GOING YARD PLAYER SIGNINGS - #1

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Eric Lindley - Director of Baseball Operations

operations@newportgulls.com // (401) 363-2134

NEWPORT, R.I. - Gulls Baseball is just 29 DAYS AWAY, and what better way to start the lead-up of the Newport Gulls' 25th Anniversary season then by introducing the 2026 squad!

The Gulls are thrilled to announce the signings of Fresman left-handed pitcher Mack Edwards from UCLA, Sophomore right-handed pitcher Victor Frederick from St. John's University, and Freshman right-handed pitcher Landon Hood from Gonzaga University. The 2026 Player Signings are brought to you by GOING YARD BASEBALL!  

The four year letterwinner in high school, Mack Edwards played both pitcher and first base for Reno High School and helped his team to a regional championship in 2024, and was part of the 2022 team that took home the regional title. Before becoming a pitcher for the Bruins, Edwards played summer ball for the Bellingham Bells and threw a 2.45 ERA over 22 innings with 21 strikeouts, which led them to a West Coast League Championship. Baseball was not Edwards only sport in high school as he was also a three time letter winner for his basketball team leading them to a regional championship appearance in 2024, playing center. The left handed pitcher who admires Walker Buehler is the son of Kevin and Summer and has two younger brothers for siblings. Baseball runs in the Edwards family as his Dad, Kevin, played for Oregon State. Outside of baseball, Edwards is a highly skilled juggler for a special talent. Edwards is currently undeclared in his major.

Victor Frederick had an impressive four year career at St. Dominic High School and decided to commit to St. John's University for baseball and has not looked back over the last few years. Starting his collegiate career with a strong 2025 season, pitching 12 games for the Johnnies and tacking on 43 strikeouts all in his freshman campaign.Growing up in New York, Frederick always had a love for sports and the Mets being the sports team of watch, and having two family members play baseball at the collegiate level, he knew what he wanted to do. Frederick chose St. John's because of the winning culture that the Johnnies program has built and how it was close to home right in the middle of New York. 

After a very successful high school career, and being named the 2025 Gatorade Player of the Year in Arizona, Landon Hood took his baseball career to the Gonzaga Bulldogs. Only getting a few appearances for the Bulldogs throughout his freshman season, Hood was named Freshman of the Week in the West Coast Conference three times early on this spring season. Hood chose Gonzaga because of both the athletic dominance but also the academic excellence. This combination creates a competitive schedule and conference that made Hood want to play collegiate baseball and play it for the Bulldogs program. 

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The Newport Gulls, members of the 13-team New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL), are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, founded as the Rhode Island Gulls in 1998 in Cranston, R.I., before moving to Newport in 2001. In addition to recruiting, fielding, and developing a team of the nation's top collegiate baseball athletes and attracting 50,000 fans annually to Cardines Field, the predominantly volunteer organization strives to benefit the community via summer camps, reading programs, fundraisers, scholarships, and charitable donations – totaling over $1 million since 2001. The Gulls are eight-time champions of the NECBL – the winningest franchise in league history – and were ranked as the overall No. 1 summer collegiate baseball team in the country by Perfect Game USA in 2012.

For more information about the Newport Gulls, visit facebook.com/newportgulls, follow the Gulls on Twitter @NewportGulls or visit www.newportgulls.com.