DANBURY, CT. - Newport came into Saturday night’s contest-winning four-straight road games after a 1-5 start through their first six games away from Cardines. However, Danbury put a halt to Newport’s success, mainly due to the Gulls' pitching staff, which ran into trouble throughout the entire game.

Newport’s offense faltered early, similarly as it did on June 21st at Rogers Park. Lots of hard-hit baseballs found the leather of Westerner defenders. Starting pitcher Kenan Elarton worked efficiently, facing the minimum in his first three innings of work. Blake Julius (Oklahoma State), on the other hand, had to work for every single out. 

Julius’s first start of the season got off to a rocky beginning after leadoff man Garrett Larson hit a double with two strikes. Julius was able to sandwich a walk with a pair of strikeouts and a shallow fly ball to left-stranded two Westerners in scoring position. 

As Newport struggled to find baserunners, going down in order in the second, Danbury took advantage of a leadoff walk to Mike Stellrecht. Gavin Donohue followed up with a big fly to left to put the Westerners up a pair. Teddy Cashman tripled and came around to score on Garrett Larson’s second double of the day, and Newport entered the third down three.

Matt Ossenfort (Michigan) and Adrian Areizaga (MiamiFL) ended the top of the third after two sharp lineouts as Newport’s first runner was still an inning away. Julius settled back in and started using a healthy mix of offspeed pitches to induce a double play, followed by a groundout to face the minimum in the third.

Cade Brown (Georgia Tech) reached on a throwing error from Stellrecht at third with two outs but would be stranded after Randy Seymour (Michigan State) grounded into a fielder’s choice. Julius’s last inning of work was quite effective, punching out two Westerners and not letting a two-out walk affect the right-hander after he would retire Garrett Larson via lineout, the only time Larson would come up empty-handed at the plate all evening.

Newport’s offense clicked in the fifth, and who else but the bottom of the order to get the bats rolling? A Will Fosberg (Northeastern) walk followed by three singles from Colby Wallace (East Carolina), Evasco, and Ossenfort plated the Gulls' first run. Then two batters later, the birthday boy Matt Bolton (Binghamton) hit a sacrifice fly to score Wallace and put Newport behind by one.

Tristan Bristow (Vanderbilt) replaced Julius in the fifth for Newport, and although he got his first batter to fly out, he showed early signs of struggle following two singles and a walk that loaded the bases. With one out, Bristow could not keep a clean sheet after a wild pitch scored Peter Link. Bristow was able to get a strikeout, but a walk that followed loaded the bases up again, trailing by two.

A two-run Teddy Cashman double and two singles came up clutch for Danbury, who were able to take a commanding 8-2 lead after a five-run fifth. Newport could not score Seymour from second in the 6th, and Newport, again, was tasked with a challenging situation.

Bristow only saw the fifth and handed the ball over to Casen Murphy (Louisville), whose attempt to shut Danbury was a failed one. A couple of walks, paired with a Jack Lutte RBI double and a Michael Gupton (Sanford) error with two outs, found Newport in their largest hole of the year going into the final stanza, down 10-2.

Newport’s bats did not shy away from the deficit as the Gulls saw five of their first six hitters reach base in the 7th thanks to a pair of singles and a pair of walks, capped off by a Cade Brown double down the right field line off newly-inserted Andrew Koshy cut the Westerners lead in half, 10-6. 

Cade Connolly (Michigan) was tasked to finally quiet Danbury in the home half and keep the comeback hopes alive. Still, after loading the bases after Garrett Larson’s third double, two walks, and no one out, the comeback hopes seemed unlikely. Connolly then stepped up and struck out the next two batters before allowing a Jack Lutte two-run single, unable to get out of the jam.

The Gulls headed in the 8th down 12-6, and although Evasco and Areizaga ripped singles to turn the lineup over, Bolton grounded out to end the inning. Connolly sat down the final three hitters in the Danbury lineup card to send Newport’s bats back up one final time down a half dozen.

Michael Gupton hit a double to left field and moved over to third following a Cade Brown groundout to the right side. A high-chopper from Seymour scored Gupton and brought Newport within five but down to their final out. Fosberg would be the final batter after popping out to short and ending the ballgame.

Newport’s winning streak ends at six, and the Gulls drop to 13-7 on the season as they near the halfway point of the summer. The Gulls have a day off before returning to Cardines Field for a double-header vs. the Upper Valley NightHawks on June 30th. Both games will be seven-inning affairs, with game one starting at 3:00 p.m. and game two at 6:35 p.m. Both games will be streaming on ESPN+.