University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota Baseball Signs Chauncey Handran to Letter of Intent
7/13/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
The Minnesota baseball team has signed Chauncey Handran to a letter of intent to join the Golden Gophers in the 2008 season according to an announcement by Minnesota Head Coach John Anderson on Friday, July 13. Handran joins Kyle Geason, Dustin Klabunde, Mike Kvasnicka, AJ Pettersen, Trip Schultz, Seth Rosin, Cullen Sexton and Luke Rasmussen who signed National Letters of Intent during the early signing period, along with Nick O’Shea who was added as a recruited walk-on and Phil Isaksson who signed a letter of intent during the late signing period.
“Chauncey (Handran) is a great late addition to our program,” said Minnesota Head Coach John Anderson. “With the loss of both Gary Perinar to the draft and Ethan (Vogt) he gives us another strong arm to help us make up for those losses. He is an experienced junior college pitcher who has a lot of potential. We also like the fact that Chauncy is a good outfielder with some power in his bat. He not only helps us replace some of the pitching we have lost, but he helps in the outfield where we had five seniors graduate last year. We were in on Chauncy fairly early in the recruiting process, and we liked the fact that he has been enthusiastic about coming here throughout the process.”
Handran is a 6-2, 220 pound junior righthanded pitcher/outfielder out of Scobey, Mont. He comes to Minnesota from Miles Community College. This past season, Handran helped lead Miles Community College to the Junior College World Series as a sophomore. Handran finished the season 5-1 with a 1.37 ERA in 10 games (nine starts), and had 51 strikeouts in 59.2 innings pitched. Opponents batted .104 against Handran, whose 1.37 ERA led all NJCAA Division II.
He also proved valuable at the plate for Miles Community College batting .299 with a team-leading six home runs, 33 RBI, 47 runs and 11 stolen bases in a junior college league that uses wood bats. Handran posted the fifth-best single-season ERA in school history, tied for the fifth-highest single-season home run total and tied for the fourth-highest single-season run total. He ended up tied for the third-best career ERA (1.57) in school history, tied for the third-highest career home run total (9), had the eighth-highest career run total (77) and tallied the 10th-higest career hit total (92).
Handran helped lead Miles Community College to a 39-18 mark on the season, and was part of the program’s first-ever Northwest District championship and the NJCAA Division II World Series berth that came with it.
He picked up the win in the game that sent Miles Community College to its first NJCAA Division II College World Series, as he pitched eight shutout innings in a 1-0 win over Iowa Central Community College in the Northwest District Championships. He outdueled his Iowa Central counterpart who threw a no-hitter in the same game, but gave up a single run. Handran’s only loss of the season came in the NJCAA Division II College World Series, where he gave up three hits and one run in seven innings of work in a tough 1-0 loss to Longview Community College.
Handran will be Minnesota’s first player from Montana since two-time First-Team All-Big Ten shortstop Scott Welch.
“We have had two big recruiting classes the last two years by design,” said Anderson. “We knew we would lose a lot of players to graduation and we would have to bring in players who would be ready to step up and fill some of those roles. I think the last two years we have done a good job of this with both this year and last year’s class. The last two years we have collected a quality group of student-athletes that really want to be a part of our program and that should translate well when they start playing at this level. We are also extremely happy to get two pitchers of Phil Isaksson’s and Chauncy Handron’s caliber during the late-signing period.”
Recruit Pos. B-T Ht. Wt. Hometown (High School)
Kyle Geason IF R-R 6-1 180 Eden Prairie, Minn. (Eden Prairie)
Chauncey Handran P/OF R-R 6-2 220 Scobey, Mon. (Miles CC)
Phil Isaksson LHP R-L 6-0 182 Eau Claire, Wis. (Eau Claire North)
Dustin Klabunde RHP R-R 6-4 190 Brownton, Minn. (McLeod West)
Mike Kvasnicka OF/IF R-R 6-2 195 Lakeville, Minn. (Lakeville North)
Nick O’Shea C R-R 6-2 200 Blaine, Minn. (Centennial)
AJ Pettersen IF R-R 5-9 155 Minnetonka, Minn. (Minnetonka)
Luke Rasmussen P/OF L-L 6-1 185 Faribault, Minn. (Northfield)
Seth Rosin RHP R-R 6-6 240 Shoreview (Mounds View)
Trip Schultz OF L-L 6-1 205 Forest Lake, Minn. (Forest Lake)
Cullen Sexton RHP R-R 6-4 180 Plover, Wis. (Stevens Point)
Assistant Head Coach (Recruiting Coordinator), on Chauncy Handran “Chauncy has a strong body with plus stuff and is a strike thrower that pitches around 87-91 mph. He has hard sink and a heavy ball. His slider is in the 73-75 mph range, and he has a good changeup. Chauncy also has power as an outfielder and hit six home runs in a wood-bat junior college league. He is a player that can help this program as a pitcher and with the bat.”
