NSBL: Tides open with victory

The Northeast Tides opened their 2021 North Shore Baseball League regular season campaign with a 10-0 victory over the Swampscott Sox on Thursday night.

After a scoreless first inning, Northeast got its offense going in the second when Will Maclean launched a line drive home run over the fence in right field.

Later in the second and with the bases loaded and two outs, shortstop Brady Desjardins hit a clutch two-run single. Gerardo Balderrama then followed with his own RBI single, which staked the Tides to a 4-0 lead after two innings.

The Tides added to their lead in the top of the third with some aggressive base running. With Jordan Gosselin (3-for-4 for the game) on first and Maclean on third, Gosselin took off on a pitch and beat the catcher’s throw for a stolen base. Maclean took off for home on the throw to second and scored on the double steal.

Starting pitcher Matt Bergeron did his job on the mound as the Tides offense gave the right-hander some very solid run support to work with. Bergeron pitched three shutout innings. He gave up two hits and struck out three Swampscott batters.

Northeast broke the game open in the top of the fourth by putting up a five spot in the inning.

Ben Gravel blasted a two run home run well over the fence in left field to make the score 7-0. Later in the inning, the Tides proved again that they can perform in the clutch with two outs.

Max Malila had a laser RBI single and Ryan Coleman (3-for-4 for the game) followed with a two-run single, which closed out the scoring for the game.

After Bergeron’s departure from the game, the Tides received some excellent relief work from Andrew Dupuis and Harrison Lendrum.

Lendrum made his Tides debut by pitching the final inning. He pitched a scoreless frame and struck out the side.

The Tides will play their first home game Saturday when they take on the Manchester Marlins in a doubleheader at Keay Field in Rochester. Game 1 is scheduled for 3 p.m.