Zach Letson – Broadcaster and Team Publicist

LACONIA, N.H. – It was another nail-biter. But when it was all said and done, Newport (11-8) picked up its fifth one-run victory in 2022 with a 6-5 win over Winnipesaukee (8-10) Thursday night at Robbie Mills Field.

After falling in a 2-0 hole in the second inning the Gulls responded swiftly. Alec Makarewicz continued his torrid start to the summer, launching a two-run homer for his first long ball with Newport. The home run made it a 2-2 game in the third inning. Makarewicz has hits in all 10 games played with the Gulls. Before his blast, the East Carolina product robbed the Muskrats of a two-run homer, leaping at the right field fence to keep it in the yard.

In the fourth, the Gulls took their first lead of the game after an RBI double from catcher Parker Haskin. The 2021 NECBL All Star had his best night of the summer, going 3-3 as the main Gulls spark plug offensively.

On the mound, Daniel Blair gave Newport another quality outing, firing four innings of two-hit ball. Neither of the two runs the starter allowed were earned. In Blair’s last three outings, the Texas righty has only yielded one earned run and struck out 10.

After the Muskrats went up 4-3 in the fifth, the Gulls would again bring home three unanswered runs, Slate Alford scampered home on a wild pitch to bring Newport even in the sixth. In the eighth, the Gulls took a lead they would not relinquish as Josh Kuroda-Grauer came in to score on a Winnepesaukee balk. The Gulls tacked on one more in the ninth, as Colton Ledbetter walked and scored on an error.

Josh Grosz took over on the mound for the last three innings and was lights-out. In his Gulls debut, the righty shut the door on the night, allowing just two hits and one run. Grosz did so in emphatic fashion; the final eight outs the ECU Pirate recorded were all strikeouts.

Newport looks to extend its winning streak to five when it faces Ocean State (9-12) in game three of the Pell Bridge Series. The Gulls and Waves have split each of the first two matchups. First pitch from Cardines Field is at 6:35pm Friday.

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