Danbury –The Danbury bullpen struggled once again, allowing 12 runs in extra innings in a deflated 18-9 loss against the Newport Gulls in game on of a Tuesday doubleheader.

In a game against two teams battling for third place in the NECBL southern division, Newport struck first off of Westerners’ ace Emmet Sheehan. After retiring the leadoff hitter to begin the ballgame, Isaiah Thomas launched a solo home run to give the Gulls the early lead. Chris Hamilton followed up the home run by drawing a walk before Gulls’ third baseman Justyn Henry-Malloy added on with a two-run home run of his own to make it 3-0 before Danbury stepped up to the plate.

A day after struggling to find the scoreboard against New Bedford, Danbury would be held in check through the first three innings against Newport starter Dillon Brown. The Westerners would crack the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth inning against Brown. After a bloop single by Alex Baratta with two outs, Designated hitter Sonny Uliana launched his sixth home run of the summer over the left field fence to cut the deficit to one.

But Newport would answer in the following half inning. Courtesy of a two-run home run from Thomas, his second of the game, Newport would bring the lead back to three as the 7-inning game progressed.

Although the bats were quiet, Danbury used small ball and some sloppy play to mount the comeback. After Jay Curtis led off the inning with a ringing double, Cam Masterman walked and Alex Bello blooped a single to make it 5-3 with more runs on base. Justin Jordan then laid down a bunt that was thrown away by Brown, scoring two and tying the game. Caleb Upshaw followed it with an RBI single to give Danbury their first lead of the game.

In the top of the seventh inning, the Westerners found themselves three outs away from snapping their six game losing streak. Austin Gussman came in to try and shut the door. However, after a pair of singles and a walk, Newport loaded the bases with no one out, bringing Brett Vosik to the plate. He would loop a single in front of Justin Jordan, tying the game and keeping the bases loaded with no one out. Danbury then turned to Ryan Bryggman to try and work out of the jam. After a force out, Bryggman would induce a 6-4-3 double play to get out of the inning tied.

After Danbury went down in order in the bottom of the seventh, the teams took things into extra innings. Bryggman went out for the top of the eighth looking to keep things tied. With the leadoff runner on base due to the international tiebreaker, Bryggman retired the first two batters before Scott Holzwasser took a two-strike pitch over the left field wall to give Newport the 8-6 lead.

But Danbury responded in a timely manner. With Justin Jordan on second, Caleb Upshaw went to the opposite field for a two-run home run, tying the game at 8.

But once again, the home run ball hurt the Westerners. With one on and one out, Brett Vosik joined in on the home run party, sending a ball over the right-center field wall to give the Gulls the 10-8 lead. Newport would get two more runners on base before Austin James laced a single to left that got passed Upshaw, scoring two more runs. Whenit was all said and done, the Westerners were looking at a ten-run hole they could not climb out of.

The loss is their seventh in a row, who look to bounce back in the second game of the doubleheader.

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Danbury – Danbury struggled at the plate and in the field on their way to a 7-1 loss over the Newport Gulls to sweep the Tuesday doubleheader.

Following a ten-run ninth inning in their game one loss to Newport, Danbury would find themselves behind once again. After Eli Oliphant set down the Gulls in order in the top of the first, Newport struck for three runs in the top of the second, one of which was unearned. The Gulls tacked on two more runs the following inning, with another error costing the Westerners.

Although they scored nine runs in their loss in game one, they struggled to mount any offense in game two, only mustering one run on five hits while committing four errors. Newport would tack on two more runs in the top of the seventh to put Danbury away.

The loss marks their eighth in a row, as they now fall to 12-12 and sit out of the playoff race by two games. After a day off on Wednesday, the team travels to Rhode Island to take on the Ocean State Waves Thursday evening.