Newport Gulls Shutout Mystic Schooners

June 28, 2013 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Newport Gulls News Release


Newport, RI - First baseman Steve Anderson went 2-for-4 with five RBI, belting a three-run home run for the second consecutive night, to power the Newport Gulls to their eighth consecutive victory, 10-0 over the Mystic Schooners at Cardines Field on Thursday, June 27th.

A quartet of Gulls pitchers, starter Tyler Ferguson, Sean Hartnett, Mark McCoy and Kyle Wilcox combined on the shutout, the third of the season for Newport, holding the Schooners to just three hits while striking out 12.

Newport jumped out to the early lead in the first inning after a pair of errors by Mystic right fielder Nico Darras allowed four runs to cross the plate. Newport outfielder Cody Jones led off the inning with a walk, shortstop Trace Tam Sing followed with a single and outfielder Ben Roberts reached on a shallow popup to right that Darras dropped to load the bases. Anderson followed with a single to right field that got past Darras, going all the way to the wall, clearing the bases. Third baseman Joel McKeithan followed with an RBI groundout to bring Anderson home for the fourth run of the inning.

Staked to a 4-0 lead, Ferguson was solid in his first start of the season, giving up just one hit over four innings of work issuing two walks while striking out four. The sophomore right-hander out of Vanderbilt did not last long enough to pick up the win, which went to Hartnett, who tossed three shutout frames in relief to pick up his second victory of the season. Hartnett, a junior right-hander from Washington State surrendered just a pair of hits and walks while striking out six. McCoy and Wilcox combined to shutout the Schooners over the final two frames; the duo did not allow a hit while striking out two.

Anderson put the Gulls ahead for good with a three-run homer in the fourth inning off Mystic starter Cole Bryant, who suffered his first loss of the season. Anderson has now homered in back-to-back games and is the New England Collegiate Baseball League leader in runs batted in this season with 20 in 13 games.

The Gulls pounded out 10 runs on 14 hits, improving to 11-3 overall this season with the victory, while Mystic falls to 8-6 overall having dropped each of their last three games.

Newport will be back in action at Cardines Field finishing off a three-game homestand, taking on the Western Division leading Vermont Mountaineers (11-4) on Friday, June 28th. The Gulls will send righthander Mick VanVossen (1-0, 1.89 ERA) to the mound for his fourth start of the season. Vermont will counter with southpaw David Rosenberger (1-0, 0.00 ERA).

Since moving to Newport in 2001, the Gulls have captured the New England Collegiate Baseball League championship, the Fay Vincent Sr. Cup, an NECBL-record five times, and in 2012 were named the No. 1 summer collegiate team in the country by Perfect Game USA in Perfect Game's Top 50 final rankings, capping a record-breaking season by Newport and marking the first time ever that an NECBL franchise has been ranked No. 1 nationally.

The Gulls, which attract more than 50,000 fans annually to historic Cardines Field in Newport, recruit players from the top college baseball programs in the country, and to date have sent six alumni to Major League Baseball teams, and over 150 players to professional baseball teams ranging from Independent leagues to Triple-A.

For more information, visit our website, www.newportgulls.com, and follow the team on Facebook and Twitter @NewportGulls.



New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from June 28, 2013


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