Newport Gulls Continue to be Ideal Franchise

This piece originally appeared on NECBL.com on June 28th, 2013

By Bradley Smart

Last season, the Newport Gulls went 31-10, owned the best record in the NECBL, and swept the Danbury Westerners in the finals to win their record fifth championship.  It marked their eighth appearance in the finals in their 12-year history. Since their inception in 2001, the Gulls have led the league in attendance six years and have never fallen outside the top five in the league, an impressive feat.

Perfect Game USA, a organization centering around amateur baseball players (high school and college) ranked them as the best summer collegiate team last season, ahead of the likes of Cape Cod’s best. 

And how do they do it? 

Year in and year out, the Gulls have placed themselves in the NECBL elite.  The reason for that originates at how the Gulls ownership have created an atmosphere at Cardines Field rivaled by none other, and an anchor in fiery manager Mike Coombs.

When the Rhode Island Gulls moved to Newport and Cardines Field, a completely new team was born. 

Under the management of Chuck Pavia, the Gulls have developed a reputation as a class-act ball club, attracting, on average, two thousand fans a game to see some of the best players in collegiate baseball.

The active crowds, the historical ballpark and great management have led the Gulls to have the ability to recruit talented players.

Management is key, and nobody does it better in the NECBL than the team with the Gulls. Since Mike Coombs has come in, the Gulls have gone 226-107 under him and the team has the most wins in NECBL history.

Coombs has led the Gulls to three NECBL championships, as well as having a 31-10 postseason record. He played two seasons in the minors, between the Rookie and A league, hitting .279 with a .377 OBP and 13 RBI over 45 games.

All in all, the Newport Gulls are exactly what future summer collegiate teams should model
themselves off of.

This year has been no exception, as Newport have gone 9-1 over their last ten games, and currently have a three game winning streak. 

This year, it is evident Newport can get some of the best players, as 13 of the 29 man roster the Gulls have were all drafted at some point, between 2010 and 2012. 

As with Gull’s teams of the past, superb pitching and offensive firepower have helped. 

Newport’s pitching has been unbelievable, with four players posting ridiculous numbers so far this year. The staff, headlined by the likes of James Mulry and Sean Hartnett have a team ERA of 1.36, and a WHIP of 1.05 and have given up just one home run over 132 innings pitched, as well as striking out 139.

Newport is one of the best pitching teams in the NECBL, ranking first in ERA, Opponent AVG, HR, WHIP, Opponent SLG and shutouts. 

The Gulls aren’t one-dimensional though, as they are also consistently one of the top hitting teams in the league. Led by Cody Jones this year, Newport is near the top of the league in most hitting categories, with a team .272 average and 88 runs over just 14 games.

The reason for this? 

Newport has slowly built a name for themselves, allowing them to recruit some of the best players in the nation, and have talent equivalent to some of the best leagues in the nation- leagues like the Cape Cod league.

The Cape Cod-esque talent on the Gulls was on display when they took on the Wareham Gateman from Cape Cod in an annual exhibition. The Gulls won 7-3.