Millar, Nardone, & Shpur Claim D3baseball.com All-Region Accolades

Posted: Jun 02, 2021

BEVERLY, Mass. – Endicott student-athletes Caleb Shpur (East Canaan, Conn.), Joseph Millar (Lake Hopatcong, N.J.), and Jake Nardone (Wakefield, Mass.) have all earned D3baseball.com All-Region honors, as announced by the organization yesterday.

Shpur was named to the All-New England Second Team, while Millar and Nardone were selected to the Third Team. The All-Region honors from D3baseball.com are all firsts for Shpur, Millar, and Nardone.

Student-athletes were nominated for D3baseball.com All-Region honors by their college or universities' Sports Information Directors (SIDs). The 2021 season marks the ninth year that D3baseball.com has named All-Region teams. The ballot, which featured 940 nominated student-athletes, was then made available to D3baseball.com staff and contributors from which three teams in each region were determined.

Meanwhile, yesterday, Shpur and Nardone were chosen to the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings All-New England Second and Third Teams, respectively.

CALEB SHPUR | SO. | OF

In 20 games played (all starts in center field), Shpur slashed .423/.517/.732 (.avg/.obp/.slg) to go along with 26 runs scored, 30 hits (7 2B, 3 3B, 3 HR), 18 RBI, 11 walks, and nine stolen bases.

Shpur's stellar sophomore campaign included the following Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) rankings: runs (6th), hits (9th), doubles (8th), triples (1st), home runs (9th), RBI (10th), total bases (52, 5th), walks (24th), stolen bases (4th), batting average (4th), on-base percentage (4th), slugging percentage (4th).

Nationally (DIII), Shpur also ranks No. 66 overall in batting average.

Some of Shpur's other notable stats include hitting .415 with runners on (17-for-41), .480 with runners in scoring position (12-for-25), and .429 with two outs (9-for-21, eight 2-out RBI). He also led the Gulls with 11 multi-hit games (2 hits = 9; 3 hits = 2) and produced four multi-RBI contests (2 RBI = 1, 3 RBI = 3) in 2021.

Shpur will enter next season with a seven-game hitting streak and a 13-game on-base streak.

JOSEPH MILLAR | JR. | OF

Millar was a force all season long for the Gulls as the junior outfielder slashed at a .407/.541/.759 clip.

He also tallied 24 runs scored, 22 hits (6 2B, 2 3B, 3 HR, 17 RBI), 13 walks, and went a perfect 7-for-7 on his stolen base attempts.

Defensively, starring mostly in right field (16 starts), Millar put together an unblemished fielding percentage on 21 attempts, which aided Endicott in ranking fourth overall among CCC teams in the aforementioned category.

As for Millar's individual CCC ranks, he finished among the league's best in the following stats: runs (8th), hits (23rd), doubles (12th), triples (3rd), home runs (91th), RBI (14th), total bases (41, 15th), walks (13th), stolen bases (6th), batting average (7th), on-base percentage (2nd), slugging percentage (3rd).

Nationally, Millar currently ranks No. 109 in batting average, No. 28 in on-base percentage, No. 50 in runs per game (1.33), and No. 49 in slugging percentage.

Millar's additional impressive stat lines include hitting .600 with runners on (12-for-20), .567 as a leadoff hitter in an inning (17-for-30), .563 with runners in scoring position (9-for-16), and .500 with two outs (8-for-16, six 2-out RBI).

Lastly, Millar's 2021 slate included seven multi-hit games (tied second on the team), four multi-hit contests, a five-game hitting streak, and an 11-game on-base streak that will still be intact to start the 2022 season.

JAKE NARDONE | SO. | DH

Nardone compiled a .383/.431/.717 slash line in 18 games played (17 starts) for the Gulls in 2021.

Nardone's stat line also featured 14 runs, 23 hits (5 2B, 5 HR), a team-leading 23 RBI, five walks, and one stolen base.

As for his CCC rankings, Nardone was positioned well in the following categories: runs (30th), hits (20th), doubles (17th), home runs (7th), RBI (8th), total bases (43, 11th), batting average (9th), on-base percentage (20th), slugging percentage (.717).

Nardone also hit .417 with runners on (15-for-36), .385 with runners in scoring position (10-for-26), and .375 with two outs (9-for-24, six 2-out RBI) this past season.

Nardone, who had seven multi-hit and five multi-RBI games in 2021, will enter next year's campaign on a five-game hit streak and a five-game on-base streak.

YEAR IN REVIEW

This past season, Endicott posted a 15-6 record and advanced to the CCC Championship for the 11th time in program history. The Gulls also finished No. 9 overall in the final NCAA Division III New England Regional Rankings marking their eighth appearance in a row on the final regional rankings list.

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(Photo Credit - Chris Lyons '22/Demetrius Kazanas '22)