Gulls' Pitching Staff Continues to Stifle Laconia

The Newport Gulls continued their winning ways Tuesday night by sweeping the Laconia Muskrats in a best of three game series in order to advance to the second round of the playoffs; with the 3-0 victory, the Gulls have railed off 10 straight victories.

The Gulls followed the classic baseball blueprint: defense and pitching wins championships. Behind outstanding fielding, the Gulls' Mark Appel dominated the Muskrat lineup.

Appel, who will be entering his sophomore season at Stanford this fall, featured a rare balance of power and accuracy in order to stifle Laconia. Appel only yielded two walks through eight innings, pitched while striking out eight batters. Furthermore, Appel kept the Muskrat hitters off the base path by only allowing four hits. Appel’s quick innings and efficient outing was a catalyst for a resourceful Gulls offensive attack.

The offense was ignited by outfielder Brendon Kelliher. Kelliher was 2-4 with an RBI. Succeeding Kelliher’s go-ahead RBI in the top of the second inning, the team would tack on two more insurance runs throughout the course of the game. With the win, the Gulls advance to the Division Championship series, where they will play either North Shore or Sanford. The opening game of the DCS will take place Thursday night at Cardines Field.