Donald Edward Everett (April 16, 1997 – June 2, 2016) was an American

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

. He attended

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

, where he played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

for the

Vanderbilt Commodores The Vanderbilt Commodores are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Vanderbilt University, located in Nashville, Tennessee. Vanderbilt fields 16 varsity teams (6 men's teams and 10 women's teams), 14 of which compete at the National ...

. He was considered one of the top prospects for the

2015 Major League Baseball draft The 2015 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 8 through June 10, 2015, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order is the reverse order of the 2014 MLB season standings. As the Diamondbacks finished the 2014 season ...

. Everett drowned during his freshman season at Vanderbilt.

Career

Everett attended Clarksville High School in

Clarksville, Tennessee Clarksville is a city in Montgomery County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 166,722 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tennessee, fifth-most populo ...

. As a junior, he had an 11–1

win–loss record Win–loss may refer to: * Win–loss analytics, analysis of the reasons why a visitor to a website was or wasn't persuaded to engage in a desired action * Win–loss record, also winning percentage * Win–loss record (pitching), the number of ...

with a 0.61

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA) and 105

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

s. As a senior, he was the Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year for Tennessee. For the season, he had a 9–1 record with a 0.93 ERA and 124 strikeouts. He also batted .412 with two

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run ...

and 34

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

. He committed to

to play

. Everett was considered one of the top prospects for the

. Due to a reported

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

demand of "more than $2 million", Everett was not selected until the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

chose him in the 29th round, with the 871st overall selection. Everett turned down signing bonus offers reportedly as high as $2.5 million from teams who decided against drafting him so that he could attend Vanderbilt. Everett missed the first half of his freshman season with an injury. When he returned, he pitched to a 1.50 ERA in 12

innings pitched In baseball, the statistic innings pitched (IP) is the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of Batter (baseball), batters and baserunners that have been put out while the pitcher is on the Baseball field#Pitcher's mou ...

Death

Everett went fishing at Normandy Lake in

Manchester, Tennessee Manchester is a city and the county seat of Coffee County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 12,213 at the 2020 census. Manchester is part of the Tullahoma micropolitan area. Since 2002, Manchester has been the host city for the a ...

, with his Vanderbilt teammates on the night of June 2, 2016. Everett tried to swim across the lake and drowned. According to Coffee County Sheriff’s Department, Everett had called for help to his friends, who thought he was “just joking around because he was smiling and did not seem to be in distress”. Emergency crews were called to the scene around 5:00 pm. He was later pronounced dead. He was 19. Having just finished his freshman year, he died one day before Vanderbilt University was to enter the

2016 NCAA Division I baseball tournament The 2016 NCAA Division I baseball tournament began on Friday, June 3, 2016, as part of the 2016 NCAA Division I baseball season. The 64-team, double-elimination tournament concluded with the 2016 College World Series (CWS) in Omaha, Nebraska, ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Everett, Donny 1997 births 2016 deaths Baseball players from Tennessee Baseball pitchers Vanderbilt Commodores baseball players Sportspeople from Clarksville, Tennessee Deaths by drowning in Tennessee

Career

Death

See also

References

External links