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JONES COLLECTS TWO WEEKLY HONORS
Jones hit
four home runs last week GREENSBORO, May 13, 2008 – Fifth-year senior Jeremy Jones is ending his career with some reminders. The reminders start with nudging people’s memories on why he will be remembered as one of the best hitters to ever wear an North Carolina A&T baseball uniform and they end with recollections of him hitting .402 in 2005 as a sophomore. Last week, Jones was 6-for-12 at the plate and hit four home runs to earn MEAC Player of the Week and Black College Baseball Player of the Week honors. Jones’ week helped the Aggies go 3-1 during a week that included the Aggies beating the No. 3 team in Black College Baseball two out of three over the weekend. It also included the Aggies defeating cross-town rival UNC Greensboro, marking the first time in 17 years the Aggies have defeated the Spartans twice in one season. Jones’ MEAC honor marked the second straight week he earned the honor. “You start to run out of adjectives for Jeremy,’’ said head coach Keith Shumate. “He is a special young man on the field, but he is an even better person off it. I just can’t start to describe what he has done for this program.” Going into Tuesday’s game against N.C. State, Jones is on a 15-game hitting streak. He is batting .395 on the season with a career-high 13 home runs and a career-high 62 RBIs. His power numbers are better than they were when he won MEAC Player of the Year honors in 2005 and if he remains hot at the plate he could top his batting average from 2005. He and teammate C.J. Beatty lead the MEAC in home runs. Jones’ third home run of the game against Jackson State on Saturday gave him 300 for his career. He now joins former teammate Charlie Gamble as the only two players in the history of the program to compile 300 or more hits. He needs just five hits to pass Gamble all the school’s all-time hits list. The hot streak for Jones comes at the right time. N.C. A&T is the No. 2 seed heading into this week’s MEAC Tournament. The Aggies will face fifth-seeded Norfolk State Thursday at 2 p.m., from Marty L. Miller Stadium on the campus of Norfolk State. Last season, Jones was just 4-for-24 in the MEAC Tournament. He is slowly reminding observers, however, that those numbers were probably a fluke.
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