Despite a 4-3 loss to the North Shore Navigators on Thursday, Upper Valley’s loss to Keene means the Newport Gulls have secured a spot in the 2024 NECBL Playoffs. Currently 24-14, Newport is 7-3 in its last 10 games and has clinched a postseason berth with six (potentially five) games left in the regular season. The Gulls have now made the playoffs in each of the last four years after there was no season in 2020 due to COVID.
While a playoff berth has been locked in, there’s still some work to do for the Gulls to clinch the Coastal Division. With a 3-game lead over second place Mystic heading into Friday’s games, Newport’s magic number sits at three to win the Division and therefore clinch a top-3 seed for the postseason. The Gulls travel to Martha’s Vineyard on Friday before heading to Mystic for a doubleheader on Saturday. Then, Newport returns to Cardines Field on Sunday and Monday for home dates with Ocean State and Mystic. After that, the Gulls could travel to Vermont on Wednesday for their final regular season game but that matchup is tentatively scheduled and if seeding is locked in before that makeup date, there is a chance that game won’t be played and Monday is Newport’s last regular season contest.
The 2024 NECBL Postseason is set to begin on Thursday, August 1st. Eight teams qualify for the playoffs and all three rounds are best-of-3 series with Games 1 and 3 (if necessary) at the higher seed and Game 2 at the lower seed. After securing a playoff berth, Newport is guaranteed to host at least one playoff game at Cardines Field at the end of next week.
