For the first time ever, the Endicott College baseball team has qualified for the Division III College World Series, and Cranston West graduate Thomas Barbieri will be making the historic trip with the rest of the Gulls roster.

Endicott clinched their berth this past Saturday by wrapping up a two-game sweep of Ithaca in the super regionals, flying past the Bombers 7-3 thanks in part to Nicolas Notarangelo’s go-ahead home run in the sixth inning.

With the score tied at one apiece, Notarangelo connected on a pitch from Ithaca starting pitcher Colin Leyner and sent the ball over the wall in right field for a solo blast, his ninth of the spring.

The Gulls then followed that up by posting a pair of runs in the seventh and three more in the following frame, with the final flurry providing enough run support for Rian Schwede to pick up the final three outs in a non-save situation.

Barbieri settled in behind home plate to serve as Schwede’s catcher for the conclusion of the contest, making his 27th appearance of the campaign as starting backstop John Mulready’s replacement.

It was the third time since the start of the regional round that the ex-Falcon saw action for Endicott, entering the fray in Mulready’s stead in the late innings on May 21 versus Bridgewater State and the next day against Johnson & Wales.

The latter, a 10-4 upending of the Wildcats, forced an if game that the Gulls won 7-1 to advance to the super regionals, with the Endicott pitching staff limiting the JWU lineup to just four hits.

Friday marks the start of the Gulls’ trip to the College World Series in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where they will square off with a Baldwin Wallace squad that also swept its super regional opponent, punching its ticket on Saturday with a 16-6 victory over Aurora.

Heading into Endicott’s tilt versus the Yellow Jackets, Barbieri has made the most of limited reps inside the batter’s box this season, posting a .357 batting average with three home runs and eight runs driven in.

Cranston native Daniel Baruch saw his 2023 campaign on the diamond extended by at least two more games, as Boston College earned an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament when the bracket was unveiled on Monday.

The Eagles were assigned the second seed in the Tuscaloosa, Ala. regional and will begin their bid for a first super regional appearance since 2016 this Friday against Troy, with regional host Alabama and fourth-seeded Nicholls rounding out the quartet.

While not a regular member of the BC lineup, Baruch has nonetheless played in 21 games this season with the Wheeler School product clubbing a pair of home runs, most recently going deep in an 8-4 triumph over Notre Dame on May 19.

Olivia Conti once again concluded her season by being name among the standout players of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference, earning her third straight selection to the all-conference first team.

The Cranston West alumna was the main threat at the plate and on the basepaths for the Emmanuel softball team, pacing the Saints with 13 doubles, 19 stolen bases and eight home runs.

Conti also found time to etch her name into the program record books this spring, slamming her 22nd career round-tripper in an April 25 game versus Wheaton, which concluded with the Lyons claiming an 8-7 victory in walk-off fashion.

Emmanuel wrapped up their 2023 campaign on May 6 courtesy of a 3-1 defeat to Lasell in the GNAC tournament, their second loss in a three-day span after St. Joseph’s of Maine sent the 24-18 Saints to the losers’ bracket by the same final score.