The Newport Gulls were on the losing end for the first time this season as they fell 11-6 to the Danbury Westerners in Danbury, CT on Tuesday night at Rogers Park.
The Gulls did not waste any time as they were able to get on the board first. After a leadoff double by Anthony Donofrio (Quinnipiac University), Trent Farquhar (Michigan State University) drove home Donofrio to give Newport a 1-0 lead.
In the bottom of the first, the Westerners scored three runs on two home runs. After Brant Baughcum reached on a walk, Daniel Labrador opened the scoring for Danbury by hitting his first home run of the season. Bobby Zmarzlak then made it back-to-back home runs for the Westerners on his first home run of the season. After the first inning, the Gulls trailed 3-1.
The Westerners followed their first inning fireworks with another run in the second after Javon Hernandez brought home Collin Quintano on a sacrifice fly. After two innings, the Westerners led the Gulls 4-1.
Danbury would continue to add to their lead over the next two innings thanks to three home runs. Joey Skarad, and Baughcum each launched long balls and Zmarzlak hit his second home run of the game to stretch the Westerner lead to 11-2.
In the sixth inning, the Gulls scored four runs without the benefit of a hit. They were able to walk five times in the inning but were unable to score more runs after Matt Spada came on in relief for the Westerners and picked up a strikeout to end the sixth. Danbury led after six innings, 11-6.
The Westerners would end up holding on for the 11-6 victory. With the win, Danbury improved to 3-2 on the season. After the loss, the Gulls dropped to 5-1.
Nolan Pender (Bellarmine University) started the game for the Gulls and dropped his first game of the season. Jordan Falco picked up his first win of the season for the Westerners.
Newport will return home on Wednesday June 14th to take on the North Adams SteepleCats at historic Cardines field in a doubleheader. Gametime for Game 1 will be at 3:00 and Game two will be at approximately 6:30. All games are broadcasted live on the NECBL Broadcast Network.