Taunton's Notarangelo, MacDougall play big part in Endicott baseball's national title run

CEDAR RAPIDS — Four years ago, Nic Notarangelo and Danny MacDougall helped lead Taunton baseball to their first-ever Division I state title.

Now reunited at the college level with Endicott, the Silver City duo find themselves again as key contributors on a nationally ranked No. 4/8 Gulls (45-7) team headed to the NCAA Division III College World Series in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in search of the program's first national championship.

"It’s been a surreal experience unlike anything else," Notarangelo said. "The only other thing that’s ever come close to this would be our state championship run in high school with Taunton, but it’s just been an incredible ride."

The junior outfielder is batting .390 this spring for Endicott with 68 hits, 40 runs, 49 RBIs and nine home runs, including the go-ahead home run against Ithaca College to help the Gulls win the best of three NCAA Super Regional and book their ticket to Iowa.

"I know what we’re capable of and sometimes somebody has to be the catalyst," Notarangelo said. "I went into that spot and was like ‘I’m just going to try to play my game and do what I can to get us started. Luckily I was able to get that ball out and that was able to help spark some other guys."

This was Endicott's second straight trip to the Super Regionals, and after falling short last year to Baldwin Wallace, who they faced this year in the first round of the College World Series, it provided even more fuel to the fire of a team determined to make it back and push further.

"Being a part of this team the past couple of years, from getting to the super regional last year and ultimately falling out there to being able to get over that hump and get to where we want to be, it’s been awesome and now we’re able to shoot for a national championship which has never been done before in our program’s history," Notarangelo said.

For Notarangelo, what helped them get over that hump is another year's worth of experience and the team's strong chemistry.

"We’ve been around each other for I’d say my freshman year to now, we’ve just improved every single day being next to each other and we’ve begun to understand each other a lot more and our types of games and how we play and how we can back each other up and it’s honestly been a collective group where everyone is just stepping up and I think it’s a new guy every single day who will make a big play and I think it’s just constantly working and we’ve been able to put it together," Notarangelo said.

Adding to that success was the addition of MacDougall, who transferred to Endicott from the University of Maine, and for him, reuniting with Notarangelo was certainly a key factor in the decision, along with the program's success and the overall school atmosphere.

"I went in the (NCAA transfer) portal and I knew I wanted to go somewhere where I could win I saw what Endicott did last year and I saw how great of a time it looked like it would be and how awesome it would be to be a part of it, so pretty much as soon as I decided to transfer I pretty much texted Nick right away," MacDougall said. "He’s a pretty big reason of why I decided to come here. He gave me the rundown on what it’s like here, he did some persuading, but I think it was a combination of choosing somewhere where I could go in and be successful and everything would be right off the field and I think all three of those have gone pretty well in my short time here so far."

"Going back to 2019, I knew what Danny was capable of," Notarangelo said. "He showed it all through the season. It was unfortunate that he end up hurting his wrist during that playoff run because I knew how much of an intricate piece he was on the that team. When he was looking to transfer, I knew this would be the perfect place for him and I kind of went into recruiting mode and I really wanted to get Danny on board and I was constantly texting him ‘I need you to come here’ because I knew it would be huge for us and this whole year Danny has been incredible."

In his first season with the Gulls, MacDougall has led the way at the plate with a team-high .411 batting average, 60 hits, 24 RBIs, four home runs and 14 stolen bases and entered the College World Series on a 12 game hitting streak.

"I’ve been feeling good (at the plate)," MacDougall said. "I think there’s lot of different types of hitters in the world. There’s guys who think about everything every second like what pitch is coming, but for me it’s just see ball, hit ball and it’s been going well lately, so I’m going to keep on doing that out in Iowa and hope that we can win five or six games and bring home what we want to bring home."

"I knew that he would be a really big part of our success this year if he came along and he’s been proving that right," Notarangelo said.

As for seeing Notarangelo hit the go-ahead run to help send them to the College World Series, it's a clutch factor that MacDougall has become accustomed to.

