MYSTIC & NEWPORT SET FOR ROUND ONE FRIDAY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Newport Gulls

operations@newportgulls.com

Newport R.I. - The Newport Gulls hosted the Mystic Schooners at Cardines Field for their last regular season game before playoffs start this weekend. Newport, already having clinched the Southern Division, did not have much to play for, but for Mystic, this game was an important one. CJ Bott (UCLA) got the start for the Gulls and Tristan Aasland was the starter for the Schooners. 

The Gulls only batted 9 players with their pitchers hitting for themselves in the lineup and only had two pitchers available to throw before going to position players. Tonight's game gave a little bit of fun for the Newport Gulls, their players and their coaches because it is the first game where there is no stress and no pressure to try and get the win. 

This game was all Mystic from the first inning and the Schooners never looked back. The thin pitching from the Gulls, and having three position players pitch gave Mystic the opportunity to tack on runs and they did. 

There was hope for Newport throughout the game as Josh Castellani (Clemson) hit his first home run of the summer, which was a 3 run shot to deep center field, and a much needed one for the Gulls and Castellani. Then, a few innings later, Adam Agresti (St. Johns) continued his hot stretch at the plate as he crushed a solo home run deep into the night sky. 

On the defensive side, the Newport Gulls flashed the leather in a few great plays by outfielder Michael Gupton (Memphis) and infielder Castellani. 

The Newport Gulls lost this game 21-10 to the Mystic Schooners but this is not the last time these two teams will face off against each other as they will be back at Cardines Field this Friday, August 1, to kick off round one of the playoffs. The regular season is done but now the real season has begun. Every game matters and there is no room for error as the Gulls chase down that three peat quest. 

The playoffs start this Friday, August 1st, at 6:35 pm in Newport's Cardines Field. This game will be broadcast on ESPN+, as the Mystic Schooners and Newport Gulls battle again.   

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The Newport Gulls, members of the 13-team New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL), are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, founded as the Rhode Island Gulls in 1998 in Cranston, R.I., before moving to Newport in 2001. In addition to recruiting, fielding, and developing a team of the nation's top collegiate baseball athletes and attracting 50,000 fans annually to Cardines Field, the predominantly volunteer organization strives to benefit the community via summer camps, reading programs, fundraisers, scholarships, and charitable donations – totaling over $1 million since 2001. The Gulls are eight-time champions of the NECBL – the winningest franchise in league history – and were ranked as the overall No. 1 summer collegiate baseball team in the country by Perfect Game USA in 2012.

For more information about the Newport Gulls, visit facebook.com/newportgulls, follow the Gulls on Twitter @NewportGulls or visit www.newportgulls.com.