Red hot bats, strong starting pitching and late-inning heroics sent the Sharks to the top spot in their division by way of a 10-game winning streak.

The Sharks began their stretch of dominance the evening of the first of this month with a 7-6 rally-stifling victory against the Ocean State Waves. Sharks closer Nathan Tellier slammed the door shut on the Waves and after the game Sharks Manager Jay Mendez knew his team was on the brink of breaking out.

“I think the team is starting to come around; they’re starting to gel,” he said. “Once that starts to kick in, the wins come with it, we’re starting to get hot at a good time.”

Following the win on July 1, the Vineyard team racked up four straight road wins while outscoring their opponents by a 30-15 margin. The Sharks returned home last Saturday night for a battle against division rival Danbury Westerners.

After exchanging leads and words that cleared the benches, the Westerners jumped out to a commanding 13-7 lead in the sixth. The Sharks fought back but couldn’t get closer than five runs down going into the bottom of the ninth.

Then with the bases loaded, Matt Chamberlain singled to bring in two runs and make it 13-10. Brady Slavens continued the rally with a double to deep right scoring two more runs following a sacrifice fly. With the onslaught of offense, the Sharks had come all the way back, and tied the contest at 13.

Two men on. One out. Bottom of the ninth. Win streak on the line, Anthony Videtto stepped into the batter’s box. He watched two strikes whistle by him from the Westerner’s southpaw sidearmer, then locked in.

Videtto knew it was gone the moment the ball left his bat. His teammates flew out of their dugout in celebration as the ball soared over the fence in left, capping an eight-run come-from-behind walk-off victory.

“I got down two strikes, shortened up and just tried to put a ball in play. He gave me a pitch I could hit, so I swung, and we know the rest,” a jubilant Videtto said after the game.

After the triumph over Danbury, the Sharks went on to topple the Newport Gulls 5-1 at home and the New Bedford Bay Sox 13-2 on the road for victories seven and eight.

On Wednesday night they seized their opportunity to take sole possession of first place in the southern division with a win over the Mystic Schooners. Daniel Hegarty earned his third victory and Alan Burnsed belted his third homer of the season in the 9-5 victory for the Sharks.

Thursday night the Newport Gulls were back in town, and shortstop Nander De Sedas promptly welcomed them with a leadoff homer, it set the tone for yet another Sharks victory. Tellier struck out the side in the top of the ninth to earn his fifth save of the year and propel the Sharks to a 6-3 victory and their tenth straight win.

The home team looks look to continue its winning ways tonight at the Shark Tank against the Keene Swamp Bats. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m.