"He’s been doing it," MacDougall said. "They call him ‘Playoff Nota’ around here and you’ve seen it over the past few games we’ve played but it’s pretty cool."

With their hitting prowess, the pair now find themselves at the heart of the Gulls' batting order, with Notarangelo third and MacDougall batting cleanup in fourth.

"It’s pretty cool to be able to be the guy to give him that first hug when he comes across home plate when he hits home runs," MacDougall said. "It’s a pretty cool thing and I’m sure (Taunton baseball coach Blair) Bourque would be proud of it back in Taunton and I’m just loving it and I think it’s great for the team."

Their 2019 state title win and run up to it have served as a great blueprint for the position they find themselves in now.

"“I would say it’s definitely helped us in the bigger moments because when you go through those playoff games and have that experience, you kind of know how to control your emotions in the sense where you’re going to be coming up and you’re going to have to make a big time play in a lot of monuments if you want to win games and I think that in doing that at Taunton, we’ve been able to carry that over with us to here and going outside of just us, a lot of guys have been just stepping up and it’s been incredible for us," Notarangelo said. "The new guys who step up to the plate every game has led to our success and now it’s paying off."

Having been a three sport athlete in high school and tasted both success and disappointment, MacDougall said all of those experiences have been vital.

"Playing multiple sports in high school and being part of six or seven state tournament teams, I’ve played a lot of playoff games and I’ve lost some playoff games," MacDougall said. "My high school career ended in the playoffs for baseball and I think one thing you get from it is no matter what happens, as big as it seems, the sun is going to come up tomorrow morning and as big as those spots seem, everything will be alright no matter what and I think it takes some of the pressure off you and when you do that, you’re going to be successful more often than not, so thinking of the moment as lesser than it is, it’s not only the experience of winning but also the experience of losing."

Additionally, MacDougall said he's enjoyed seeing his teammates who haven't yet won a championship feel the excitement of the run.

"You have guys like me and Nota that have done it before and I think it’s really cool to do it again, but another thing that I think is pretty cool is that we have some guys here who’re talking about how this is the first time they’ve gone this far in a tournament and this is the first time they’ve really won something huge and I think it’s awesome to see guys get that experience too because not to say that we’re sick of it because you never get sick of winning, but it’s really cool to see everybody get involved and accomplish something and it’s great to do it all again as one team," MacDougall said.

Now out in Iowa, other than the ultimate goal of coming home as national champions, both Notarangelo and MacDougall want to enjoy the experience with their teammates and take in some of the best of what the area has to offer.

"I’m just really excited. I’m not going to lie, I don’t know when I’m ever going to be going back to Iowa, so I guess this is something that I can cross off the bucket list," Notarangelo said. "Obviously we have the national championship goal but we just want to play as many games out there as possible, try to play our game and what we want to do is just stick around with each other for as long as possible. We’ve been saying that we want to play for the guy next to us. We want to keep playing to keep playing with the guys that are around us. I love this team so much. I’ve never had a single complaint about any of the guys around us. The camaraderie is incredible, the teamwork is incredible and for me, it’s a matter of keep playing and hang out with all of my guys."

"I want to go out there and play some great baseball against some great teams, I want to eat some Midwestern steak and I want to go see the Field of Dreams," MacDougall said.

Notarangelo and MacDougall are far from the only Tauntonians on the Gulls, however, as 2022 Division I state champion and 2022 Taunton Daily Gazette Baseball All-Scholastic Colby DeCouta is serving as the team's backup catcher while former Coyle-Cassidy and Bishop Feehan standout Brendan Flaven has seven hits, including a home run, four runs and three RBIs in 14 at-bats for Endicott this season.

The No. 4 seeded Gulls take on No. 5 Baldwin Wallace Friday at 1:15 p.m. at Clark Stadium.

Taunton Daily Gazette sports reporter Cameron Merritt can be reached at cmerritt@tauntongazette.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @CamMerritt_News. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to the Taunton Daily Gazette today.

This article originally appeared on The Taunton Daily Gazette: Notarangelo, MacDougall help lead Endicott to D3 College World Series