MYSTIC FORCES GAME 3 SUNDAY AUGUST 3RD AT CARDINES

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Newport Gulls

operations@newportgulls.com

NEWPORT R.I. - The Newport Gulls took the short ride to Fitch High School to play the Mystic Schooners in game two of this quarterfinal series, as the Gulls had the 1-0 series lead going into the game. The first game of the series was a full pitchers dual between both teams but it is a new day with new pitchers. Casen Murphy (Louisville) got the game two start for Newport and Chase Hanawalt got the start on the mound for the Schooners. The Gulls were going for the series sweep in this game and the Schooners were trying to keep their season alive and force a game three. 

The Newport Gulls offense wasted no time as Colby Wallace (East Carolina) started the scoring with a two run homerun, his first of the summer, to get the Gulls started at the Shipyard. The Gulls got more runs in the first inning tonight than what the Gulls could get in the first game of this series. 

Mystic got back after the homerun from Wallace with a few hits and walks from the Schooners to tie the game after the first inning. The game was a much different start than the first game of the series as both offenses came to play. 

Hanawalt and the Schooners shut down the Gulls bat after a hot first inning for Newport as Mystic had settled down on defense and limited the Gulls to nothing in the 2nd inning. 

Mystic took the lead in the bottom of the 2nd with a bloop single, hit and run by Eric Cha who gave the Schooners their first lead of the game. Jake Kernodle and AJ Aschettino added on with two more runs for Mystic to give them a two run lead early in the game. Casen Murphy got out of the 2nd inning after giving up 4 runs to the Schooners on some small ball play from Mystic.  

Back to back Louisville teammates pitched for the Gulls as Jake Gregor (Louisville) relieved Murphy in the third and tried to stop the damage from the Schooners. Gregor gets out of the third inning jam as Mystic stranded two runners on base. 

The Gulls stranded two runners in the top of the 4th and their offense was not up to how they started the game in the first inning. Newport took out the Mystic starter in the fourth and the Schooner bullpen took over for the last half of this ball game. 

Mystic had a little two out rally in the bottom of the 4th as Anthony Belisario hit an RBI single to extend the lead for the Schooners throughout the middle innings of this game. Jake Gregor (Louisville) gets out of the fourth inning for the Gulls only letting one Mystic run. 

Newport stranded one runner in scoring position in the 5th inning and could not get the runner in and guys on base. 

Matt Bolton (Binghamton) lost a high fly by Maddix Delena in the lights and Delena reached second base on this mistake by the Gulls outfielder. This was no problem for Newport as Gregor got Newport out of the inning with a strikeout. 

Zach Taylor (Endicott) took the mound for the Gulls in the 6th inning. Taylor got help from the Newport defense with a perfect relay from centerfield to home to cut down a run at home and kept a Mystic run off the board and gave a little momentum for the Gulls. 

Newport continued the momentum in the top of the 7th as they got back onto the board driving in three runs in the form of a fielders choice, sac fly, and an Adam Agresti (St Johns) single which kept this game a tight one going into the final third of the game. 

Taylor got out of the 7th inning leaving two Mystic runners on base and gave Newport the momentum they needed for the offense to come through in the last two innings. 

Mystic shut down the 8th inning rally from Newport as they got out of the eighth with two runners left on base for the Gulls. The Gulls were fighting and getting the guys on base but could not get anything going and the Gulls were down by a few runs going into the 9th inning at the Shipyard. 

Mystic tacked on a few more insurance runs in the bottom of the 8th to extend their lead over Newport and the Schooners came to play tonight as their season was on the line and they gave their best to get this series to a game three. 

Newport could not do anything in the 9th inning as the bats were silenced by Mystic. 

The Mystics Schooners kept their season alive with this win over the Newport Gulls tonight and forced as game three, a winner take all game at Cardines Field with first pitch at 6:35 pm and broadcasted on ESPN+.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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.