A1 Solar Signings
NEWPORT, RI – The Newport Gulls 2024 season is powered by A1 Roofing’s Solar Division and today we are thrilled to announce the signing of two freshmen from Georgia Tech, pitcher Michal Kovala and infielder Ryan Jaros.
Michal Kovala was the number one European prospect coming into 2022, according to Perfect Game. Michal was born in a small city, Ostrava, located in the Czech Republic, a country where only 10,000 people play the sport. He was selected to play with the Czech Republic national team in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, where the 18-year-old pitched four scoreless innings in a win-or-go-home game against Germany.
Kovala has made 16 appearances this season for the Yellow Jackets. In his 17.1 innings pitched he has struck out 17. Getting some valuable innings as a freshman, he has also seen some tough competition, including a shutout inning against a dangerous North Carolina team on March 22nd. Kovala and the Gulls pitching staff continue to look better and better.
Ryan Jaros enters college baseball as the 6th ranked third baseman in the country and the #1 third baseman in the state of New Jersey (4th overall). Standing at 6-4, Ryan can absolutely crush the ball and has a bazooka of an arm. In high school, he led his team to multiple championships as they were always a contender when he was in the lineup. He was a three-time all-state third baseman by NJ.com (no freshman season due to Covid-19), as well as a four-year member of the academic honor roll.
Ryan is currently batting .343, with 12 hits and eight RBIs in 35 at-bats for the Yellow Jackets. He has appeared in 26 games and started 11 as just a freshman. On April 7th, he had a three-hit game vs Pittsburgh where he had two doubles and scored twice. Jaros can work an at bat as well with his ten walks on the season. Yet another tough out at the plate makes his way to Newport.
The Gulls are getting two athletes who are determined to be the best at their positions. Ryan and Michal will bring tons of big game experience to Cardines Field this summer. Stay tuned for more Solar Signings as A1 Roofing continues to power the Gulls throughout the off-season and into the title defense this summer.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 Gull
