The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Baseball Inks Three During Early Signing Period
11/15/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Nov. 15, 2004
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - UAB head baseball coach Larry Giangrosso announced Monday that the Blazers have received three National Letters of Intent from players who will join the program for the 2006 season. Drew Murray, Derek Hanks and Robert Brewster are the first three players signed by UAB this year. Giangrosso and his staff expect to receive additional letters in the coming days.
Murray is a 6'4, 195 pound right-handed pitcher from LaGrange, Georgia. Murray is coached by Donnie Branch at LaGrange High School and is the son of Mike and Jane Brackett. Last year as a junior at LaGrange, Murray helped his team to a 31-6 record, the most wins in school history. LaGrange also won the Region 6 Championship and Georgia AAA State Championship for the first time in school history. Murray went 4-0 with a 2.68 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 31 innings as a pitcher and had seven doubles and 22 RBIs at the plate.
"Murray is a big, tall righthander who has come from a very successful high school program," said Giangrosso. "LaGrange has had a very rich tradition with not only Division I college players, but also pro players."
Hanks hails from Satsuma, Ala. where he is coached by Mike Szymanski at Satsuma High School. He is the son of Deborah and Donald Hanks. A six-foot, 185 pound right-handed pitcher, Hanks led his team with a 7-2 record in 2004, striking out 75 batters in just 58 1/3 innings pitched. He started eight games, completed five of them and held opposing batters to a .208 batting average. His 1.08 ERA was the best on the Satsuma staff.
"Hanks is a hard-throwing righthander with great mound presence, and he's a tremendous competitor," said Giangrosso.
Brewster, a Gadsden, Ala. native, is the son of Paula and Ricky Brewster. He attends West End High School and is coached by Chad Hall. A 6'2, 190 pound corner infielder, Brewster possesses the size and ability to play either first or third base and as a junior, batted .414 with three home runs, 13 doubles and 27 runs batted in.
"Brewster is a very solid defensive guy that we project to be hitting in the middle of our order very soon in his career," said Giangrosso.
