Shane Legare and Nick Jones Named to NJCAA Division III All-Region XXI Baseball First Team

MANCHESTER, Conn. (May 21) – Manchester Community College sophomore first baseman Shane Legare (WILLINGTON) and sophomore right-handed pitcher Nick Jones (EAST WINDSOR) have been named to the 2007 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division III All-Region XXI baseball first team.

Sophomore right fielder Jason Banks (STAFFORD SPRINGS) has been selected as the 2007 NJCAA Division III Region XXI Defensive Player of the Year and to the NJCAA Division III All-Region XXI baseball second team.

Sophomore second baseman Aaron Granahan (THOMASTON) and sophomore outfielder Andy Sauer (WILLINGTON) join Banks on the second team.

Shane Legare

Legare, a 2005 third-team NJCAA Division III All-American infielder and first-team NJCAA Division III Region XXI third baseman, had team highs of three triples, four home runs, 62 total bases and a .596 slugging percentage. He hit .356 (third) with 24 runs (fourth), 37 hits (third), seven doubles (third) and 25 RBIs (second) in 30 games. Legare recorded 72 hits in 200 at-bats (.360 average), 49 runs, 12 home runs, 56 RBIs and 125 total bases in 56 career games.

Jones (7-0), a transfer from the University of Connecticut at Avery Point, led all NJCAA Division III pitchers with a 0.46 earned-run average (minimum 56 innings), according to statistics on njcaa.org as of May 21. (Jeremiah Dorey of North Arkansas College was second with a 0.76 ERA.) He allowed three earned runs in 59 1/3 innings. Jones made seven appearances (five starts) from April 11-May 11 without allowing an earned run.

The 5-foot-10 Jones totaled 60 strikeouts (1.011 per nine innings), 12th in NJCAA Division III baseball (minimum 56 innings). He struck out a season-high 10 twice (April 3 at University of Bridgeport JV and April 14 at Holyoke Community College).

Jason Banks

Jones went 13-0 – 6-0 at UConn at Avery Point in 2006 – with 101 strikeouts and a 1.56 ERA in 115 1/3 career innings in junior college.

As a utility infielder/designated hitter, Jones hit .338 with 18 runs, 27 hits, nine doubles, two home runs and 20 RBIs in 80 at-bats this season.

Banks, a 2006 NJCAA Division III All-Region XXI first-team honoree, led MCC with a .395 batting average (.400 at the end of the regular season), 29 runs, 45 hits, 26 RBIs, 19 walks and a .474 on-base percentage. He had four doubles, one triple, one home run, 54 total bases (second), a .474 slugging percentage (third) and 10 stolen bases (second) in 32 games. Banks struck out a team-low seven times in 114 at-bats (once every 16.3 at-bats).

Aaron Granahan

The 6-foot-1 Banks committed no errors and recorded 38 putouts and three assists in 41 attempts for a 1.000 fielding percentage.

Banks concluded his junior college career with 80 hits in 207 at-bats (.386 average), 54 runs, two home runs, 58 RBIs and 103 total bases in 61 career games.

Granahan, a 2006 NJCAA Division III All-Region XXI second-team selection, appeared and started in a team-high 33 games. He hit .325 (sixth) with 28 runs (second), 39 hits (second), five doubles (fourth), one triple, one home run, 21 RBIs (fourth), 49 total bases (tied for third) and seven stolen bases (fourth) in a team-high 120 at-bats. Granahan totaled 80 hits in 222 at-bats (.360 average), 52 runs, one home run, 47 RBIs and 95 total bases in 62 career games (all starts).

Andy Sauer

Sauer, a transfer from NCAA Division III Fitchburg State, had a team-high 32 steals in 33 attempts in 27 games. He hit .367 (second) with 25 runs (third), 36 hits (tied for fourth), two doubles, one triple, one home run, nine RBIs, a .439 slugging percentage, 18 walks (second), and a .470 on-base percentage (second) as the leadoff hitter.

The NJCAA Region XXI Baseball Committee selections were based on final regular-season statistics.

Manchester Community College finished the season with a 17-17 record and reached the NJCAA Division III Region XXI Baseball Tournament for the seventh straight season. The fourth-seeded Cougars lost to second-seeded and host Massasoit Community College in the championship round of the 2007 tournament.