By BAKER ELLIS / Sports Editor

BIRMINGHAM – Oak Mountain alum and current Samford student-athlete Heath Quinn was selected by the San Francisco Giants with the 95^th overall pick in the Major League Baseball draft on June 10. Quinn, an outfielder who just finished his junior year at Samford, was selected in the third of 40 rounds.

The 6-foot-3-inch, 220-pound Quinn played at Oak Mountain with Colorado Rockies 2012 first-round pick David Dahl, and Quinn’s selection in the third round of the MLB draft makes him the second-highest selection out of Oak Mountain behind Dahl. Quinn was also drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 12^th round of the 2013 draft, but opted to attend Samford and play college baseball for the Bulldogs.

The decision paid off in spades for the power-hitting centerfielder, as he became one of the most consistent and feared bats across the country during his college tenure.  From his freshman year, Quinn began to assert himself, was named a Freshman All-American after hitting .319 with 20 doubles, nine home runs and 48 RBIs in his first college season. A year later, Quinn hit .340, notched 81 hits and 56 RBIs while powering 14 home runs, and was named a First Team All-Southern Conference selection.

Quinn finished his junior year with 21 home runs, 77 RBI, and 165 total bases, all of which ranked second nationally per NCAA.org. Per MLB.com, “Quinn proved himself with wood bats against quality competition last summer in the Cape Cod League, where he ranked third in extra-base hits (14) and fourth in slugging percentage (.486).”

With the exception of Philip Ervin, a 2013 first-round selection by the Cincinnati Reds, Quinn is the best prospect ever to come out of Samford University.