Newport Finishes Regular Season on Record Win Streak
Published on August 1, 2011 under New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Newport Gulls News Release
NEWPORT, R.I. - With perhaps their best team performance of the season, the Newport Gulls continued their team-record 12-game winning streak into the playoffs by rolling past the New Bedford Bay Sox, 12-0, before a season-high crowd of 3,062 Monday night at Cardines Field.
Tim Kiene (Maryland; South Windsor, Conn.) smashed two homers-including a grand slam in the eighth inning-and drove in a season-high six runs while Rand Ravnaas (Georgetown; Fort Worth, Texas) and Conrad Gregor (Vanderbilt; Carmel, Ind.) cranked solo homers.
Bobby Wheatley (Southern California; Villa Park, Calif.) turned in his best start of the season, lasting six innings and giving up no runs on five hits and one walk while striking out two. Wheatley (1-2) allowed just one runner to reach third base.
The Gulls led from the start after scoring three runs in the first. Ravnaas hit the first pitch of the inning by New Bedford starter Brian O'Neil (2-4) over the center-field fence for his fourth homer of the season. After Gregor walked, Kiene smashed a two-run bomb-his eighth-to right for a 3-0 lead.
Newport added two in the third as Robby Ort (Indiana State; Newburgh, Ind.) scored on a wild pitch and Kiene came around on an RBI double by Jeff Melillo (Rutgers; Annandale, N.J.) to make it 5-0. The next inning, Ravnaas led off with a triple to right and scored on Ort's fielder's choice to increase the lead to 6-0.
The Gulls added another run in the fifth as Melillo scored on a groundout by Tom Richards (Washington State; Bend, Ore.) and one more in the sixth on Gregor's solo homer to right, giving Newport an 8-0 advantage.
Kiene's first grand slam of the season in the eighth drove home Richards, Ravnaas, and Gregor to put the icing on the cake. It was Kiene's ninth homer and 30th RBI, both best on the team and top-five in the NECBL.
Jon Prosinski (Seton Hall; Skillman, N.J.) returned from a back injury and made his first appearance since July 15, pitching two hitless innings of relief with four strikeouts and one walk. Dan Zlotnick (Marist; Katonah, N.Y.) worked a scoreless ninth to preserve the shutout.
Newport (29-13) finished the regular season by winning 24 of its final 30 games, including a franchise-record 23 wins in July. The current 12-game winning streak is also the best in team history, beating the previous mark of 10 games set twice in 2006. The Gulls will host the Laconia Muskrats in Game 1 of the NECBL Eastern Division Semifinals on Wednesday at Cardines Field. For more, visit Newport's website at newportgulls.com.
New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from August 1, 2011
- Newport Finishes Regular Season on Record Win Streak - Newport Gulls
- Mainers Top Muskrats In Make Up, Lose Later In Lynn - Sanford Mainers
- Monroe shuts down North Adams in 6-1 win on the road - Keene Swamp Bats
- Navs To Host First Playoff Game Tomorrow At Fraser - North Shore Navigators
- Mountaineers End Home Regular Season Schedule With 4-2 Win - Vermont Mountaineers
- Blue Sox' Eberle; Schooners' Bordonaro Win Player, Pitcher of the Week - NECBL
- Sam Eberle Named NECBL Player of the Week - Valley Blue Sox
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