Tonight’s matchup between the Mystic Schooners and the Newport Gulls was the opening of the Narraganset Bay Insurance Company season series, and it brought everything. Dominant pitching, sensational hitting and moments of absolute suspense. In the end, for the first time this year, dirty water played over the loudspeaker at Cardines Field as Brody Szako( Austin Peay) walked it off with two outs in the bottom of the 9th, scoring Jake Burley. (Wake Forest)
Gulls Starter Adam Maher(UMass Dartmouth), fresh off winning NECBL pitcher of the week for his performance opening night at Martha’s Vineyard pitched and was once again terrific. He pitched six innings of 1-run baseball, recording 7 strikeouts and only allowing two hits.
For Mystic, Matthew Fletcher started the game, pitching 5.2 innings, giving up 2 runs on 3 hits, walking 1 and striking out five Gulls.
Newport scored first in the bottom of the first. Garrett Staton(Alabama) sent the first pitch thrown by Fletcher across the street to put the gulls up 1-0. The Gulls would add to the lead in the bottom of the 3rd. Back to back singles by Jake Burley(Wake Forest) and Niko Brini(UConn) put two on base with one out. Nolan Stevens(Miss.St) hit a sharp grounder to short. The Schooners were able to get a force at 2nd but Stevens’ hustle down the line forced the throw wide and Burley would score on the error to make it 2-0 Newport.
Mystic would get on the board in the top of the 6th due to Maher losing some of his command. Following a hit by pitch, Schooners catcher Nick Solorzano would reach 3rd base on two wild pitches before being plated on a fielder’s choice hit by his Stony Brook
teammate Erik Paulsen. Maher was able to strand a runner on base, limiting the damage to the sole run.
It would be the bottom of the 7th where the Gulls would finally pull away. Walks from Luke Orbon(St. John’s) and Jackson Mackenzie(Miss. St) would put two in scoring position for Niko Brini. On the first pitch thrown by new Schooners pitcher Cian Sahler(Fordham), Brini lined it
into shallow center for the single that gave the Gulls their first lead of more than 2 runs at Cardines this summer.
Ty Starke(Louisville) answered the call to the pen to start the 7th. Starke was good, recording three strikeouts in two innings, conceding two unearned runs in the top of the 8th, but getting two pivotal outs to strand the tying run on base.
In the bottom of the 8th, the Gulls need a repeat of their 7th inning success and they found it in the middle of the lineup. A one-out double by Randy Seymour(Michigan St.) missed being a home run by a matter of inches. Questions rattled Cardines about whether it had hit a tree,
making it a home run. Thankfully, Luke Orban(St. John’s) made them irrelevant on the very next pitch, hitting a ball over the bullseye on the center field fence for a crucial 2-run homer.
However, Mystic wasn’t going down without a fight. After a 2-base error by Jackson Mackenzie, Luke Sefcik drew a walk off of closer Nick DiRito(UMass Lowell). Up stepped catcher Nick Solorzano. The Stony Brook product hit one over the 28 ft. fence in deep right field, tying the game with one out in the 9th.
This set the scene for the bottom of the 9th. Burley led off the inning with a single up the middle. Brini fought off the best attempts of Schooners pitcher Max Haug to avoid the strike zone, laying down a bunt that advanced Burley. After a tense strikeout of Garrett Staton, Mystic manager Phil Orbe made the decision to intentionally walk Nolan Stevens (Miss St.). Szako would make him pay for that choice, flailing a ball down the left field line, giving the Gulls round one in the series versus Mystic:
With this win, the Gulls improve to 2-3 while the Schooners fall to 4-3. The Gulls resume play on Wednesday right back at Cardines Field with a 2nd showdown of the season with the Martha’s Vineyard Sharks. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 pm Wednesday for Stop & Shop School Pantry Night.
