OLD ORCHARD BEACH — The Old Orchard Beach Raging Tide offense didn’t produce a lot of hard-hit balls in Monday night’s game against Wachusett, but the Tide didn’t need the long ball. Instead, the Tide used one of its biggest assets: speed. Fast legs were a terror on the base paths for the Dirt Dawgs’ pitching and defense, leading to a 5-2 victory for the Tide in a Futures Collegiate Baseball League game at The Ballpark.

The Tide (11-22) showed a preview of its speed in the bottom of the first, as Aaron Wilson nearly led off with an infield single, then Rahiem Cooper completed the feat ”“ only to be left at second after a stolen base.

But the Tide kept up the pace in the second, as Graham McIntire led off with a single, then moved to second when he beat out a pickoff attempt. He then scored from second on a groundball single by Skip Flanagan.

Speed came around again in the third, when the Tide tacked on two more runs. Kelly Rooney led off with another infield single, followed by Wilson reaching on a hit-by-pitch. Both runners moved up a base on a double steal, with Rooney scoring when the throw to third went off-target. Wilson then scored on a sacrifice fly by Paul McDonough.

“Just using our speed is pretty much a big key; we need to start doing that more games,” said Wilson. “Today we were able to take advantage of it, get most of our fast guys on, which helps. That helped us win the game.”

That three-run cushion was all Raging Tide starter Evan Brisentine needed, ad he allowed two runs ”“ one earned ”“ in his six-inning outing. He gave up just five hits, while striking out seven against two walks.

“You look at his stats since he’s gotten here, he’s been a stud,” Raging Tide manager Chris “CT” Torres said of Brisentine. “He keeps the ball low; he’s smart.”

“He’s great. He usually gives us a great performance,” Wilson added. “I look forward to playing defense behind him.”

The Tide had plenty of chances to add to its lead, which was just 3-2 by the time Brisentine departed, but came up empty with runners in scoring position on a couple of occasions. The first three batters reached to load the bases in the fourth, but Wilson lined out to third for the first out, then the Dirt Dawgs (12-22) brought in reliever Sean Abbate to get two more.

The Old Orchard Beach offense chased starter Connor Johnson ”“ an incoming freshman at the University of Maine ”“ after 3.1 innings, but was only able to muster three runs on six hits and  three walks.

Abbate stranded another runner at third in the sixth, after Kyle Mendenhall led off with an infield single, as the Dirt Dawgs caught Mendenhall in a pickle on a botched suicide squeeze.

A rare extra-base hit ”“ the lone one of the game for the Tide ”“ brought home the final two runs in the eighth, as McIntire drove home Wilson and Cooper with a double into the right-field corner.

“They’ve been table-setters a lot,” Torres said of Wilson and Cooper. “Those two guys, Mendenhall, Rooney, all these guys get on, then you get guys like McDonough and (McIntire) doing their job, stepping up, getting those RBIs. That’s how wins happen.”

Miguel Silva closed the door on the Dirt Dawgs, as he threw three hitless innings to earn the save.

“Our bullpen has been a little bit of a weak point this year. Last year we had a great bullpen,” said Torres. “We brought Silva in, and you see what happens when you bridge the gap.”

The win for the Raging Tide comes on the heels of a 16-7 loss to Wachusett on Saturday, which was the seventh loss in the Tide’s previous eight games. Torres said he hopes the complete win on Monday can start to change the tide of the season. Wilson agreed.

“Definitely a great confidence-builder,” Wilson said.

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