Manchester Sports Hall of Fame Names Class of 2017

MANCHESTER — The 2017 inductees of the Manchester Sports Hall of Fame have been announced.

Here are the new Hall of Famers:

• Chaz Carr, the all-timer leading scorer for the basketball team at Manchester High School

• Leanne Crockett, a two-time state champion who scored more than 1,000 points and grabbed more than 1,000 rebounds during her Manchester High School hoop career

• Ron Simmons, who was a member of the 1956 MHS team that finished runner-up in the state and played in the New England tournament. He is perhaps best known for his accomplishments in baseball, where he was the starting and winning pitcher in both the semifinal and championship games to help Manchester High win the 1956 state tournament

The dinner is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 11, at the Manchester Country Club, with the social hour at 6 p.m. and the dinner at 7 p.m.

Tickets, priced at $50, can be purchased at Park Hill Joyce Flower Shop in Manchester, 860-649-0791.

Other anecdotes about the inductees are:

Carr scored 1,273 points in his Manchester High career, averaging 21 points per game as a junior and 22 points per game as a senior.

He went on the Boston University, where he made the All-America East rookie team as a freshman and made the All-America East first team his junior and senior years. He is the eighth leading scorer in Boston University history.

He continued his career professionally, playing in Poland, Slovenia, Austria, Germany, Iceland, France and Venezuela. He also played for the Jamaican National Team.

Crockett was a two time All-State basketball player at Manchester, where she played on two Class LL state championships teams.

Crockett was also a standout in track and field, where she was a state champion in the discus and shot put and also owns the Manchester High record in both events.

She played college basketball at Central Connecticut, where she set a school record for most three-point baskets in a career and for most rebounds (25) in a game.

Simmons’ athletic success started early. He pitched the first perfect game in Manchester Little League history and is a member of the Little League Hall of Fame in Williamsport, Pa.

In baseball, Simmons went 8-0 as a pitcher in 1956 and was voted to the all-CCIL team.

Simmons also was a standout in basketball. He played on the state runner-up 1956 basketball team, which participated in the New England tournament at Boston Garden.

He was a key pitcher on Manchester’s American Legion team and also pitched a no-hitter, becoming the only player in Manchester history to pitch a no-hitter in both Little League and American Legion. He has been inducted into the Legion’s National Hall of Fame.

Simmons played his college baseball at Centre College in Danville, Ky, where he helped pitch his team to the finals of the Kentucky Intercollegiate Conference Tournament.

Simmons, Crockett and Carr will be joined on Nov. 11 by the winners of the Founders Award, the Joe McCluskey Award for dedication to the Manchester Road Race, the Marcy MacDonald Title IX Award and the Team Award.

The awards will be announced at a later date.

Patch File Photo