By: Caden Charpentier
On Monday night at historic Cardines Field, the Newport Gulls (4-1) extended their winning streak to four games, beating their Coastal Division rivals, the Martha’s Vineyard Sharks (3-2) 7-4.
After three consecutive one-run victories, it was another tense night at Cardines Field. The Sharks were able to tie the game up at four apiece in the top of the seventh inning, but in the bottom of the inning, Newport found the scoreboard for the first time since the third inning. Noah Martinez’s first hit in a Gulls’ uniform drove in the go-ahead run with two outs. Slate Alford would give Newport some more breathing room with a double to right-centerfield that would score Martinez, and put the Gulls up by two runs.
The story of the night for Newport was the consistent offensive production at the top of the order. The Gulls had their most hits of this young season at 12. The top four players in the Newport lineup accounted for eight of the 12 hits including the Southcoast Health Player of the Game Trent Farquhar. He went 3-4 with two RBIs including a two-run home run in the third inning. The Michigan State product stood alone with three hits on the night, but Colton Ledbetter and Joshua Kuroda-Grauer collected four hits combined. Rounding out the order, Ben Rounds extended his hitting streak to four games with a double and a single in the third home game of the season.
Ledbetter’s two-run homer in the first inning tied the ball game up after the Sharks put up two themselves in the top of the inning. The future Mississippi State Bulldog tied for the team lead in RBIs and led the Gulls in runs scored with three on Monday night. Kuroda-Grauer’s single in the eighth inning put the icing on the cake of a Newport win, keeping the Cardines Field undefeated streak alive.
On the pitching side of things, the Gulls once again used three pitchers to keep the Sharks’ offense at bay for the majority of the contest. Baylor right-hander Cole Stasio started his first game for Newport, going four innings, striking out three batters, and allowing only two runs on just two total hits. Liam LeVangie and Garrett Simpson both came in for relief appearances and helped continue the impressive stretch for the Gulls’ bullpen. The two only allowed two runs in the final four innings of relief, walking only one batter. In the past three contests, the Gulls’ bullpen has combined for only five runs allowed in 12 innings of relief.
Next up for the Gulls is a trip to Martha’s Vineyard to take on their division rivals, the Sharks once again at the Shark Tank at 6:35 pm on Tuesday night. Newport has not lost a game at the Shark Tank since July of 2019. After two back-to-back road games, the Gulls return home on Friday night to face off against their in-state rivals, the Ocean State Waves at 6:35 pm at Cardines Field for Rhode Island Lions Sight Night.