Holyoke, MA – The Newport Gulls picked up their tenth win of the season as they went on the road and took down the Valley Blue Sox, 8-1 on Thursday night at Mackenzie Stadium.
Both teams went scoreless through the first two innings. In the third, the Gulls were finally able to breakthrough and score the first run of the game. After a leadoff single by Tyler Young (Lehigh University), Trent Farquhar (Michigan State University) singled with two outs to score Young. Through three innings, the Gulls led the Blue Sox, 1-0.
The flood gates finally opened for the Gulls in the sixth inning as 11 batters came to bat and six runs scored. Bryan Broecker (Michigan State University) reached base after he was hit by a pitch and a few batters later, Matthew Schark (Southern Illinois University Carbondale) singled to score Broecker to make it 2-0, Gulls. Anthony Donofrio (Quinnipiac University) also chipped in with an RBI single. The highlight of the inning was a Sam Kulasingam (United States Air Force Academy) two-run single to score both Young and Donofrio. After six innings, the Gulls had a 7-0 lead over the Blue Sox.
In the ninth inning, the Gulls tacked on one more run on a Young RBI single to plate Luke Beckstein (Northeastern University) who walked to leadoff the frame. In the bottom of the inning, the Blue Sox broke up the shutout by scoring a singular run on a bases loaded walk.
Jake Hunter (East Carolina University) started the game for Newport and retired the first 10 batters he faced. Hunter went 5.2 innings, allowed four hits, and struck out nine. Wyatt Danilowicz (University of Louisville) pitched in relief and went 1.1 innings and did not allow a run. Nate Leibold (University of California Los Angeles) then entered the game in the eighth inning and retired all three batters he faced. William Gibbs (Mississippi State University) finished the game and secured the 8-1 victory for Newport.
With the win, the Gulls improve to 10-3 on the season and become the first team in the NECBL to reach the 10-win plateau. The Blue Sox dropped to 8-5.
Newport will return home on Friday June 23rd to take on the North Shore Navigators at historic Cardines Field with first pitch scheduled for 6:35. The game will be broadcasted exclusively on ESPN+. This will mark the first NECBL game to be on ESPN+.
