The import righty from Texas was a force at the plate in his sophomore season with the Chatham Miramichi Honda Ironmen. For the second straight year, he won the league’s regular-season batting title after recording a batting average of at least .400.
Lester finished the 2024 campaign with a .409 average, with 17 hits in 38 at-bats. He registered 32 singles, four doubles, and two home runs while driving in 15 runs and stealing five bases.
On the mound, Lester also led the league in wins with seven. He posted a 7-3 win-loss mark with a 1.31 earned-run average while scattering 29 runs on 62 hits, fanning 52 and walking 24 in 65-plus innings over a 12-game span.
Fredericton St. Louis Bar and Grill Royals import Nathan Van Putten issued the most free passes on the bump with 37, followed by 35 from Josiah Coombes of the Moncton Dixie Lee Mets and Justin Cormier of the Mets with 28. Van Putten also led the league in strikeouts with 58, while Lester was second and Cormier’s 51 were good for third place.
Only four pitchers were credited with saves this season. Van Putten led the way with two, while Cormier, Ben MacDougall of the Charlottetown Gaudet’s Auto Body Islanders, and Mike McKay of the Ironmen had one apiece.
At the dish, Lester’s 38 hits led the league, while Luc Vautour of the Mets and Kris Keating of the Ironmen were tied for second with 34 each. John Haimowitz of Moncton was third with 33 hits.
Lester also led the way with 32 singles, followed by 27 from Craig Oliver of the Royals and Cormier with 26. Keating logged 25 base hits, and Serge Vautour of Moncton had 24.
There was a three-way tie for doubles between Luc Vautour, Haimowitz, and Connor Hill of the Saint John AJ’s Alpines with 10 each. Saint John’s Mark Phillips and Adam Clark each hit eight doubles, while Adam Estey of Fredericton and Jack Kraft of Charlottetown both had seven. Cormier and McKay each accumulated five doubles.
Kraft also put up three triples, and Jeff Watkin of Chatham had one.
Estey was the home-run leader with nine dingers, while there were ties for second and third place. Watkin, Phillips, and Keating each went deep five times, Kraft and Serge Vautour had four goners apiece, and Lester and Devan Thomas of the Alpines both had two.
Phillips was this year’s RBI champ after cashing in 26 runs. Rounding out the RBI leaderboard were Keating with 25, Serge Vautour with 24, Haimowitz with 23, Luc Vautour with 21, and Watkin with 20.
Estey’s 18 stolen bases were good for the league lead, while McKay and Haimowitz each robbed 12 and Oliver stole eight.
Action in the senior league will resume this week with the best-of-three miniseries between the Royals and Alpines to decide the fourth playoff seed. Game 1 is Saturday at 6 p.m. in Fredericton, with Game 2 slated for Sunday at 1 p.m. in Saint John. If needed, Game 3 is Sept. 3 at 7:30 p.m. in the province’s capital.
The miniseries winner will face the Islanders in the league semifinals, with the Ironmen and Mets renewing acquaintances in the other series. The winners of those best-of-seven matchups will meet in the league final for a shot at this year’s championship and a chance to represent New Brunswick at the 2025 Nationals in Saskatchewan.
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