Tides walk away with win over Team Russia
ABCCL champs score winning run in bottom of ninth

ERIC SUCAR staff The Russian bench looks on as their teammate takes a swing during an exhibition game against the ABCCL champion JerseyShore Tides on Saturday in Middletown.

The ABCCL champion Jersey Shore Tides capped off their memorable championship season with a victory over the Russian National Team, 5-4, on Saturday at Brookdale Community College in Middletown.

In a closely fought game with several lead changes, the Tides needed their last at-bats in the bottom of the ninth to secure the victory as Nutley's Vince Sangemino (Rutgers University) drew a two-out bases-loaded walk to bring home the winning run. Sangemino fought off several tough pitches to work a 3-2 count and he took an inside pitch for ball four, showing excellent command of the strike zone to earn the base on balls. For the Tides, Sangemino's RBI was the right way to end their season after winning their league championship.

Team Russia came into the game riding a two-game winning streak, beating the Greater Philadelphia Area All-Stars and Delaware County All-Stars. They were adapting to the faster pitching in the United States as they entered their final days of the tour. Earlier in the tour, they faced off against Team USA and the Chinese National Team. Team Russia's pitchers held Team USA to only four hits, and the Russians had one more with five, but outstanding Team USA defense and errors by the Russians were the difference.

The Tides knew they were in for a ballgame right away as Team Russia's Alexander Nizov led off the game with a single against Holmdel's Nick Amabile (TCNJ). After two strikeouts and two walks, the bases were loaded when Andrey Kripochin hit a sharp ground ball in the hole between first and second that looked sure to bring in two runs, but a diving stop by Holmdel's Chris Kapsales (Niagara University), who was playing first base, kept the ball in the infield. Amabile outran the speedy Kripochin as he covered first base, received the throw from Kapsales, and touched the bag an instant before Kripochin for the third out. Amabile retired the Russians in order in his second inning on the mound with his third strikeout and two balls hit back to him as the score remained 0-0. Elmwood Park's Adam Gomez (Wesleyan University) was behind the plate for the Tides.

Lincroft's Dan Anderson (TCNJ) took the mound in the third, but ran into difficulty in the fourth when he walked Sergey Soloviev and allowed a single to Kripochin. Alexander Toropov doubled home both runners and scored on a hit by Maxim Monakhov, giving Team Russia a 3-0 lead as the Tides went to bat in the fourth.

Hazlet's Mike Nunes (Montclair State) led off the inning with a ground ball that was misplayed by the shortstop, went to second on a ground out and stole third base. After a walk to Paramus' Marc Palestina (Montclair State University), they executed a perfect double steal to bring home the Tides' first run, and Sangemino would knock in Palestina for the Tides' second, as they cut the lead to 3-2 after four innings.

Chatham's Mike Ness (Duke University) started the fifth and was greeted by a double off the fence by Artemiy Artamonov. However, Ness bore down and prevented him from scoring, finishing the inning strongly with two strikeouts. Ness also had an easy sixth inning, bringing the Tides to the plate down 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth. The Tides would load the bases on a walk to Nunes, a single by Palestina, and a walk to Sangemino, but failed to knock in a run.

Long Valley's William Schmolze (County College of Morris) kept the Tides in the game by pitching a perfect seventh for the Tides, with a pop-up to second, groundout to first and a ground ball to short, where Manalapan's Pete Delleani (Rhode Island) made a nice defensive play. The Tides came to the plate in the seventh, and with no outs they loaded the bases on singles by Ness and Monroe's Jarred Jimenez (Rutgers University), followed by a walk to Delleani. Nunes knocked in one run by grounding into a force play, leaving runners at first and third. The Tides executed another double steal for their second run of the inning and a 4-3 lead.

Totowa's John Masklee (Long Island University) came in to pitch the eighth and had a dominating inning, striking out two and allowing a soft fly to center field. The Tides would threaten with two infield hits by Kapsales and Ness in their half of the eighth, but did not score, bringing a 4-3 lead to the top of the ninth.

Freehold's Jeff Calabrese (Felician College) was in to close the game for the Tides and struck out the first batter, but walked Maxim Monakhov, who advanced to second on a groundout to second. Artemiy Artamonov came to the plate as Team Russia's last chance, and did not disappoint them as he hit his second double of the game, driving in Monakhov. Calabrese struck out the next batter for the final out, but the score was tied at 4 as the Tides came to bat in the bottom of the ninth. The table was set for Sangemino with infield hits by Nunes and Matawan's Vin Avella (Wagner), and a walk to Palestina, and the Tides took a 5-4 victory over Team Russia.

Team Russia finished their tour splitting a doubleheader against the NYPD and FDNY baseball teams, and then made an appearance on Monday on the CBS Early Show before heading back to Russia later today.