Gulls Win Fourth Straight

Coming off a 4-1 victory over the North Adams SteepleCats earlier in the day, the Newport Gulls looked to continue their winning ways when they traveled to Paul Walsh Field to face the New Bedford Bay Sox on Tuesday evening. In a game that lasted ten innings, Blaise Salter drove home Tommy Edman on a critical RBI single in the tenth inning to propel the Gulls to their fourth straight win, edging out the Bay Sox, 4-3, in front of 453 fans at Paul Walsh Field.

The Bay Sox jumped ahead early in the first inning, scoring a run against Mark McCoy in his first start with the Gulls in 2014. Bay Sox outfielder Walker Moses led off the inning with a walk, then scored on an RBI double by Lorenzo Papa. Papa tried to stretch his double into a triple, but excellent defensive throws by Tanner Donnels and Ryan Tufts led to Papa getting thrown out at third. Even though McCoy was able to evade further damage, the Bay Sox were able to take an early 1-0 lead.

However, the Gulls bounced back in the top of the second, when Donnels launched his second home run of the season off Bay Sox starter Brandon Cook, tying the score at one. This was Donnels’s first home run in NECBL competition since he hit one at Cardines Field back on June 30 against the Mystic Schooners.

An important facet of the game for the Gulls focused on their defensive productivity. The Gulls were able to turn two double plays throughout the game, getting McCoy and the Gulls pitching staff out of big jams. The first was turned in the bottom of the third, with the second proving to end a big jam in the bottom of the sixth.

Meanwhile, the Bay Sox retook the lead in the bottom of the fourth. Papa led off the inning with a walk, advancing to third via a passed ball by catcher Will Smith, as well as a groundout by Joey Cecere. Ultimately, Philip Perez drove home Papa on an RBI single, propelling the Bay Sox to a 2-1 lead after four innings.

Despite trailing 2-1 heading into the top of the sixth, the Gulls rallied to retake the lead. Ben Robertsled off the inning with a single, advancing to third on a double by Salter. Roberts scored the tying run, crossing home plate after Tyler Green lifted a sacrifice fly to center fielder Chris LaVorgna.With Salter standing on second with one out, Donnels continued his offensive onslaught, drilling a triple into the outfield at Paul Walsh Field. Donnels, who already had a double and home run, ended the game a single short of the cycle, but was able to supply the Gulls with a 3-2 advantage.

As McCoy’s pitch count was continually increasing over the century mark (he left the game after throwing 126 pitches), the Bay Sox offense began to capitalize on offensive opportunities in the bottom of the seventh. With LaVorgna and Moses standing on the corners with two outs, Gulls manager Mike Coombs elected to go to the bullpen, bringing in Boston College righty Eric Stone to close out the seventh. In the second pitch of his outing, Stone uncorked a wild pitch, enabling LaVorgna to score the game-tying run. Although Stone was able to induce a ground out by Michael Gilbert, the Bay Sox managed to tie the score at three.

Stone continued to effectively evade jams when they arose, relying on his arsenal of pitches to maintain the tied score. In the eighth inning, despite allowing base hits to Cecere and Perez, Stone was able to retire LaVorgna on a pop out, escaping his first jam. However, the most memorable jam of the night came in the bottom of the ninth. Cory DeMedeiros led off the inning with a wall-ball double, eventually advancing to third after defensive interference was called. Anthony Seminarisreached on an error by Ryan Tufts at third base, putting runners on second and third with no outs. Stone was able to get Moses to fly out to center, then followed that up by inducing a major fielder’s choice that resulted in Edman throwing out DeMedeiros on a close play at home plate. Despite walking Papa to load the bases, Stone cleanly fielded a ground ball off the bat of Cecere, flipping it over to Salter at first base to force extra innings.

In the top of the tenth, the Gulls forced the winning rally against new pitcher Gage Griffin. Edman led off the inning with a single, extending his league-high 15-game hitting streak in road games. Edman advanced to second after stealing his eighth base of the season, then came around to score on Salter’s RBI single. Even though Griffin escaped the inning with runners on first and second, the Gulls had taken a 4-3 advantage into the bottom of the tenth.

Stone remained on the mound for the bottom of the tenth, and continued to pitch sharply against the Bay Sox lineup. Despite allowing a single to Perez, Stone was able to induce a double play to end the game, securing a 4-3 extra inning victory for the Gulls.

With the win, the Gulls improve to 22-16 on the season, securing their fourth straight win in the process. With the Ocean State Waves losing to the Plymouth Pilgrims at home on Tuesday, the Gulls currently stand in third place in the NECBL Southern Division standings. They trail the Pilgrims (who clinched the NECBL Southern Division title) by six games, while trailing the second-place Mystic Schooners by a half of a game.

Meanwhile, the Gulls, who improved their season record against the Bay Sox to 3-2, will host the Bay Sox in the second half of a home-and-home series at Cardines Field on Wednesday. Brett Hanewich(1-3, 4.55 ERA) will get the start for the Gulls, while the Bay Sox counter with Reed Mason (1-3, 3.11 ERA). Tune into the NECBL Broadcast Network, as Nick Lima, Tom Porter, and Tim Scott will cover the action from the series finale between the two teams. As the Gulls celebrate both Volunteer Appreciation Night and Mark Weed Memorial Scholarship Night on Wednesday, first pitch is still slated for 6:35 pm.

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