OLD ORCHARD BEACH — After playing in a 13-11 slugfest the night before, there was a lot less offense for the Old Orchard Beach Raging Tide when the team hosted the Martha’s Vineyard Sharks on Sunday. Saturday’s slugfest was in a losing effort, and Sunday’s game was headed that way until Paul McDonough electrified the home crowd with a home run in the eighth that pushed the Raging Tide to a 3-1 win at The Ballpark in Old Orchard Beach.

The Tide offense looked like it might pick up where it left off the night before, as two infield singles and a walk loaded the bases with one out in the first. But Sharks starting pitcher Soren Hanson got out of a big jam with a fielder’s choice and a fly out.

“It was good that it was early in the game, and it wasn’t in the late innings,” said McDonough, who had one of the two base hits. “It would have been nice to get one or two runs out of that, but it all worked out in the end.”

“We got to get the job done there,” said Raging Tide assistant coach Mike Tarry.

Hanson had little trouble against the Tide hitters for the rest of his six-inning outing, allowing just a harmless Chandler Wagoner single in the fifth. That was the one blemish as Hanson retired 16 of the final 17 batters he faced.

“He located his fastball well,” Tarry ”“ a pitching coach by trade ”“ said of Hanson. “He was just working in and out, keeping everybody off-balance. And then he’d throw that big, looping curve.”

“We haven’t seen a slow curveball like that all year,” said McDonough.

The Raging Tide got a solid pitching performance of its own from Evan Brisentine, who was making his first start of the season. The tall righty allowed just one unearned run on four hits over six innings.

It was the defense that failed Brisentine in an otherwise dominant outing. An error in the first yielded no damage, but another in the third led to the Sharks’ lone run. Second baseman Kelly Rooney couldn’t field a lead-off grounder by Jack Roberts, but did get him out on a fielder’s choice by Ryan Kelly. It was Kelly who came home two batters later ”“ after Jake Osborne made a diving catch in left for what could have been the third out ”“ on an RBI single by John Mayer.

A misplay by Osborne in left in the fifth advanced two runners into scoring position, but Brisentine got the final out when he leaped to field a high bouncer before throwing to first in time.

“He did great today,” McDonough said of Brisentine. “He’s the reason why we won this game, because he kept it 1-0 and gave us a chance in the end.”

The Tide finally took advantage of the chance in the eighth against reliever Mike Fitzgerald, who started his second inning of work after a 1-2-3 seventh. Wagoner led off by reaching on a throwing error, and was pinch hit for by Aaron Wilson. Wilson moved to second on a grounder and third on a passed ball, before coming home with the tying run on a Graham McIntire triple on a 3-2 count and two outs.

McDonough then stepped to the plate and made amends for his two previous at-bats ”“ both strikeouts ”“ as he smacked a no-doubt homer high over the wall in left.

“I said, ”˜Look for a fastball and drive it somewhere,’” Tarry said of what he told McDonough before the at-bat. “And when he drives it somewhere, it goes far.”

“It wasn’t really frustration,” said McDonough. “I definitely was a little upset about my at-bats before, but I just got a good pitch to hit and I drove it.”

Ben Greenberg shut the door on the Sharks in the top of the ninth, getting a 1-2-3 inning after an adventurous eighth to earn the win.

The Tide (8-14) have an off-day today before embarking on a 12 games in 12 days stretch. McDonough said getting a win before the stretch begins will hopefully help boost the Tide out of last place in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League East Division.

“It’s just good to get the W. We’ve been struggling a little bit, and it’s going to hopefully move us forward,” he said.

— Staff Writer Wil Kramlich can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 323 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @WilTalkSports.