Gulls to Host Laconia in NECBL Playoffs
Published on August 2, 2011 under New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Newport Gulls News Release
NEWPORT, R.I. - The hottest team in the NECBL will begin its mission to add a league-record fifth championship banner to the scoreboard at Cardines Field when the Newport Gulls open the best-of-three NECBL Eastern Division Semifinals against the Laconia Muskrats Wednesday in the City by the Sea.
Newport (29-13) is riding a team-record 12-game winning streak after closing the regular season with a 12-0 win over New Bedford on Monday. The Gulls wrapped up home-field advantage throughout the postseason with the victory, clinching the best record in the NECBL by a game over Keene and Holyoke.
As the top seed in the Eastern Division, Newport will host No. 4 Laconia (18-24) in the first game of the series on Wednesday at 6:35 p.m. Game 2 will be played at Robbie Mills Park on Thursday evening and Game 3, if necessary, would be Friday at Cardines Field.
The Gulls won the season series against the Muskrats, 4-2, including the final three meetings between the teams. Newport also won two of the three games played at Cardines, including a 4-3 victory on July 22. Three of the six games were decided by one run and the Gulls outscored the Muskrats, 23-19, over the season series.
Newport will send Jacob Lee (Arkansas State; Jonesboro, Ark.) to the mound in Game 1. Lee posted a 4-0 record during the regular season with an NECBL-best and team-record 0.66 ERA in seven starts. He has a strikeout-to-walk ratio of nearly four to one and has given up just 30 hits in 40 2/3 innings.
Lee did not pitch against Laconia in the regular season but has won four of his last five starts, the only no- decision coming in a game against New Bedford that was suspended after one inning. He has allowed just one earned run in his last 26 innings pitched.
The rest of Newport's playoff rotation has not been announced and Laconia did not announce its starting pitchers for any of the three games. The NECBL Eastern Division Finals will start Aug. 6.
Newport's 12-game winning streak is the longest in team history and four games better than the eight-game streak on which the Gulls finished 2010. They have won 24 of their last 30 games overall. Newport is looking for its fifth NECBL championship after winning titles in 2001, 2002, 2005, and 2009. No other team has ever won more than three titles and no other current franchise has more than two championships.
Tickets for Wednesday's game will be available in the Cardines Field box office starting at 5 p.m. For more information, including the live game stats and broadcast, visit the Gulls' website at newportgulls.com.
New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from August 2, 2011
- Playoffs Start Wednesday - Home Thursday Vs. Keene - Danbury Westerners
- Mountaineers Fall to Keene In Regular Season Finale - Vermont Mountaineers
- Swamp Bats clinch Western Division Regular Season Title - Keene Swamp Bats
- Gulls to Host Laconia in NECBL Playoffs - Newport Gulls
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