NEWS & MEDIA

For Immediate Release                                                                                                                  Contact: Chuck Paiva 

May, 7th 2024                                                                                                                                President & General Manager

                                                                                                                                                      401-845-6832// gm@newportgulls.com

NEWPORT, RI -- The Newport Gulls are powered by A1 Roofing’s Solar Division and are excited to announce the addition of two impact players from the University of Southern California.  The Gulls are adding sophomore catcher Jacob Galloway and junior right-handed pitcher Josh Blum.

Jacob Galloway was a high-school preseason All-American in 2022 and was the 7th ranked center fielder in the state of California coming out of high school. He played four years of Varsity ball at Harvard Westlake. Galloway hit .330 in his prep career and played travel with the USA Prime National team in 2021.

His freshman year at USC did not disappoint, Jacob appeared in 24 games and led the Trojans with a .365 batting average. Galloway has followed up his freshman campaign with an outstanding sophomore season so far.  He currently leads all Trojans with a .310 batting average and 36 RBIs. With 11 multi-hit games this season Galloway has been a threat every time he steps up to the plate. Galloway joins the Gulls with MLB scouts sure to be keeping a close eye on him all summer.

Josh Blum, another high-school preseason All-American in 2021, was also an All-District player during his four years at Emery Weiner School in Texas. The Jaguar’s ace led his team to a championship in his senior year of high school. He also was their MVP as a sophomore and junior. Blum dominated on the mound throwing 92 innings, striking out 166 batters and keeping his ERA below one.

As a freshman at USC, Josh appeared in 11 games and pitched 9.2 innings, including his first three strikeout inning against Arizona on May 7, 2022. During his sophomore year, his role heavily increased appearing in 30 games out of the bullpen. During his sophomore season, Josh caught fire going 11 straight innings without allowing a run and putting up an impressive 3.34 ERA  and 40 strikeouts. This year, Josh’s ERA has gone down to 2.19 with 36 strikeouts and a team-high six saves as a relief pitcher. Josh will be a huge piece in the Gulls stacked bullpen this summer.

Jacob and Josh are competing at a high level in the Pac-12 and are certainly going to be a huge factor in the Gulls success all summer long. Stay tuned for more Solar Signings as A1 Roofing continues to power the Gulls throughout the off-season and into the summer.

 

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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 seven-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, stay tuned to Gulls Social Media and Website

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