After a remarkable 45-game season filled with individual brilliance, relentless offense,and record-breaking performances, the 2022 Newport Gulls season has come to a close. With a regular season record of 30-14, the Gulls finished with their most wins since the 2013 season, and their first division title since 2015. Newport’s season ended in the NECBL Wild Card Round with a loss on Monday August 1 to Sanford.
A total of three Gulls were named as the NECBL Player of the Week, which is the most in a single season in franchise history. All three – Colton Ledbetter, Josh Kuroda-Grauer, and Slate Alford, won the award in just a four-week stretch. On top of that, Newport had 11 players on the NECBL honor roll this season, some named multiple times. That tally was the most in the league this summer.
Two Newport pitchers, Kevin Seitter and Ryan Ginther, were awarded the NECBL Pitcher of the Week this past season, tied for the league’s best. It is the first time since 2016 that the Gulls have had two or more pitchers be given the highest weekly honor for a pitcher in the NECBL.
Offensively, Newport’s offense stood apart. The Gulls scored 10 or more runs in 11 games this summer, the most since the 2012 season. Newport scored 291 runs during the regular season, the third-most runs scored by any team in the NECBL since 2016. The Gulls had three players in the top-10 in the league in average, two of the top four in home runs, and the top three leaders in total hits in the entire league this summer.
Individually, the Gulls were led by Colton Ledbetter on the offensive end. The Mississippi State Bulldog was tied for the league lead in home runs, led the league in RBIs, and hits, and was third in the NECBL in walks. Hitting in the third hole in the lineup almost every night, Ledbetter was named an All-Star, finished in second in the home run derby on top of collecting a game-high four hits in the All-Star Game at the Shark Tank. That included a three-run, 409-foot homer. The Samford standout this past spring takes his talents to Starkville, Mississippi with the all-time record in Gulls’ history in runs, RBIs, and total bases in his back pocket.
Newport was anchored for the majority of the season with one of the league’s most prolific pitching staff. Overall the Gulls finished the season top-five in ERA, first in the league in punchouts with an astounding 448 in total on top of possessing the lowest WHIP in the NECBL in 2022 at 1.22. It was just the second time that any team in the NECBL has collected 445 or more strikeouts in a single season since 2010.
Week 4 NECBL Pitcher of the Week Kevin Seitter was a standout in Newport with back-to-back six-inning, no-hit performances on the mound. The Quinnipiac righty finished with a 1.80 ERA in 35 innings. Newport not only had itself a great year at the plate but on the mound as well. Seven Gulls finished with an ERA below three as Newport used 12 different pitchers in a starting role this summer. Seitter and All-Star Logan McGuire spearheaded Newport’s rotation by the end of the season. McGuire finished the summer with a team-best five wins and a 1.86 ERA. Out of the bullpen, Garret Simpson pitched over 15 relief innings before surrendering an earned run and finished allowing just one, an 0.48 ERA.
In the middle of the season, three Gulls pitchers were selected in the 2022 MLB Draft in July. Dominic Perachi of Salve Regina University was taken by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 11th round. Then, in Round 17, Jake Garland was selected by the Oakland Athletics while Colin Lowe signed a deal with the Miami Marlins following the conclusion of the draft. The three draftees collected 98 combined punchouts in 72.2 innings pitched while allowing just 24 earned runs combined between the three of them.
Newport lost just five games all summer at Cardines Field and put together some of the most memorable moments in recent Gulls’ history. Four grand slams and two walk-off victories gave the Newport faithful plenty to cheer about.
Newport had four All-Stars including three starters for the Southern Division. Ledbetter was the starting center fielder while Noah Martinez played first base and Slate Alford was selected as the South All Stars’ designated hitter. Alford led the NECBL in doubles on the year with 15, and notched two multi-homer games. Martinez recorded a two homer game himself, with a Gulls’ season-best seven RBIs in a 16-1 win over Danbury.
Despite coming short of the ultimate goal, the Gulls had one of the most successful, and historic seasons in franchise history. Newport recorded their highest regular season total attendance in team history, welcoming over 51,000 fans to Cardines over the course of 22 games. The search for the seventh Fay Vincent Sr. Cup continues into 2023, but the mark and memory left by the 2022 Newport Gulls will always remain.