Nov. 24, 2008

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - This is the second of three profiles of Samford's baseball signees from the early signing period. Today's featured signee is Sean Handlan.

Sean Handlan (LHP, 6-0, 210, South Gwinnett High School, Snellville, Ga.) is an outstanding left handed pitcher with a large amount of experience as one of his team's top pitchers since his freshman year in high school. As the number one starter his junior season he went 5-3 with a dominating 0.95 earned run average while striking out 79 in 66 innings of work. The most impressive aspect of the junior year was having only a .176 batting average against.

For his efforts he was awarded the Georgia Dugout Club Player of the Month, named 1st Team All-County, Pitcher of the Year in Region 8 - 5A, and the MVP of his team's pitching staff. Following his sophomore and junior years where he was also the team's top starter, he was again selected the Dugout Club Player of the Month, All-County, and the team's Pitcher of the Year as a sophomore. He appeared in 17 games as a freshman, serving in the role of the team's closer.

Handlan's experience combined with his success made him a priority for the Samford coaching staff.

"Sean has pitched at a high level for several years," Samford head coach Casey Dunn said. "He has been the top guy with good velocity against some outstanding competition and excelled. He is a mentally tough pitcher with a delivery that makes it tough to find the ball. There is not a ton of left-handed pitching out there and we have a good one. He's a great student and fit for Samford."

In addition to high school, Handlan played summer and fall baseball with Team Georgia Baseball Academy and Team Elite, tossing a complete game no-hitter this summer. Perfect Game ranked Handlan as one of the top 250 players in the country. Also an outstanding student, he has completed three years of Honors and Gifted course work at his school.

Handlan is excited about his decision.

"I look forward to continuing both my baseball and academic careers at Samford," Handlan said. "I feel it is a great opportunity for me. I would also like to thank my pitching coach John DeVore for his work with me the last eight years."

Handlan was a heavily recruited prospect, recruited by Penn State, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, UAB, Georgia Southern, Kennesaw State, Western Carolina, Baylor, North Georgia and Georgia State.