News Article

FSW Baseball’s Rios Honored as NECBL Top Pro Prospect

Aug 31, 2015

Florida SouthWestern State College (FSW) sophomore Willie Rios has been named the New England Collegiate Baseball League’s (NECBL) Top Pro Prospect for the 2015 season, the league announced on Thursday, August 27.

“Willie is an extremely hard worker and is very deserving of any accolades that come from his exceptional summer,” said FSW head baseball coach Jamie Corr. “He is proving to be a great leader in our fall workouts, and I know he will set himself up for an incredible spring.”

A rising sophomore who transferred to FSW from the University of Maryland, Rios – who also was a 26th-round draft selection by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2014 – enjoyed an excellent summer on the mound for the Mystic Schooners, finishing the regular season undefeated with a sub-2.00 ERA. He headlined the league’s best pitching staff (2.61 team ERA) and helped the Schooners franchise reach the NECBL Championship Series for the first time in over 20 years.

Rios posted a 4-0 record and a 1.80 ERA, which ranked fifth in the league. In seven starts and 35 innings, the right-hander fanned 41 and held the opposition to just a .202 batting average against him all year.

The Waterford, Conn. native also played five games at first base, finishing with two hits in 14 at-bats to help the cause.

Rios made nine appearances as a true freshman at Maryland last season. In 19-2/3 innings for the Terrapins, he struck out 21 and walked only eight for a Maryland squad that won 42 games in its second season in the Big Ten Conference.

Before his season at Maryland, Rios was a four-year letterwinner for St. Bernard School and helped lead the club to three Eastern Connecticut Conference championships. A Perfect Game USA second team All-American and a 2013 Under Armour All-American, Rios was rated as the second-best player in Connecticut in the class of 2014 and the 104th-best player in the country.

The New England Collegiate Baseball League is a wooden bat college summer league that fields teams in all six New England states. Partially funded by Major League Baseball, the NECBL started play in 1994 and has sent over 100 alumni to the Major Leagues.

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Last Updated: August 31, 2015