SANFORD, ME. - A steamy Monday night set the stage for the long-awaited 2024 NECBL Championship series rematch in the Pine Tree State. Newport hit the road to Maine for the only time in the regular season, and they brought their bats.

Newport entered Monday's game averaging under four runs per game on the road, and immediately, Newport jumped on Sanford and starting pitcher Josh Kopetski. Leadoff man Michael Gupton (Samford) was all over the lefty, singling on the first pitch of the ballgame. Matt Bolton (Binghamton) hit a single into left-center, putting runners at the corners with no outs early. Randy Seymour's (Michigan State) sac-fly plated the contest's first run at Goodall Park, and Newport did not stop there.

Colby Wallace (East Carolina) and Kyle Branch (Oklahoma) both singled, and Cade Brown (Georgia Tech) knocked Bolton and Wallace after a double down the left field line to put Newport up 3-0 going into the bottom of the first and ending the day for Kopetski.

Gulls veteran Drew DeLucia (Franklin Pierce) was not as accurate with his four-pitch mix, as the humidity levels were high to start the game. DeLucia allowed a double and hit Zack Kent on the next pitch after getting an early groundout to start his day off. The Newport defense had Drew's back as Kent got too aggressive and was back-picked by Will Fosberg (Northeastern) at first base. Wallace then made a great play at third off a ground ball from Jack Toomey to end the first.

Ryan Novak (MiamiOH) led off the second with his first summer hit against Nathan Teague. Newport would then be retired in order following the knock. Similar to the first, DeLucia got a quick out one, his first punch out. Blake Schaff followed that at-bat with a single, and two batters later came around to score on a double from Ryan Kolben as the Mainers tried chipping away at the deficit.

After a two-out walk by Fosberg and a single by Brown, Newport would put two runners on with two away in the 3rd. Matt Ossenfort's (North Carolina State) flyout ended the rally for the Gulls. In the bottom half, Trey King walked and moved over on a groundout by Kent. Another Mainer double scored King and cut Newport's lead to one, 3-2.

The Gulls would get back on the board in the fourth after Matt Bolton hit his third homer of the season off Gage Wheaton. The blast was Bolton's second in as many games. In the bottom of the fourth, Hudson followed in Bolton's steps hitting a moonshot to cut the deficit back to one. The next two pitches were singles from Kolben and Brandon Sencaj, but DeLucia forced weak contact on back-to-back at-bats to get out of the fourth and finish his day with Newport up 4-3.

The fifth and sixth innings showed both squads struggling to plate runners in scoring position. A double-play in the 5th and a soft groundout in the 6th had the Gulls come up empty-handed. For Sanford, they faced Max Debiec (Michigan) in the 5th and at the start of the sixth. Max worked around a single and throwing error to retire the Mainers but was relieved in the 6th after walking the first two batters and showing some signs of pain in his throwing arm.

Logan Olson (Penn State) got a quick groundout that moved two runners into scoring position. Olson then got Brian Connolly to strike out swinging. After a walk loaded the bases, Olson froze up clean-up man Jack Toomey to escape the sixth with the lead.

The Gulls offense came alive in the seventh, but unsuspectedly after a Seymour strikeout kicked off the frame. Four straight Gulls reached thanks to a single, walk, and hit by pitch. The fourth of that sequence was a bases-loaded knock by Cade Brown to score Wallace and Branch. Ossenfort would fly out, but Ryan Novak showed off his pop as he jumped on a Sam Mitchell 0-1 pitch that landed in the forest beyond the right field wall and put up three more for Newport, making the score 9-3.

Olson went back out for the seventh and was hot and cold, getting two outs but not before walking three Mainers to load the bases. Trey King knocked Olson out of the game after a two-run single up the middle. Mike Coombs called on Blake Julius (Oklahoma State) to put a bandaid on the inning by striking out Brian Connolly.

Newport's offense could not take advantage of a throwing error in the 8th as Sanford's defense made some highlight reel plays to keep Newport at nine. Julius surrendered a walk to Toomey and a single to Blake Schaaf with two outs, but the shift against Brennan Hudson did its job, as Kyle Branch made a great play in shallow right field to throw out the first baseman to end the eight with Newport up 4.

Cade Brown kicked off the ninth with a leadoff walk and stole second, the only stolen base of the game for either team. However, back-to-back strikeouts by pitcher Connor Toriello and a Gupton groundout ended the half-inning. Cade Connolly (Michigan) replaced Julius and had the role to finish the game, ideally with Newport on top. Connolly did just that, retiring the Mainers 1-2-3 for the first and only time of the night.

The Gulls came away with the 9-5 win, and Newport has won four straight games, three of which came on the road. Newport will host Sanford for their final regular season match on Wednesday, July 23rd. The Gulls have the day off on Tuesday, and return to Cardines on Wednesday, June 25th, as they host Danbury. First pitch is at 6:35 p.m. and the game will be streamed on ESPN+.