Upper Valley Tops Newport For First Time Since 2018

NECBL baseball returned to Newport tonight, as the Gulls dropped their 1st game of the season, bringing them to 0-1-1 after Thursday’s tie at Valley. 

Will Allen (USF) got the start for the Gulls, but got knocked early, and was taken out in only the second inning. The Upper Valley offensive surge was kickstarted by Cameron Boardman, as he hit a 2-RBI Double in the top of the 1st inning, followed by an Anthony Greco 2-Run Homerun in the 2nd. James Love followed suit with an RBI single, and a balk scored one more, putting Upper Valley ahead 6-0 after 2.

Newport’s lone run came in the bottom half of the 2nd, as Devan Zirwas (Eastern Michigan) led the inning off with a double, later scoring on a Cole Johnson (Austin Peay) groundout. 

The Gulls’ best opportunity of the evening came in the bottom of the 4th. Nighthawks’ starting pitcher, Trey Sejnoha, walked three batters, and with only one out, it seemed the Newport offense may have had some life. Sejnoha bounced back with his two strongest outs of the night, shutting down both Braxton Tramel and Patrick Walsh, both via the streikeout.

The game’s final run came in the top of the 5th, as Nighthawks' shortstop, Tim Dickinson, roped a double to left field, scoring Cole Huett. 

The second half of the ballgame was filled with stellar relief pitching. For Upper Valley, Joey Young pitched two scoreless innings, followed by Anthony Bubba, Chase Chamberlain, and Brendan Walker all getting one inning a piece. Newport got quality production out of their bullpen, only allowing one run in 7.2 innings pitched. Bryce Koch (Louisville) passed the torch after Allen’s short outing, followed by Zane Stahl (Louisville) who allowed the only other run for the visitors. Gulls’ returner, Jake Gregor (Louisville), helped out his team big time, as he went the final 3 innings, only allowing three batters to reach base.

The Gulls’ offense recorded double-digit strikeouts for the second straight night, this time with 13 Ks. They look to bounce back tomorrow as they head to Martha’s Vineyard for a 7:05pm first pitch versus the Sharks.

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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.