FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                             Contact: Tom Lima

June 28th, 2025                                                          Director of Media and Broadcast Operations

                                                                                   By Matt Benestad- Analyst

                                                                                    (401) 824-6314 - broadcast@newportgulls.com

It was a beautiful night in Newport, Rhode Island as the Gulls hosted the North Shore Navigators for an interdivision clash for the last meeting between these two teams. It was a packed house of 2292 at Historic Cardines Field to watch Kade Shatwell (Austin Peay St) take the mound to start for Newport and Benjamin Rehkow (Winthrop) getting the ball for North Shore. 

The Navigators jumped right on the board in the first inning with two nice hits to take a 1-0 lead of Shatwell. Unfortunately, for the Gulls, that was all Kade Shatwell would pitch as he came out of the game in the top of the second. 

Gulls manager Mike Coombs turned to his bullpen to try and get the win and get 8 innings of work and the bullpen delivered a gem. First out of the pen was Aidan O’Connell (Vanderbilt) who came in, got out of tough jams, and threw three innings, giving up two runs. O’Connell would also show his athleticism as he made a few fantastic plays off the mound to help out the Newport defense. 

The bats continued to stay hot today for the Gulls as AJ Evasco (Kansas St) got the scoring going with a two RBI double in the 2nd inning and Newport would keep that lead for the rest of the game. Evasco would come in and score on a Matthew Bolton (Binghamton) double. 

The Gulls got their 4th and final run off the bat of shortstop Randy Seymour (Michigan St) as he roped a RBI double down the right field line. 

The pitcher of the day for the Newport Gulls was John Gregor (Louisville) as he came in relief after O’Connell and shut the door on the North Shore hitters throwing 3 ⅓ scoreless innings, bringing his best stuff when the Gulls needed it the most. Gregor had three straight 1-2-3 innings in the 6th, 7th, and 8th innings.

To close the door and wrap up the Gulls win, Coach Coombs brought in lefty pitcher Brennan Phillips (Oklahoma St) and he brought the heat and put down North Shore to grab the 1 run win for Newport. 

The Gulls are on a hot streak right now, winning six straight games and seven of their last eight. Newport looks to keep that winning streak going as they travel to face the Danbury Westerners for a Saturday evening game starting at 6:30 pm. Next home game for the Gulls is Monday, June 30th, as they host the Upper Valley Nighthawks for a double header, playing two seven inning games. The first game is at 4:30 pm and available to watch live on ESPN+.