Life cut short for ballplayer who dreamed of turning pro

Spencer Patterson

Tuesday, April 30, 2002 | 9:23 a.m.

It may have been five years since Sean Vann last played a full season of organized baseball, but the Chaparral High School graduate never gave up on his dream of playing professionally.

"The last time I saw him he said to me, 'Coach, it's still in my blood,' " said Richard Ebarb, who coached Vann as a senior at Chaparral in 1997. "The timing was tough when it came to his playing career, and he'd had some injuries, but he had all the ability in the world."

Vann died Saturday at his Las Vegas apartment. He was 22 years old. His grandfather, Mike Chandler, said the cause of death has yet to be determined.

"This was a shocker," Chandler said. "He lived for baseball, and he'd been in San Diego the last couple of weeks for tryouts. He told me if he didn't make it this year, we'd go hunting and fishing together."

Vann pitched and played outfield for a Chaparral team that advanced to the final four of the 4A Southern Zone Tournament in his senior year. Ebarb recalled Vann hit around .500 with seven homers that season.

"I remember him being a hard-working kid who also liked to have fun," said Ebarb, now an assistant coach at the Community College of Southern Nevada. "He played the game very hard, but when he was out on the field you'd always see him smiling."

Vann was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 39th round of the 1997 amateur draft. He played part of the 1998 season for Grossmont College in El Cajon, Calif., before breaking his hand.

Vann returned to Southern Nevada and played part of the 1999 season for the newly created club baseball team at CCSN. That squad's success helped pave the way for intercollegiate athletics at the school, which officially added baseball in 2000.

Vann is survived by his mother, Candice Chandler, and her fiance, Louis De Gregorio; his father, Neumon Vann; his sister, Crystal Vann; his grandparents, Michael and Dehlia Chandler; and a grandmother, Geraldine Morris.

Services were scheduled at 4 p.m. today at Christ the King Catholic Church.