GULLA RETURNS FROM RIVER VALLEY LEAGUE

Pitcher Michael Gulla (Westbury, NY) returns to Newbury College's baseball program for his sophomore season after completing a 33-game schedule playing for the Waves of the River Valley League in Dubuque, Iowa.  Gulla was selected to play in the inaugural season of the River Valley League this past summer.  The wooden bat collegiate summer league was made up of six teams comprised of players from every level of collegiate baseball from all over the country.  The league was designed to allow players to not only work on the fundamentals of the game, but also to take part in a strength and conditioning program specially designed to help players get stronger and faster while playing.

Gulla finished second on the Waves pitching staff with 12 appearances on a team that finished second in the league with an overall record of 20-12.  Although spending most of his time coming out of the bullpen, Gulla did earn two spot starts during the summer, both of which he did not factor in the final decision.

The pitcher served as a great ambassador for the baseball program, and more importantly for Newbury College.  "We are all very proud of what Mike did this summer," stated head coach Greg Sullivan. "He was fortunate to be given this outstanding opportunity to work on his game with some very good coaches in a great baseball environment."

Gulla is just the second player in the program's short history to sign a summer collegiate league contract - the first being Billy Maddock '09 (Carolina Chaos- Southern Collegiate Baseball League, Summer of '07).  Coach Sullivan believes that placing players into collegiate summer leagues is very important, not only for the growth of the player and the program, but also for the exposure that the college receives as well.  Sullivan, who spent the two previous summers (‘07, ‘08) as an assistant coach in the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) with the Manchester Silkworms, looks forward to placing more of his players into these types of situations in the future, but also stresses how difficult it can be to get players on summer teams.

Many of Gulla's Newbury teammates took part in various levels of summer baseball - many of which are still eligible to participate at the American Legion level.  The Nighthawks coaching staff is eager to see the progress and growth of the younger players in the program.  "My message to all the players at the conclusion of the season was ‘you need to come back not only a year older, but also a year better'.  I feel there was a tremendous amount of growth that took place last spring, not only physically but mentally as well, and I am excited to continue developing the program with these returning players and also with the new recruits as well."