Newport Rattles Off Back to Back Wins

The Newport Gulls hosted the Mystic Schooners at Cardines Field Wednesday in a Southern Division matchup. Newport, coming off a win over North Adams, looked to extend its streak while Mystic, coming off a loss to Vineyard, aimed to rebound. Will Taylor (Trinity) started for the Gulls and Ashton Arroyo took the hill for Mystic.

The early frames were a pitchers’ duel, with Taylor and Arroyo trading strikeouts. Newport broke the game open in the third when Caeden Cloud (Kentucky) belted a three-run homer over the right-center fence, and the Gulls never looked back. Newport plated most of its runs in the third and fourth innings behind Taylor’s strong outing. In the bottom of the fourth, the Gulls loaded the bases via a single, fielder’s choice, walk and hit-by-pitch, and eighth-hole hitter Adam Broski (Michigan State) delivered an RBI single to push the lead to four. Newport added two more runs on a Mason Ligenza (Pitt) sac fly and a Gus Gandy (Samford) RBI single for a six-run advantage.

Mystic rallied in the fifth, scoring four runs despite recording only one hit — with two runs coming on back-to-back bases-loaded walks and one on a double steal — cutting Newport’s lead to two after five innings. From there it was all Jake Kennedy (Oklahoma State), who threw four shutout innings and struck out nine, matching Taylor’s total from earlier in the game. Newport used just three pitchers and totaled 18 strikeouts against a tough Mystic lineup.

The Gulls added two insurance runs in the eighth on small-ball manufacturing: Cole Johnson (Austin Peay) doubled, Broski moved him to third with a sacrifice bunt, and Gandy delivered an RBI single. Kennedy returned for the ninth and recorded three strikeouts to close out an 8–4 Newport victory, their second straight.

Next up, the Gulls take a short trip across the bridge to face the Ocean State Waves on Thursday, June 18; first pitch is 6:35 p.m. on NECBL+.