Newport R.I – On Friday, June 16, the Newport Gulls triumphed over their division rival, the Northshore Navigators, in a shutout victory of 2-0 at the celebrated Cardines Field. Maintaining an undefeated record at home, the Gulls’ season record improved to 8-1, while the Navigators fell to 2-7. This game marked the first of seven meetings scheduled for both teams.
The starting pitchers, Kevin Seitter (Quinninipac University) for the Gulls and Brayden Clark (Salve Regina University) for the Navigators delivered a great pitching duel in the first four innings, resulting in a scoreless game. However, Seitter emerged victorious, picking up the win.
He pitched 6 innings, giving up only two hits and striking out nine batters. During the first and third innings, Seitter kept the Navigators at bay by striking out two out of the three batters he faced each inning.
In the fifth inning, Seitter got himself out of trouble with first and second, one out, which was a crucial moment for the New Jersey native. He struck out Tommy OConner (University of Cincinnati) and Matthew Chatelle (Merrimack College) to get out of the fifth.
The first run of the game came in the bottom of the fifth inning when Samuel Kulasingam (United States Air Force Academy) picked up a leadoff double, followed by Kolby Branch (Baylor University) RBI single up the middle that brought home the first run of the game. Branch advanced to second on a wild pitch, which proved to be costly for the Navigators later that inning. With two outs, the Gulls scored one more run on Tyler Hare’s (Georgia Tech) opposite-field double.
Clark’s night was over after five innings of work, giving up five hits, two earned runs, and three strikeouts, resulting in the loss. Both teams’ bullpens did their job on Friday night, keeping their opponents in check. Wyatt Danilowicz (University of Louisville) picked up the save for the Gulls.
The Newport Gulls will travel on the road for the next two games, facing the Ocean State Waves and the North Shore Navigators before returning back home on Monday night for a 6:35 p.m. game at Cardines Field against the Martha’s Vineyard Shark.