Lefthander Will Jones of Hamilton certainly had a good claim as the best starting pitcher in the New England Collegiate Baseball League this summer.
Jones, who plays for Northeastern University and suited up this summer for the North Shore Navigators in nearby Lynn, earned first-team All-NECBL honors when the wood bat summer league announced its postseason accolades on Friday.
His 0.76 earned run average this summer not only led all NECBL pitchers by more than a full run, but was also the best mark in Navigators franchise history. Jones also led the league in strikeout-to-walk ratio (34-to-3) as well as WHIP (walks and hits per inning).
The former Generals ace was incredible with his breaking stuff. According to Navigators Data Analytics, opposing batters hit just .130 against his curveball and .108 against his slider with an incredible 41 percent of swings on that slider missing. Lefthanders batted just .095 against Jones and righties didn’t fare much better at .182. Jones was also chosen to start the NECBL all-star game at the midseason break.
Another North Shore product, Danvers native D.J. Pacheco, earned a second team All-NECBL nod in the outfield playing for the Upper Valley Nighthawks. Also a midseason all-star, Pacheco (who plays at Richmond) hit .300 this summer with nine homers and 25 RBI. He tied for second in the league in round trippers and was tied for 12th in RBI.
Three other Navigators earned NECBL postseason honors. Pitcher Truman Pauley out of Harvard grabbed a second team nod after leading the league in strikeouts with 46, a number that ranks second in franchise NECBL history. Pauley compiled a 2.07 ERA while holding opponents to a mere .189 batting average.
Outfielder Kyle Jones (no relation to Will) out of Florida was an honorable mention honoree after playing errorless defense in center while leading the team in RBI (16) and posting a .406 on-base.
Pitcher Ryan Buckley from Florida Atlantic was also an honorable mention for a season in which he posted a 1.90 ERA and threw a team-high 38 innings over 12 appearances. He fanned 36 and posted a .182 opponent batting average.
One other player with local ties that earned honorable mention All-NECBL was Caleb Shpur, who helped Endicott College reached the 2023 College World Series before transferring to Division 1 UConn. Suiting up for the Sanford Mainers, Shpur hit .291 this summer and swiped 31 bases. He was even better in the playoffs, batting .364.