GULLS BATTLE BACK, TAKE DOWN MOUNTAINEERS IN VERMONT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Newport Gulls

operations@newportgulls.com

MONTPELIER, VT. - Newport hobbled their way into the all-star break and needed a response on the other end. Their performance on Tuesday, July 22nd, seemed to be a revival of a Gulls team that can compete for all nine innings, and most importantly, come out on top.

The Gulls entered Tuesday night's game losers of five of their last seven, but held a six-game winning streak vs. Northern Division opponents. Newport got two early baserunners on multiple four-pitch walks to leadoff man Matt Bolton (Binghamton) - who extends his on-base streak to 26 games - and Dre Lewis (Manhattan). However, with two outs, Bolton would be picked off by Vermont starting pitcher Ryan Brown to end the top of the first.

Cade O'Leary (Florida State) picked up his second start for Newport and had a solid first inning. Vermont capitalized on two infield singles from Conlan Daniel and Dom Camera as well as some good baserunning to score a run. Still, minimal damage carried the Gulls into the second.

After Randy Seymour (Michigan State) popped out, Adam Agresti (St. John's) walked and stole his way to second. Unfortunately, Kyle Branch (Oklahoma) and Petey Craska (North Alabama) would both strike out, starting a trend that would make its way into the fourth inning. O'Leary got back out in the second and allowed his fielders to go to work en route to a 1-2-3 inning to keep the Gulls' deficit at one heading into the third.

Brown followed up back-to-back punchouts in the second with three-straight K's to retire the side in order, going from Ryan Novak (MiamiOH) to Matt Bolton to Michael Gupton (Memphis). 

Cade O'Leary would run into some trouble in the 3rd after a leadoff walk to Bennett Shealor, and a one-out single by Joey Pagano put two runners on. A wild pitch to the next batter Sam Gates moved Shealor to third and Pagano from first to second. In a full count, not only did O'Leary lose Gates, but another ball would get by Agresti to score Shealor and get Pagano to third. The first pitch to the next hitter, Dom Camera, was another wild pitch, plating Pagano and bumping Gates into scoring position. O'Leary would lose Camera for his third walk of the inning, and the final pitch of the plate appearance got passed Agresti, so yet again runners sat on the corner with only one out and Vermont ahead 3-0. During the next at-bat, Camera would go to second on catcher's indifference, but no one would score after a Ryan Foody line drive found the glove of Colby Wallace (East Carolina), who doubled up Gates at third. Gates was caught off guard by the screamer to the hot corner and could not get back to the bag in time.

Newport needed a response, but after a strikeout by Dre Lewis to start the fourth, Ryan Brown had dimmed the Gulls' hopes, working a streak of six-straight strikeouts to that point. That's when Newport's bats came alive. The Gulls lineup rattled off three straight hits. A double from Wallace, a single by Seymour, and another double, this time off the bat of Adam Agresti, cut the Gulls' deficit to one. Back-to-back walks administered to Branch and Craska loaded the bases for Ryan Novak, who came in clutch for Newport, ripping a two-run single up the middle to give the Gulls a 4-3 advantage and knock Brown out of the ballgame. Luke Deschenes replaced Ryan Brown, who induced a double-play ball to get out of the jam.

In the home half, the Gulls would go with a change themselves on the hill and give the nod to Aidan O'Connell (Vanderbilt). Outside of a two-out single by Christian Reyna, O'Connell got weak contact off the bats of Vermont to get out of the fourth unscathed. 

Deschenes had Newport's number early in his relief appearance, facing the minimum in the fifth on three baseballs that did not escape the infield - a Michael Gupton lineout, Dre Lewis groundout, and a Colby Wallace groundout. Conlan Daniel got his second hit of the day to lead off the bottom of the fifth. Daniel would steal his second bag of the day, but would stay put after two shallow pop flies found the glove of left fielder Ryan Novak. With Dom Camera back up, he would watch Daniel try to take third base, but was gunned down by Agresti, who made a strong throw to Wallace at third to get out of the inning.

The sixth saw Seymour reach on an error and steal his way into scoring position, but the next three Newport batters went down at the hand of Deschenes, who looked untouchable. In the bottom of the sixth O'Connell administered a leadoff walk, but a fielder's choice put out, and Newport's second double play ball saw the lefty face the minimum.

