FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                            Contact: Chuck Paiva-  gm@newportgulls.com

February 21, 2020                                                                                 President & General Manager

TOP 20 MOMENT COUNTDOWN: #14

Gulls Continue to Countdown Top 20 Moments in History

NEWPORT, RI- ​Specialization has become a theme in amateur sports. Youth athletes are choosing to focus on one sport rather than playing multiple, predominantly because of the fear of being injured while playing the sport he or she won’t have a chance to play collegiately. This theme continues into the respective sport chosen and when referring to baseball, athletes either pitch or hit and play a position in baseball. Once deemed a position player, the specialization persists and you are an infielder, outfielder, or catcher. 

Sometimes players bounce around the diamond but it is rare to see players competing as a pitcher and position player. It is even rarer when it happens in the same game. How about all nine positions? This feat has only been accomplished five times in Major League history, most recently in 2017 by Andrew Romine of the Detroit Tigers. Playing all nine positions has happened only once in the history of the New England Collegiate Baseball League.

Moment #14

Rafael Lara Plays All Nine Positions in One Game 

Rafael Lara was a member of the 2001 and 2002 NECBL Champion Newport Gulls and in 2000, Lara played for the Rhode Island Gulls before the flock flew south to Newport. He attended Miami Dade Community College before transferring to Warner Southern in Lake Wales, Florida and was inducted into the Newport Gulls Hall of Fame as part of the Inaugural Class of 2010. Lara was known for his defensive prowess, winning the NECBL Defensive Player of the Year Award twice in his three-year NECBL career: 2000 & 2002. He also captured First Team All-NECBL Honors in 2002 after hitting .308, which ranked fourth among Gulls and leading the NECBL in stolen bases with 22. 

On July 29, 2002, Lara made history. He played all nine positions in one game, earning the win on the mound. 

During the team’s first few practices, Manager Terry “Crash” Allvord, along with Chuck Paiva, Chris Patsos, and the rest of the coaching staff evaluated the players signed in the off-season. As part of the evaluation process, was to determine who could play multiple positions and what position players could even pitch if need be. Allvord noted that he thought there were a handful of players that could accomplish this task and overall, the team was extremely athletic. 

Fast-forward to Game 38 of 42 in the 2002 regular season. Home field advantage for the playoffs was on the line. The team had lost to Keene the day before and feelings “were a bit low”, recalled Manager Allvord. Villanova Catcher Greg Fater confirmed the team was “beginning to feel the fatigue of playing a full college season and 37 summer ball games.” When asked about the historic game and what led up to this moment, Fater said, “It got to a point where guys wanted to take a few nights off, but there was some really strong leadership on the team that willed everyone to go out and keep grinding each night.”

The Gulls boarded the bus to Lowell, Massachusetts to take on the Mill City All-Americans at Stoklosa Alumni Field. Allvord knew he had to get creative with his lineup as key members of the team such as David Reaver (University of Richmond) were unavailable that day. He sensed the guys were feeling the pressure and in order to spice things up, he was going to move everyone around each inning. “It was like a little league game”, said Greg Fater. “I can’t remember the last time I had that much fun on the ballfield, nor could I remember the last time I played outfield or shortstop for that matter, but there I was!”

Allvord successfully kept everyone loose as his team headed into the playoffs with hopes of capturing home-field advantage and repeating as NECBL Champions.

Rafael Lara began the game positioned at his normal middle infield spots and so did everyone else. Each inning, Allvord, swapped his players into positions they hadn’t seen action in all year. He knew he wanted to get Lara on the mound but in a position to earn a victory. The Gulls rallied to go ahead and in the seventh inning, Lara proceeded to record three outs and Newport would go on to capture a 5-4 win. 

This game served as a sparkplug for the team as they headed into the playoffs. Newport proceeded to win their second NECBL title in a row, thanks in part to Moment #14 in Gulls History. To this day, Lara is still the only player to have completed this feat in NECBL history.

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The Newport Gulls, members of the 13-team New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL), are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, founded as the Rhode Island Gulls in 1998 in Cranston, R.I., before moving to Newport in 2001. In addition to recruiting, fielding, and developing a team of the nation’s top collegiate baseball athletes and attracting 50,000 fans annually to Cardines Field, the predominantly volunteer organization strives to benefit the community of Newport County via summer camps, reading programs, fundraisers, scholarships, and charitable donations – totaling over $1 million since 2001. The Gulls are six-time champions of the NECBL – the winningest franchise in league history – and were ranked as the overall No. 1 summer collegiate baseball team in the country by Perfect Game USA in 2012.

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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