Postseason Preview: Softball and Baseball eye deep tournament runs

The road back begins with unfinished business.

One year removed from a heartbreaking extra-inning loss to Dighton-Rehoboth in the Elite Eight, Gloucester returns to the Division 3 tournament with a conference championship, a 17-3 record, and perhaps its best opportunity yet to contend for a state title.

The biggest reason why is sophomore pitcher Abby Noble, who has been every bit the ace the program needed her to be. Noble struck out 15 batters in a loss to Georgetown — a Georgetown squad that entered the day at 6-0 — and that performance alone tells you everything you need to know about the kind of ceiling she has. She was named to the NEC All-Conference team — one of just ten players across the entire conference to earn the distinction — and her rapport with catcher Olivia Madruga behind the dish has been one of the steadiest batteries in Division 3. When Noble is on, Gloucester doesn’t lose.

She’d be nothing without run support, though, and that’s where sophomore Janelle Brancaleone and the rest of the lineup come in. Brancaleone is the power presence in the middle of the order, providing the kind of thump that forces pitchers to work around her. Carrapichosa, Allen, and Tucker all earned NEC Lynch Division All-Star recognition — a testament to just how many weapons coach Bryan Aiello has at his disposal. Junior Aleena Brown has been a force as the designated hitter, and Samantha Tucker — a lefty slapper who currently holds the highest batting average on the team — gives Gloucester a dimension that most opponents simply don’t see coming.

The supporting cast deserves mention too. The outfield — Tucker, Mia Rodolosi, and Angela Russo — is entirely first-time starters this season, and yet they’ve looked the part all spring. The infield of Emma Carrapichosa, Laila Ciaramitaro, Mackayla Allen, and Brancaleone is about as polished as it gets at this level. And in Madruga, Gloucester has a catcher whose presence behind the plate keeps Noble in rhythm and opponents off-balance.

Gloucester’s three losses — two to Georgetown and one to North Reading — came against squads with some of the best arms in the division. Against everyone else, the Fishermen were ruthless. They rolled past Peabody 9-0 and St. Mary’s Lynn 10-2 in back-to-back midweek games in April. They held on to beat North Reading in a nailbiter and rallied past Marblehead for the NEC crown. If anything, the body of work this spring has confirmed what most people around the NEC suspected from the jump: this is a team built to go deep.

The one persistent concern heading into the tournament, however, is what happens when Gloucester falls behind. In each of their three losses, the Fishermen went into a deficit they couldn’t claw out of. It’s not that they don’t have the lineup to generate runs — they clearly do. The issue is that when the offense stalls early and teams get to Noble before she settles in, the Fishermen haven’t found the answer. If they go down early on Monday — or in any games down the post-season strech — their run could be a short one.

That said, the path forward won’t be a cake-walk. Assuming higher seeds advance, Gloucester would see Cardinal Spellman in the Sweet 16, Norton in the Elite 8, and Joseph Case in the Final Four, before a potential state final showdown with Dighton-Rehoboth — the same Dighton squad that bounced the Fishermen last year. That’s a score Gloucester certainly would love to settle.

Gloucester and Medfield tangled in last year’s Round of 32, where the Fishermen barely slid by thanks to a clutch 4th inning performance by Carrapichosa and Brown. However, that game was plauged with errors early on. If Gloucester can minimize miscues on defense and hit like they can, they should be fine.

Cardinal Spellman enters as the #10 seed, a CCL squad who lost both their league matches to St.Mary’s — a team Gloucester easily beat earlier in the season. However, with a strong lineup, Gloucester can’t just look past this matchup.

#2 Norton and Gloucester have history — a pretty recent one, matter of fact. Back in 2023, which was Carrapichosa and Ciaramitaro’s freshman season, the Fishermen bowed out in the Sweet 16 in a 2-1 loss. Norton is one of the teams favored to win this year, so an upset in this game would be a complete bracket-buster. The Lancer’s only loss this season came from Taunton — the D1 powerhouse who has won the State Championship for the past 5 years.

Joesph Case, ranked #3, recently realigned to D3 after winning the past three championships in D4. Despite losing their top five players to graduation last spring, it doesn’t look like they plan to back down. They just opened the playoffs with a convincing 13-0 win over #35 Boston Latin Academy, preparing for a Wednesday matchup between either Pentucket or Notre Dame Academy.

#1 Dighton-Rehoboth would be Gloucester’s last possible matchup, assuming that both teams advance through their respective sides of the bracket. In last year’s tournament, Dighton-Rehoboth eliminated the Fishermen in the Elite Eight, 2-1, in an eight-inning battle. Despite Noble bringing a no-hitter into the eighth inning, Gloucester’s dangerous base-running and a costly error in the field led to their demise, ending Gloucester’s deepest playoff run in recent memory.

So, does Gloucester have a chance? Absolutely. If the Fishermen can put together a complete performance — executing at the plate, playing clean defense, and maintaining focus throughout the postseason—they have every opportunity to match last year’s success. The expectations within the program, however, extend beyond simply repeating that achievement. Gloucester enters tournament play with the ambition of taking the next step, advancing deeper into the bracket, and establishing itself as a legitimate contender in Division 3.

It all starts Monday afternoon.