Newport's offense still had no answer for Deschenes, who would shut down Newport's lineup, seeing three hitters and retiring each one of them, including the final out being one of the best plays all season by a New England League ballplayer. Michael Gupton skied a ball deep into center field, where outfielder Conlan Daniel ran straight back and made a Willie Mays-esque play, over the shoulder, and saved what could have been an inside-the-park homer from the speedy Gupton. That play gave Vermont momentum, and the bottom of the seventh would prove to be a very pivotal and intriguing inning.

O'Connell faltered for the first time, allowing a Matt Minckler double. Minckler would score after Christian Reyna singled to tie the ballgame at four. O'Connell was unable to retire the 9-hole man Bennett Shealor, who would walk to put two on with no one away. A fly out to center field from Conlan Daniel moved Reyna to third for Joey Pagano. During the Pagano at-bat, a delayed steal from Shealor not only put two runners in scoring position but gave the 2025 Vermont Mountaineers the all-time NECBL team steals record with 145 and counting. Shealor would delay the game some more after picking up second base and raising it into the air, and getting the crowd at Montpelier Recreation Park on their feet.

The delay, plus a few calls not going the way of O'Connell, got manager Mike Coombs up in arms with dish umpire Rick Force. After some more jawing, Coombs was then tossed for arguing balls and strikes, his second ejection in eight days. Manager Coombs made sure to leave a lasting impression, dusting the plate with dirt and throwing a bucket of baseballs onto home plate, along with the bucket itself. It seemed as if the ballgame was slipping away from Newport, with Vermont one hit away from a multi-run lead and the Gulls without their skipper in a tie ballgame.

Aidan O'Connell would walk Pagano to load the bases, but would not waver. He punched out Sam Gates on four pitches and then forced a groundball to Seymour at short, who went to Branch at second to keep the game knotted at four going into the final two innings. 

It took until the eighth inning for Newport to threaten Deschenes, and it started in an unorthodox fashion with Dre Lewis reaching on a dropped third strike following a swing-and-miss that got away from Shealor behind the dish. A Seymour one-out single moved Lewis up a station and a double-steal at the end of Adam Agresti's at-bat, which resulted in a punchout, gave Newport two runners in scoring position with two outs. In stepped Kyle Branch, and on the second pitch of the at-bat, he punched a ball into right field, scoring two runs for Newport, regaining the lead in the eighth, 6-4. Newport would keep the inning alive after a Petey Craska single, but the run would stop after a Novak pop-up. Just as the momentum swung in the way of the Mountaineers, the Gulls snatched it back thanks to Kyle Branch.

The first ball in play in the bottom of the eighth was a line drive off the bat of Ryan Foody, rocketed over to second, and Branch made an impressive grab to give newly-inserted Jake Gregor (Louisville) his first out of six needed for the long save. Gregor replaced O'Connell after a season-long four innings of work, only allowing one run. Another runner would reach on a dropped third strike this time, third baseman Elliot Miles of the Vermont Mountaineers, but his time on the paths would be short-lived after back-to-back fielder's choice groundouts got the Gulls into the ninth with the lead, 6-4.

The Gulls were unable to score in the top of the ninth vs. Logan Magdits after a two-out single from Dre Lewis saw him move to second on a throwing error coming in from right field. Magdits would strike out Wallace to end the inning and keep Newport at six runs. Gregor needed three outs to get the W, and he started off the home half with a punchout, retiring pinch-hitter Joey Baran. A Conlan Daniel groundout followed before a full-count walk from Joey Pagano brought the tying runner to the plate with two outs. Sam Gates was the last hope for Vermont and he chopped a ball to Branch at second, who shoveled it to Craksa at first to end the game, 6-4.

Newport's win not only bumps the Gulls to 22-14 but also continues a seven-game win streak against Northern Division opponents, a tally Newport wants to improve upon in their final interleague match of the season on Wednesday, July 23rd, when Newport welcomes Sanford to Cardines Field.

As the league's final stretch hits high gear, Newport needs to pick up wins in any means possible to head into the NECBL playoffs with much-needed momentum. First pitch for Gulls-Mainers is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. and will be streaming on ESPN+.  

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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.