Gulls Bludgeon Blues to Continue Winning Streak
July 29, 2021 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Newport Gulls News Release
NEWPORT, R.I. - The Newport Gulls dominated on both sides of the ball as they defeated the Bristol Blues 11-3 at Cardines Field on Wednesday night. Sam Cochrane led the charge at the plate, reaching base five times on two walks and three hits, including a towering solo blast in the second inning.
Cochrane's performance stood out in what was an offensive onslaught by the Gulls. Newport's lineup took advantage of dismal play from Bristol's defense, accumulating 12 hits and seven walks in addition to four errors, a passed ball, and eight wild pitches by the Blues.
Grayson Moore set the tone on the mound, giving up just two runs (one earned) and striking out five over 5.1 innings en route to earning the win. The earned-run just charged to Moore was the first given up by a Newport starter in four days, and the two total earned runs in nine innings by the Gulls pitching staff kept the team's ERA at a stellar 0.75 mark over its winning streak that extended to four games on Wednesday.
Despite the lopsided effort, it was Bristol who struck first in Wednesday's ballgame, as leadoff hitter Austin White laced a double down the right-field line and came around to score on a fielding error by second baseman Dawson Brigman. However, Newport struck right back in the bottom of the frame on a Spenser Smith double that caromed off the banners on the right-field fence scoring Chase Achuff. The Blues escaped further damage as starter Garrett Coe got Bryce Hulett to pop out to short with the bases loaded to end the threat.
The Gulls rallied again with two outs in the bottom of the second inning, as Cochrane collected his second hit of the day, a moonshot that sailed over the netting above the right-field fence and thumped off the roof of a nearby building. Achuff followed, reaching on an errant throw from Coe, and Matt Wood's single moved him over to third. Another misfire by Coe reached the backstop allowing Achuff to score and make it a 3-1 ballgame.
Newport put pressure on the struggling Blues defense in the bottom of the fourth. After Kenny Oyama reached on a fielding error and Cochrane received a free pass, the Gulls attempted a double steal that forced catcher Chad Knight to throw wildly into center field, scoring Oyama. Achuff then poked a single to score Cochrane and extend the lead to 5-1.
Consecutive singles by Smith and Brigman started off the bottom of the fifth, and Hulett continued the trend smacking a base knock of his own to score Smith. Jordan Rogers then drilled the fourth consecutive single of the inning to load the bases, and Coe plunked Oyama to push Brigman across the plate. Bristol reliever Chas Cywin salvaged any remaining hope of a Blues comeback, escaping a bases-loaded no-out jam unscathed to hold the score at 7-1.
After cruising through five frames, Moore ran into trouble in the top of the sixth, allowing a single to White who swiped second before scoring on a ground ball base hit by Anthony Galason.
Newport's starter was pulled in favor of reliever Luke Shauer, who immediately induced an inning-ending double play.
Bristol's Matt Erickson replaced Cywin after two perfect innings but could not replicate the latter's command, nailing Hulett and walking Rogers and Cochrane to pack the sacks. A bouncer to third off the bat of Achuff should have led to at least one out, if not an inning-ending double play, but Brennen Dorighi fired a wild throw home, plating Hulett. Erickson limited the damage from there, punching out Wood and Cal Parrillo with the bases loaded to keep it a 8-1 game.
White capped off an impressive performance against Newport with a double to left-center in the top of the eighth, driving in teammate Brock Murtha for Bristol's third and final run. If there were any doubts of whether the ballgame was out of reach for the Blues, the Gulls answered them in the bottom of the frame, as Smith and Brigman scored on wild pitches and Hulett scored on a Cochrane single to extend the lead to 11-3.
Chris Aldrich tossed a scoreless inning to cap off the contest and send the Blues packing.
Newport (20-17) faces off against the Danbury Westerners (20-18) in a pivotal division matchup at Rogers Park at 6:30 pm.
For more information about the Newport Gulls, visit facebook.com/newportgulls, follow the Gulls on Twitter @NewportGulls or visit www.newportgulls.com.
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New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from July 29, 2021
- Gulls Bludgeon Blues to Continue Winning Streak - Newport Gulls
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