Jenfrin Rodriguez
Sports Editor
This week saw Rhode Island College’s very own Frank Holbrook get announced as the next manager for the Newport Gulls making him the ninth one in team history. Throughout his life, Holbrook has always been involved with the Gulls to varying degrees.
In the past he was a part of the team as a player in 2012 and an assistant in 2013. His familiarity with high level baseball in Newport makes him a great fit for the team.
When talking about the signing, Holbrook said he could not wait until the summer and was excited for the opportunity given to him. As a whole, the plan is to build a championship caliber roster that can be one Newport is proud to have.
As a player himself, he encountered much success at Wheaton College. Having four productive seasons and even a year where his team were runners up in the 2012 Division III World Series, Holbrook is still one of the most decorated players in school history. He ranks second all time in terms of wins and ERA or earned run average with 26 wins and a 2.32 ERA. In addition, he has the single season record of 10-0 and a 1.38 ERA. At the end of this particular season, the team won the NECBL Championship while being ranked #1 in the country.
Afterwards, he returned to Newport as an assistant in 2013 and helped the Gulls have a 30-14 season. His alma mater would then have him under contract from 2014-2018 as an assistant coach. During those four seasons, Holbrook led them to the College World Series and they recorded the lowest WHIP or walks or hits per inning.
His accomplishments at Wheaton saw him become the head coach at Rhode Island College in 2019. All he needed was one year to tie a program record for wins with a 26-19 season in the books. Prior to COVID shutting down their season in 2020, RIC was 7-1. In 2021, the Anchormen were 23-11 overall.
The Gulls are gearing up for the summer season that does not begin until June 8th.