The Newport Junior Gulls 14U squad is having an impressive summer thus far.

It has compiled a 12-8-2 league record and an overall record of 24-15-5, which is comprised of league games and a variety of tournament games.

The team is coached by Portsmouth’s Ron Westmoreland and he is assisted by his son, Ryan Westmoreland, and Nick Grande.

However, there is a heavy local connection to the Gulls, as five of their players currently reside in Cranston.

Not only are those five players just on the team, but they are key contributors who patrol vital positions.

Sharing time at backstop are Tom Barbieri and Josh Stravato, while centerfielder Jake Procaccianti, first baseman Dan Baruch and shortstop Drew Spirito are all making significant impacts.

The contributions from those five carried over into this past weekend’s tournament held in R.I. at URI and Portsmouth High School – the In the Zone Baseball 14U Wood Bat Classic.

The Gulls ultimately surrendered seven runs over the final two frames in their first game of the tournament at URI against the Blackstone Valley Spinners to fall, 9-8, on Friday afternoon.

But they would bounce back on Saturday, defeating the New England Storm, 4-3, in the morning before coasting past the Atlantic Baseball Club Mariners, 11-3, in the afternoon.

The pair of wins earned the Gulls a berth in the tournament final on Sunday, however, rain forced the game to be cancelled, forcing Newport to settle for the title of co-champion.

Before the Gulls let Friday’s game slip away late, their offense was clicking on all cylinders early on.

Baruch gave the Gulls their first run when he laced a single that plated Harrison Leonard to make it 1-0.

Matt Smaldone singled home Baruch two batters later to make it 2-0, before a bases loaded walk to Ross Audet forced Smaldone home to up Newport’s lead to 3-0 after a half inning of play.

The Spinners were quickly retired in the bottom half of the inning, allowing the Gulls’ offense to get back to work.

The Gulls quickly put a runner on third, where Mike Macchione was able to jog home on a balk.

Procaccianti then scored on a passed ball and Baruch came around to score on another RBI single from Smaldone, pushing Newport’s lead to 6-0 after two innings.

That’s where the score would remain until the bottom of the fourth when a double to deep left off the bat of Blackstone’s Nick Petracca scored two to trim Newport’s lead to 6-2.

But Newport would respond, tacking on a run apiece in the fifth and sixth innings to make it 8-2 on RBI hits by Barbieri and Smaldone.

Then Blackstone started to chip away.

In the bottom of the sixth, RBI hits from Petracca and Pat Gribbon and RBI walks from Aidan Murtha, Morgen Doughty and Brenden Gannon allowed Blackstone to plate five runs, cutting its deficit to just 8-7.

The Spinners were looking to tie the game as well, but Leonard came on in relief to record a critical strikeout to escape the jam.

But unfortunately, Blackstone would pick up where it left off in the seventh, as Newport’s pitchers struggled to find the zone.

In the bottom of the seventh, Carlin Aguiar was hit by a pitch to force home the tying run.

Bradey Farrell then reached home safely as the winning run when a throw home in an attempt to prevent the go-ahead run sailed wide of Barbieri.

The performance was uncharacteristic of a Newport team that has been fundamentally solid all season long.

The Gulls used five pitchers who combined for 14 walks and one hit batsmen over six-plus innings of work.

However, the Gulls were able to put that game out of mind quickly, bouncing back to allow just three runs in each of their next two games to go as far as they could go in the tournament.

Newport will now focus its attention on another tournament – the CABA 14U Wood Bat World Series – at the New England Baseball Complex in Northborough, Mass. Play will begin on Monday and is set to continue through July 5.