Newport Gulls Opening Night Thursday

The Newport Gulls will look to hold on to the Fay Vincent Sr. Cup they earned for winning the 2012 NECBL Championship when they kick off the 2013 season Thursday at Cardines Field in Newport at 6:35 p.m.

The 2012 season was a memorable one, culminating not only in a league-record fifth championship for the Gulls, but also the team’s first ever national ranking as the No. 1 summer collegiate baseball team in the United States of America, according to Perfect Game USA’s final summer team rankings. Opening Night 2013, presented by Discover Newport, will celebrate 2012’s accomplishments as the Gulls are awarded the national championship trophy by Perfect Game USA and raise their 2012 NECBL Championship banner.

Newport Mayor Harry Winthrop will also be on the field during pregame ceremonies to present a proclamation to the Gulls from the City of Newport. Local entertainer David DiLorenzo will sing the National Anthem as color guards from all three Aquidneck Island communities’ police and fire departments take the field.

Gates open at Cardines Field at 5 p.m., and pregame ceremonies get underway at 6 p.m. in advance of a 6:35 first pitch as the Gulls take on their long-time division rival, the New Bedford Bay Sox. Tickets are just $4 for adults; $2 for teens 13-18, senior citizens and military; and $1 for children 12 and under. Season passes are available for all 22 regular season home games for just $50. The game will also be broadcast live on the NECBL Broadcast Network and via www.newportgulls.com with extended pregame show coverage beginning at 5:45 p.m.

Each year, the City of Newport has supported the Gulls by packing Cardines to capacity on Opening Night, including record crowds exceeding 3,000 fans multiple times over the last seven years. The first 1,000 fans through the gates of Cardines Field on Opening Night 2013 will receive free magnet schedules for the 2013 season. Opening Night 2013 marks the return of the best in summer collegiate baseball to Newport, as the Gulls look to raise the bar even higher following the 2012 campaign.

The 2013 season includes some changes, as well, for the NECBL, with new league officers, including a new commissioner, Sean McGrath, and three new teams, including the Plymouth (Mass.) Pilgrims, Saratoga Springs (N.Y.) Brigade, and Newport’s newest rival, the Ocean State (South Kingstown, R.I.) Waves, which will play Newport six times in the “Pell Bridge Series.”

With the NECBL growing to 13 teams from 2012’s 10, the regular season schedule has been increased from 42 to 44 games. Newport, Ocean State and Plymouth make up an expanded NECBL Eastern Division, rounded out by New Bedford, the Sanford Mainers, Laconia (N.H.) Muskrats (which are hosting this year’s All-Star Game on July 21) and Mystic (Conn.) Schooners. Saratoga Springs joins the Vermont Mountaineers, Keene (N.H.) Swampbats, Holyoke (Mass.) Blue Sox, North Adams (Mass.) Steeplecats and Danbury (Conn.) Westerners – which Newport swept in last year’s league finals – making up the six-team Western Division. The Gulls will play each Western team twice (once at home), and each Eastern team five times, with the exception of Ocean State and Plymouth, which the Gulls will play six times each. A three-round, best-of-three games playoff format remains in place from Aug. 3-11, with the winner taking the Fay Vincent Sr. Cup.

The Gulls will also square off in an exhibition against the Wareham (Mass.) Gatemen of the Cape Cod Baseball League on Sunday, June 9, at 6 p.m. in Wareham. The game, now an annual tradition, changes locations to each team’s home ballpark each year; the series is tied at 1-1 with each team winning at their own park the last two years.

Since moving to Newport in 2001, the Newport Gulls have captured the New England Collegiate Baseball League championship, the Fay Vincent Sr. Cup, an NECBL-record five times, and in 2012 were named the No. 1 summer collegiate team in the country by Perfect Game USA in Perfect Game’s Top 50 final rankings, capping a record-breaking 31-10 regular season by Newport and marking the first time ever that an NECBL franchise has been ranked No. 1 nationally.

The Gulls, which attract more than 50,000 fans annually to historic Cardines Field in Newport, recruit players from the top college baseball programs in the country, and to date have sent six alumni to Major League Baseball teams, and over 150 players to professional baseball teams ranging from Independent leagues to Triple-A. A 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation, the Gulls have raised over a half million dollars to the community that supports them, local charities and philanthropic causes.

For more information, visit our website, www.newportgulls.com, and follow the team on Facebook and Twitter @NewportGulls.