“Chauncey (Handran) is a great late addition to our program,” said Minnesota Head Coach John Anderson. “With the loss of both Gary Perinar to the draft and Ethan (Vogt) he gives us another strong arm to help us make up for those losses. He is an experienced junior college pitcher who has a lot of potential. We also like the fact that Chauncy is a good outfielder with some power in his bat. He not only helps us replace some of the pitching we have lost, but he helps in the outfield where we had five seniors graduate last year. We were in on Chauncy fairly early in the recruiting process, and we liked the fact that he has been enthusiastic about coming here throughout the process.”
Handran is a 6-2, 220 pound junior righthanded pitcher/outfielder out of Scobey, Mont. He comes to Minnesota from Miles Community College. This past season, Handran helped lead Miles Community College to the Junior College World Series as a sophomore. Handran finished the season 5-1 with a 1.37 ERA in 10 games (nine starts), and had 51 strikeouts in 59.2 innings pitched. Opponents batted .104 against Handran, whose 1.37 ERA led all NJCAA Division II.
He also proved valuable at the plate for Miles Community College batting .299 with a team-leading six home runs, 33 RBI, 47 runs and 11 stolen bases in a junior college league that uses wood bats. Handran posted the fifth-best single-season ERA in school history, tied for the fifth-highest single-season home run total and tied for the fourth-highest single-season run total. He ended up tied for the third-best career ERA (1.57) in school history, tied for the third-highest career home run total (9), had the eighth-highest career run total (77) and tallied the 10th-higest career hit total (92).
Handran helped lead Miles Community College to a 39-18 mark on the season, and was part of the program’s first-ever Northwest District championship and the NJCAA Division II World Series berth that came with it.
He picked up the win in the game that sent Miles Community College to its first NJCAA Division II College World Series, as he pitched eight shutout innings in a 1-0 win over Iowa Central Community College in the Northwest District Championships. He outdueled his Iowa Central counterpart who threw a no-hitter in the same game, but gave up a single run. Handran’s only loss of the season came in the NJCAA Division II College World Series, where he gave up three hits and one run in seven innings of work in a tough 1-0 loss to Longview Community College.
Handran will be Minnesota’s first player from Montana since two-time First-Team All-Big Ten shortstop Scott Welch.
“We have had two big recruiting classes the last two years by design,” said Anderson. “We knew we would lose a lot of players to graduation and we would have to bring in players who would be ready to step up and fill some of those roles. I think the last two years we have done a good job of this with both this year and last year’s class. The last two years we have collected a quality group of student-athletes that really want to be a part of our program and that should translate well when they start playing at this level. We are also extremely happy to get two pitchers of Phil Isaksson’s and Chauncy Handron’s caliber during the late-signing period.”
Recruit Pos. B-T Ht. Wt. Hometown (High School)
Kyle Geason IF R-R 6-1 180 Eden Prairie, Minn. (Eden Prairie)
Chauncey Handran P/OF R-R 6-2 220 Scobey, Mon. (Miles CC)
Phil Isaksson LHP R-L 6-0 182 Eau Claire, Wis. (Eau Claire North)
Dustin Klabunde RHP R-R 6-4 190 Brownton, Minn. (McLeod West)
Mike Kvasnicka OF/IF R-R 6-2 195 Lakeville, Minn. (Lakeville North)
Nick O’Shea C R-R 6-2 200 Blaine, Minn. (Centennial)
AJ Pettersen IF R-R 5-9 155 Minnetonka, Minn. (Minnetonka)
Luke Rasmussen P/OF L-L 6-1 185 Faribault, Minn. (Northfield)
Seth Rosin RHP R-R 6-6 240 Shoreview (Mounds View)
Trip Schultz OF L-L 6-1 205 Forest Lake, Minn. (Forest Lake)
Cullen Sexton RHP R-R 6-4 180 Plover, Wis. (Stevens Point)
Assistant Head Coach (Recruiting Coordinator), on Chauncy Handran “Chauncy has a strong body with plus stuff and is a strike thrower that pitches around 87-91 mph. He has hard sink and a heavy ball. His slider is in the 73-75 mph range, and he has a good changeup. Chauncy also has power as an outfielder and hit six home runs in a wood-bat junior college league. He is a player that can help this program as a pitcher and with the bat.”
Players Mentioned
RHP
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