Former Eastern Kentucky University third baseman Neil Sellers has been drafted on the second day of the Major League Baseball Draft. Sellers was a 32nd round pick of the Houston Astros, becoming the second Colonel selected by the Astros in the draft after Chris Clark was taken in the 18th round on Monday afternoon.
Both Sellers and Clark join former Colonel teammate and current Lexington Legend center fielder Josh Anderson on the Astros’ roster.
“This is a dream come true for me to play professionally,” said Sellers. “I’ve worked so many years and I set this as a goal when I first started playing baseball. This is a great feeling and I’m excited to get this chance to play for the Astros’ organization.”
During his four-year tenure at EKU, Sellers became the school’s all-time leader in four categories, including RBIs (214), hits (279), doubles (62) and at-bats (793). He was a two-time co-captain for the Colonels and was a second team All-Ohio Valley Conference selection. Sellers batted .351 and led the team with 63 RBIs, 58 runs scored, 26 walks and 126 total bases. He also finished with 18 doubles, 12 home runs and was one of only two players to start all 51 games this year for EKU. Sellers has played in 206 games and made 160 consecutive starts during his career.
The Robards, Ky., native was tabbed as Top Players to Watch by Baseball America in its 2004 preseason edition. Sellers received 2004 preseason All-American honors, being named second team by Collegiate Baseball and third team by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and was the only OVC player named to the Fab 50 of all seniors in Division I by Baseball America, which recognizes the top 50 players in each class. Sellers was also named the Top Prospect and preseason Player of the Year by Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball. He was also named First Team preseason All-American by the website, Collegebaseballinsder.com.
“Neil has been a great player for us for four years and he has a bright future in professional baseball,” said third-year EKU head coach Elvis Dominguez. “This is a great opportunity for him and I know he’ll take full advantage of it.”
Sellers becomes the fourth player drafted during Dominguez’ tenure at the EKU helm. Catcher Mike Schneider was drafted by the Expos in 2002, Anderson in 2003 and Clark by the Astros this season.
“The fact that we’ve had a player drafted every year says a lot about our program and the type of players we have at EKU,” said Dominguez. “The Richmond community had a great chance to see two very talented student-athletes play for EKU this season. We’re very fortunate to have players of this caliber in central Kentucky and playing here at Eastern.”
