Newport Walks It Off In 10th To Win NECBL Title
For Immediate Release Contact: Chuck Paiva
August 10, 2024 President & General Manager
401-845-6832// gm@newportgulls.com
GAME 2
Back on Thursday night, the Newport Gulls hit the road to take on the Sanford Mainers at Goodall Park in Game 2 of the NECBL Championship Series. The Gulls entered the night trailing the series 1-0, needing a win to keep their season alive. Newport quieted the crowd with two runs in the third inning and added five more in the fifth to take a commanding 7-0 lead. That came moments before the game entered a delay due to rain and was ultimately suspended. Fast forward to Saturday and that’s when Game 2 resumed, this time in Newport. The Gulls knew if they held on for the win, they would force a Game 3 shortly after at 6:35. After Cole Cheatham (Mississippi State) started Game 2 in Sanford on Thursday night, Nick DiRito (UMass Lowell) took over on the mound when the game picked back up on Saturday and pitched the rest of the way. While the Mainers scored three runs once the contest resumed on Saturday, it wasn’t enough as Newport took Game 2 7-3 to force a decisive Game 3 a little over an hour after Game 2 ended.
GAME 3
In the first series to go to a Game 3 this postseason and the first championship series to go to a Game 3 since 2015, the occasion lived up to all of the hype and then some. Both teams had their aces ready to go with Newport starting Kade Shatwell (Austin Peay) and Sanford going with Tommy Ellisen. In what turned out to be a home run fest for the Gulls, Tyler Hare (Wofford) set the tone with a solo shot in the second inning. Sanford had a quick response as Jared Davis reached base with a single and eventually came around to score on an error. The Mainers then took the lead thanks to a Jackson Tucker double that drove in Caleb Shpur.
That Sanford lead turned out to be short lived because Newport’s offense came alive in the fifth. Andrew Duncan (Florida State) was walked to lead off the inning and that was followed up by a Dixon Williams (East Carolina) two-run blast to put Newport ahead 3-2. After Nolan Stevens (Mississippi State) and Randy Seymour (Michigan State) reached base, Matt Ossenfort (NC State) hit the second home run of the inning to turn a one-run advantage into a 6-2 lead for the Gulls. Tommy Ellisen was replaced by Clay Robbins in the next inning for Sanford.
The Mainers began to crawl back into the game in the seventh inning. After Kade Shatwell was taken out for Michal Kovala (Chipola) with two runners on and one out, Sanford ultimately took advantage with multiple runners on base. A Devan Bade single drove in both Caleb Shpur and Jackson Tucker to make it 6-4. The eighth inning proved to be even more trouble for Newport. Blake Schaaf got on base via a walk and two batters later, Caleb Shpur continued an impressive night with a home run over the left field fence to stun the crowd at Cardines Field and tie the game. Moments later, Campbell Holt (Austin Peay) came in for Michal Kovala but only faced one batter before he was taken out for Drew DeLucia (Franklin Pierce). With two runners on, CJ Willis delivered a single and scored Jackson Tucker to give Sanford a 7-6 lead. The Mainers had a chance to add more runs but an unbelievable diving catch in shallow left field from Newport third baseman Dixon Williams prevented that from happening and garnered a roar from the Gulls faithful.
After an incredible comeback from the Mainers, the Gulls were down to their final three outs of the season entering the ninth. Sanford turned to Beau Brailey on the mound for the close out opportunity. Nolan Stevens, the first batter of the inning, grounded out as the crowd anxiously hoped for some type of late magic. With the Gulls down to their final two outs, Tyler Hare provided that magic with his second homer of the day to miraculously tie the game as Cardines Field erupted in jubilation. Later in the inning, Newport had the winning run at third but couldn’t capitalize as Sanford sent the game to extra innings.
Tied at 7-7, DeLucia stayed in to pitch the 10th for Newport and retired the side in order. That gave Newport the opportunity to walk it off in the bottom half of the inning. The frame started off well for the Gulls when Niko Brini (Wofford) was hit by a pitch and Andrew Duncan drew a walk to put two runners on with nobody out. That brought Dixon Williams to the plate with a chance to end it there and he did not waste his chance. With the count 0-1, Williams sent a hard hit ball up the middle that got through the infield and gave Brini the chance to come home from second. With his speed, Brini got the green light and the throw from center field was well high as Brini crossed home safely and the Gulls walked it off in the 10th to win their second consecutive NECBL Championship. The moment that will go down in Newport Gulls history sent Cardines Field into a frenzy with the entire team chasing down Dixon Williams all the way into the outfield in celebration.
Coming back from a 1-0 deficit in the series, the Gulls got the job done in spectacular fashion to keep the Fay Vincent Sr. Cup in Newport. The Gulls have now won eight NECBL titles, the most of any franchise in the league’s history.
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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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