By JESSICA RYAN
Courier-Post Staff
CAMDEN

``Christmas in July'' was the theme at Campbell's Field Saturday and Camden Riversharks left fielder Darrell Nicholas gave the third-largest crowd in the stadium's history a big present - the park's first inside-the-park home run.

Nicholas' three-run, inside-the-park homer was the key hit during a six-run rally that lifted the Riversharks to a 10-4 victory and their second straight win over the Newark Bears.

``I was thinking triple,'' Nicholas said about his hit to right-center field. ``When I came around second, I didn' t think he was going to send me at all.

``He (manager Wayne Krenchicki) was a lot further down the line than normal. So I figured he knew what he was doing. I just put my head down and ran hard.''

Nicholas finished the game with three hits and three RBIs in front of 6,149 fans, which represented the Riversharks' third-largest crowd behind the home opener on May 11 (6,198) and July 7 (6,178).

With Camden trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the fifth inning, second baseman Andres Duncan sparked the Sharks with an infield single that brought up Brad Strauss, the former Haddon Township High School star who earlier had belted his fourth home run of the season in the third inning to tie the game at one apiece.

This time, Strauss smacked a triple - his first of the season - to tie the game at 2. Singles by shortstop Jesus Azauje, center fielder Dwight Maness and first baseman Dan Held set up the dramatic blow by Nicholas.

``For us, this is big,'' said Strauss, who extended his hitting streak to 13 games by going 2-for-4. ``You want to hopefully start getting that air that you're going to win games instead of thinking, `Are we going to win a game?'''

The Riversharks (28-49, 4-10 second half) set their franchise record for hits in a game when designated hitter Guillermo Garcia singled for their 17th. Held and Brumfield also singled to set the standard at 19, with everyone in the lineup getting a hit.

``If you get confidence, it builds,'' Strauss said. `` Last game built into this game, and hopefully it carries over to tomorrow.''

Winning pitcher Derek Root (3-4) scattered seven hits and allowed three earned runs in 6˜ innings, striking out seven, including former Phillies outfielder Pete Incaviglia. Incaviglia finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs.

Azauje went 4-for-4 with two RBIs to lead the Sharks.