URI's Furney Signs with Arizona Diamondbacks

URI's Furney Signs with Arizona Diamondbacks

URI ace right-handed pitcher Sean Furney has signed a professional baseball contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Considered to be a potential late-round draft pick in last week's MLB Draft, Furney signed this week after being passed up, giving him the opportunity to weigh his options rather than being forced to one team.

A Warwick-native, Furney played his high school baseball at Pilgrim, where he was a standout pitcher. After graduating from Pilgrim, Furney tried out at URI, where he would get cut, forcing him to play two seasons at CCRI. While at CCRI, Furney really developed as a pitcher, working on his command and adding velocity to his fastball.

Impressive season

Furney then returned to URI for his junior season, emerging as the Rams' ace starting pitcher. This past year, Furney put it all together in his senior season. The hard-throwing right-handed pitcher compiled a 7-4 record for the Rams this season, registering an impressive earned run average of 1.93, and striking out 75 batters in 98 innings pitched, en route to being named the Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Year, after a vote conducted by the Conference's head coaches. He is one of five players that have won one of the major Conference awards under URI head coach Jim Foster, as former Hendricken star Jeff Roy won Atlantic 10 Player of the Year a season ago.

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Furney will most likely start off playing on one of Arizona's rookie ball teams this summer.