FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                            Contact: Chuck Paiva

January 24, 2020                                                                                   President & General Manager

TOP 20 MOMENT COUNTDOWN: #17 

Gulls Continue to Countdown Top 20 Moments in History

NEWPORT, RI- After taking home the 2012 NECBL crown, Newport returned to the league finals in 2013 only to fall to the Keene Swamp Bats two games to one. It is never easy to reach three consecutive finals and 2014’s road back followed suite. Newport experienced losing streaks of five, three, and three in July which left the organization’s perennial 25-win total, a feat reached the previous 13 seasons, in question heading into the regular season’s last game. The NECBL’s most decorated franchise eventually captured their 25thvictory and clinched the Southern Division No. 2 Seed. As any athlete knows, when the playoffs roll around and records are wiped clean, it’s fair game, and the hottest team at that time usually wins.

Moment #17

Blaise’s Blast 

Round 1 of the 2014 Southern Division Playoffs gave the Pell Bridge Series a whole new meeting. Newport faced off against their in-state rival Ocean State Waves. It was a back and forth series that would ultimately be decided in Game 3 at Cardines Field on August 6. The Gulls dropped Game 1 by a score of 4-2. Newport forced a rubber match after winning a shootout at Old Mountain Field 10-8 in Game 2. Jack Patterson(Bryant) started on the mound for the Gulls in Game 3 and quickly allowed four runs over the first three innings. 

Trailing 4-1 as the Gulls came to bat in the bottom of the 4th, Jose Vizcaino Jr. (Santa Clara) led off with a single. After a few more base hits, a wild pitch, and a walk led to a couple runs crossing the plate, the bases were loaded with the eventual league MVP Blaise Salter(Michigan St.) coming to the plate. Prior to Salter stepping up to the plate, Waves Head Coach Eric Cirella turned to his righty specialist, submarine pitcher David Gerber(Creighton University). Gerber was credited with the win for the Waves in Game 1of the series after throwing 2.2 scoreless innings. His pitches were extremely tough to pick up because of his quirky delivery. He made it especially difficult for right-handed hitters as his fastball tailed into their hands, consistently missing barrels and resulting in weak contact, if any at all. This was the case with Salter’s at-bat. 

Quickly, the count reached 0-2 after a called and swinging strike. Gerber then delivered two balls to even up the count 2-2 when Top 20 Moment #17 occurred. Upon recalling this significant moment, long-time Gulls Manager Mike Coombs stated “It seemed as though Salter always came up in the big spot. That was the baseball Gods rewarding him for playing the game the right way, always.” Gerber hurled a nearly impossible pitch to hit to the awaiting Salter. It was only the fourth inning but the fans were all standing and cheering loudly. They knew how crucial this at-bat was for the game and ultimately the season. 

As the ball twirled down and in on Salter, somehow, he got the barrel on it. Gerber’s fastball flew deep over the fence in left-centerfield for a grand slam. “That was the nail in the coffin.” Coombs stated. The most successful coach in NECBL history continued to say “I’m not even sure the ball had landed by the time Blaise crossed the plate. He was always so enthusiastic and such a leader for our team. There was no home run trot. He couldn’t wait to cross home plate to greet his teammates. He stomped on home and fired everyone up which was the start of the momentum we needed to win the whole thing.”

Ocean State was deflated from that moment on. Patterson completed eight innings of work and didn’t surrender another run before giving way to Marc Huberman(Southern California) to finish the game and the series. The rest is history. The Gulls would play another three-game series against the Plymouth Pilgrims in Round 2 before sweeping the Sanford Mainers to take home their sixth championship in team history. However, if you were to ask any of the players on the 2014 roster, the title was secured when Salter came up clutch in the fourth inning of Game 3 against Ocean State. 

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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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