BANGOR – As the fifth inning progressed on Tuesday night, South Vineland, N.J.’s Abe Heredia Jr. began to live a pitcher’s nightmare.

One run had already scored. He had loaded the bases with Spring, Texas, runners. And nobody was out.

“That’s where you dig in, you give it all you’ve got, you rear back and you throw your heart out,” Heredia said an hour or so later … after he’d finished that inning by striking out three straight hitters and preserving a 2-2 tie in a key Senior League World Series matchup.

South Vineland dodged another Texas threat in the bottom of the sixth, then scored three runs in the top of the seventh – including two on a booming double to left by James O’Donnell – en route to a 5-2 victory.

The win gave the East Region champs from New Jersey and the Southwest champs from Texas identical 2-1 records in Pool B of the tournament.

Spring, Texas, will take on South Bend, Ind., at 8 p.m. on Wednesday while South Vineland enjoys a day off. They’ll take on Latin America champ Curacao at 8 p.m. on Thursday.

Heredia finished with a six-hitter, striking out 10 and walking just three.

South Vineland scored single runs in the second and fifth, while Spring countered with a run in the first to make it 2-1 and set the stage for Heredia’s strikeouts.

But the most dramatic play may have come in the bottom of the sixth, when South Vineland foiled a hit-and-run attempt by the Texas stars with first baseman Chris Martinez’s nifty unassisted double play.

Martinez ranged to his left to flag down a high popup, then dove back to the bag to narrowly beat a scrambling Matt Mendel.

“That play in the field was a bit of a heartbreaker,” Texas manager Chad Watson said.

“And for them to carry that [momentum] to the plate and score three runs right afterwards was fantastic on their part.”

Watson was referring to the three-run uprising that sealed the game for the hard-throwing Heredia, which started with an infield single by speedy Darren Ford and a bloop base hit by Sean Rivera.

Martinez loaded the bases on a fielder’s choice (the shortstop threw unsuccessfully to catch a wandering Ford), and O’Donnell followed with his two-run double.

“The most comfortable situation I like is men on second and third or the bases loaded with one out or no outs, because I know all I have to do is muscle it into the outfield and a run will score,” O’Donnell said.

The final run scored on a Luis Nieves sacrifice fly.

SOUTH VINELAND, N.J. 5, SPRING, TEXAS 2

South Vineland (2-1) Spring (2-1)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Ford, cf 2 1 1 0 Meleski, 2b-ss 3 0 0

S. Rivera, c 4 2 3 0 Kiger, rf-2b 3 0 0

Martinez, 1b 3 1 2 1 c-Bran. Watson 1 0 0

O’Donnell, rf 4 0 1 2 Brax. Watson, 1b 0

Nieves, ss 3 0 0 1 Harughty, ss-p 3 0 0

Acevedo, 3b 2 0 0 0 Wiley, cf 2 0 0

a-Myrie, 3b 0 1 0 0 Mendel, p-rf 3 0 0

d-Lugo 1 0 1 0 Flessas, lf 1 0 0

Heredia, p 1 0 1 0 Watkins, lf 1 1 0

e-Cichy 1 0 0 0 Gonzales, 3b 1 0 0

Castillo, lf 3 0 0 0 Bonetti, 3b 2 0 1

Ruggiero, 2b 2 0 0 0 Smith, c 1 0 0

f-A. Rivera 1 0 0 0 b-Gaines, c 1 0 0

Totals 27 5 9 4 Totals 26 2 6 1

a-ran for Martinez in first and third, ran for Nieves in second, ran for Heredia in fourth; b-ran for Smith in third; c-struck out for Kiger in fifth; d-singled for Myrie in seventh; e-flied out for Heredia in seventh; f-grounded out for Ruggiero in fourth

South Vineland, N.J. 010 010 3 ? 5

Spring, Texas 100 010 0 ? 2

E?Acevedo 2, Martinez, S. Rivera, Ruggiero; Harughty, Meleski, Bonetti; LOB?New Jersey 7; Texas 7; 2B?Heredia, O’Donnell; Wiley; DP?Acevedo-Martinez, Martinez unassisted; Harughty-Maleski-Brax. Watson; S?Heredia; Meleski; SF?Nieves; SB?Martinez, S. Rivera, Myrie; Watkins, Gaines 2

South Vineland IP H R ER BB SO

Heredia (W, 1-0) 7 6 2 0 3 10

Spring IP H R ER BB SO

Mendel 2* 2 1 0 4 1

Harughty (L, 0-1) 5 7 4 3 1 3

*faced three batters in the third

T?2:14; ATT?350 (est.)