BIO
Payne was born in Nashville, TN. Shawn attended the prestigious Redan High School, where he earned a scholarship to Middle Georgia College in 2007. While at Middle Georgia Shawn led his team to a Junior College World Series Berth.
After the completion of his sophomore year at MGC, Payne was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Amateur Draft,, but decided to stay in school and continue his playing career at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, GA. Upon his arrival the Eagles won their conference Championship in 2011 and went on to compete in a College Regional in Columbia, SC.
Shawn was drafted 3 times in 2009 to the Los Angels Dodgers, 2010 to the Kansas City Royals, and 2011 to the San Francisco Giants where he eventually decided to sign and spent the next 4 seasons and finished up with the organization in 2015.
Coach Shawn brings a wealth of knowledge to the game from his experience in the infield and outfield, which helps him develop and prepare young players physically and mentally. Shawn has been coaching in the travel circuit for 4 years, this year making it the 3rd year with Team 360 Hawks Baseball.
Favorite quote that he lives by is “You can’t steal second, if you don’t take your foot off first” which indicates you won’t ever be able to elevate yourself living in the past or worrying about what is behind you.
DID YOU KNOW?
What’s something that a lot of people are missing out on because they don’t know about it?
"I have never competed in a game without cleaning my cleats prior to the start of the game."
Who is the most interesting person you’ve met and talked with?
The most interesting person I have met would definitely be Pete Rose and I was fortunate to get a picture with and recorded the whole conversation on video.
What do you wish someone taught you a long time ago?
I wish someone taught me the whole draft process and how to go about talking to teams when they were in pursuit of picking you in the Amateur Draft.
What was something you thought would be easy until you tried it?
Something I thought that would be easy until I tried it would be riding a bike and the first time attempting to ride one wasn’t pretty.
What weird quirks did you pick up from your parents?
A weird quirk that I picked up from my parent is the organizational skills fro m my mom and it went over the top and sometimes comes off as OCD at times.