Gulls Hold On, Beat Schooners 6-3 in Divisional Battle
June 30, 2022 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Newport Gulls News Release
NEWPORT, R.I. - For the third time in four days, the Newport Gulls (10-8) and the Mystic Schooners (7-9) took the field against one another. Led by some sensational starting pitching, the Gulls defeated the Schooners for the second consecutive time 6-3 as they look to keep pace with the Sharks at the top of the Coastal Division.
The story of the night at Cardines Field was the Quinnipiac right-hander, Kevin Seitter. Seitter once again put together a masterful performance on the mound, extending his hitless inning streak to an astounding 12 innings. Seitter pitched six innings, allowing no runs on zero hits, and striking out 12 batters in the process. The Quinnipiac workhorse had it all working, as he used a combination of pitches to keep the Mystic lineup guessing all night. With 10 punchouts, Seitter moves his strikeout total to 23 on the season which is good for first on the team. Newport is the only team in the league with two pitchers that possess an ERA under one heading into July.
The Newport offense got going at the exact time it needed to in order to give the pitching staff some support. The top of the Gulls lineup continues its prolific production, with the top four batters coming up with six of the 10 Newport hits on the night. The East Carolina product, Alec Makarewicz extended his hitting streak to nine consecutive outings with a single to start things off in the bottom of the seventh. Colton Ledbetter gave the Gulls some room to breathe in the seventh inning by annihilating a two-run home run over the right-field wall to extend the Newport lead to 4-0. It was Ledbetter's team-leading fifth blast of the summer, which puts him in a tie for second in the entire NECBL for homers. Ledbetter now leads the Gulls now leads Newport in batting average, RBIs, home runs, and hits through 18 games.
The Air Force Falcon, Sam Kulasingham lengthened his hitting streak to five games with the Gull's first hit of the night in the bottom of the third inning. In just his second game back from injury, Kolton Freeman collected his first hit of the season with a base hit into right field to keep the Newport rally going in the fourth inning.
Three innings of relief from the Newport bullpen shut the door on a Schooners comeback win. Cole Stasio was the first pitcher in relief of Seitter. He went two innings, allowed just one run, and struck out two batters including a crucial punchout with the bases loaded in the top of the eighth inning. Peter Sakellaris came in for the final out of the contest and secured a Gulls' second straight win with a groundout to third base.
Next on tap for Newport is a trip up north to Robbie Mills Field in Laconia, New Hampshire to take on the Winnipesaukee Muskrats (8-9) in an out-of-division clash. The Gulls have not lost to the Muskrats since late July of 2018. Newport looks to keep its winning ways going before it heads back to the confines of Cardines Field for yet another divisional battle against the Ocean State Waves (9-11) on Aspire Dermatology Red Sox Night.
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New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from June 30, 2022
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