greg Spatz (Felician College), but the Black Sox would tie the game the next inning. The Tides came back with two more runs in the sixth to break the tie, and would add two more in the eighth. The Tides offense was led by Staten Island's Frank DiMasi, who had two doubles, Paramus' Marc Palestina (Montclair State University) with three walks and a base hit, as well as Gomez and Avello with two base hits each. In the second game of the doubleheader, Tides pitchers no-hit the Black Sox over the first seven innings. The Black Sox would score four runs in the game, all by batters who had walked. That was not enough, since the Tides offense put six runs on the scoreboard over the first six innings. After the first full week of play for the Atlantic Baseball Confederation Collegiate League, the Tides are at 4-2. Earlier in the week they beat the Ocean Giants 6-4 behind the pitching of Cedar Knolls' Brian Kelley, Hazlet's Sean Donovan (Stockton College), and Long Valley's Bill Schmolze (County College of Morris). Kelley struck out six in three innings, and Donovan closed the game with two scoreless innings to record the save. The Tides also won a 13-12 extra-inning slugfest against the Wall Angels. DiMasi, Dean and McGuire all had three hits apiece to lead the Tides. The Tides have been playing most of the season without Monroe's Jarred Jimenez and Nutley's Vincent Sangemino while Rutgers University has been playing in the NCAA regional tournament. They were also missing Spotswood's Colin Feneis, who is a member of Division III National Championship Kean University. Feneis pitched Kean to several victories on their march to the World Series and national title. The trio joined the Tides this week to give the added depth the team needed. The Tides will be playing at Holmdel High School tomorrow against the Manchester Yankees in a 6 p.m. start and in Lakewood on Sunday against the Ocean Giants in a doubleheader starting at 11 a.m. See the league Web site at www.abccl.com for up-to-date schedule information.