Stephen Birkett (2001)
Birkett was a cornerstone for the 1988 CCRI baseball team that made its first ever NJCAA World Series appearance. One of the nation’s top-ranked juco pitchers and a first-team All-New England selection in 1988; Birkett had a 9-0 record, 1.11 ERA and 105 strikeouts, including a no-hitter, one-hitter, and 2 two-hitters as well as striking out 17 in a 7-inning game. Pitching for 2 New England championship teams, he had career stats of 15-3, ERA of 1.95, and 165 strikeouts in 123 innings. At the University of Rhode Island, he led their baseball team in pitching and hitting in 1989 and 1990 (the 1st time in school history). He led the Atlantic-10 in strikeouts (11 per game) and in 1990 he set URI season records for highest batting average (.390), home runs (8), RBIs (38), and conference batting average (.468) while also earning first-team All-New England, first-team All-Atlantic-10, and first-team All-Northeast Region.