OLD ORCHARD BEACH — It was a rough night at the plate for Raging Tide leadoff hitter Jake Osborne, who went 0-for-5 during Sunday’s game against the Martha’s Vineyard Sharks. He grounded out in his first at-bat, and looked to have the same fate in his final turn in the bottom of the ninth, but a hard grounder to first was instead misplayed by Sharks first baseman Steve Buckley, which allowed Osborne to reach and pinch runner Mekae Hyde to score the winning run in a 3-2 win at The Ballpark.
“Everybody was probably saying, ”˜why didn’t I pinch hit for (Osborne)?’” said Tide manager Chris Torres. “Why aren’t I pinch hitting for (Osborne)? Because he always works hard, he’s here every day, he’s getting his at-bats, and even though he was 0-for-4, he hit three of those balls hard. Even that ball he hit, that was a hard-hit ball. The guy tried to (play it) nonchalantly, that’s what happens: (Osborne) has got speed, (Osborne) always hustles. We win the ball game.”
It was the second win in as many days over the Sharks, after the Tide won 7-6 on Saturday. The pair of wins inches the last-place Raging Tide closer to an improbable playoff spot.
“I think it’s big for the team. We’ve been struggling all year, we’re just trying to get back in the hunt for a playoff spot, and for us to come out and get two wins is big for us,” said Tide third baseman Kelly Rooney. “Hopefully we can keep it rolling and make something happen.”
Rooney was the sparkplug for the sweep, as he went 6-for-8 combined from the No. 9 spot in the lineup, including reaching on an infield single with two outs the batter before Osborne in the bottom of the ninth.
“Nothing better than to get an at-bat in the bottom of the ninth; you dream of that as a little kid,” said Rooney. “I was just hoping to beat it out, honestly. I knew he was going to make a play on it, and I was just trying to hustle down the line, trying to get on base and keep the inning going.”
The Tide led for much of the game, after taking a 2-1 lead in the second on RBI singles from Paul McDonough and Rooney, but the Sharks scored the tying run on a perfectly executed hit-and-run in the top of the eighth.
The Sharks offense was neutralized over the first six innings by Tide starting pitcher Brian O’Keefe, who allowed just one run on six hits while striking out six and walking one to outduel Sharks starter Matt Quintana.
“He went to the All-Star Game, hit 91 (m.p.h.). He’s got some people interested in him,” Torres said of O’Keefe, who was saddled with a no-decision. “His past three starts have been dynamite. To put it in his words, he’s shocking the nation.”
Will Ore pitched a perfect seventh before allowing a ground-ball single to open the eighth. A bunt moved Ryan Kelly to second, and a Luke Bonfield single through the left side on a hit-and-run brought home Kelly, who was 3-for-4 as the Sharks’ leadoff hitter.
Kelly also did some damage in the field, as throws on back-to-back plays in the fourth kept McDonough from advancing from second on a fly ball to center, then gunned him down at home on a single to shallow center.
Osborne, despite his tough day at the plate, also made a nice play in center, as he snared a fly ball from Anthony Maselli with a diving catch in left-center to open the seventh inning.
“This is exactly what I knew I had all season long, it just took them way too long to start playing like this, for whatever reason,” Torres said of his team. “That’s baseball, though. It’s not the team that’s the best on paper, it’s the team that plays the best on the field.
“The guys don’t quit. I don’t have quitters on my team, and that’s not the way I manage. We’re going to grind it out. We’re either going to fight for a spot maybe, and do something impossible, or we’re going to be a spoiler.”
Rooney, who is playing in his final season of collegiate summer ball before his senior season at UMass-Lowell, said he is hoping the team can still get into the playoffs. The Tide (15-28) will have to make up six games in the standings over its final 12 games of the regular season, but the team is not mathematically eliminated just yet.
“Just one game at a time,” said Rooney. “We’re not going to look too far ahead, we’re just going to play one game at a time, and just see what happens from there.”
— Staff Writer Wil Kramlich can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 323 or sports@journaltribune.com. Follow him on Twitter @WilTalkSports.