Freshman Vanderbilt pitcher Donny Everett drowned in Coffee County, Tennessee, on Thursday night, The (Nashville) Tennessean reports. The team announced that Vanderbilt will still play its NCAA baseball tournament opening round game, scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday against Xavier in Nashville.
Vanderbilt pitcher Donny Everett dies in drowning
The Commodores will play their regional opener against Xavier on Friday night.
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Vanderbilt athletics director David Williams released the following statement early Friday: “We learned last night of the tragic death of Donny Everett, an outstanding young man who exemplified the best of our university. As you can imagine, the team, the athletic department and the university are trying to come to terms with this tragedy. His parents and loved ones are on our minds and in our prayers as we share in their grief.”
According to the Coffee County sheriff’s office, Everett and four other people, including two teammates, were at Lake Normandy to fish Friday afternoon when Everett went underwater without resurfacing just before 5 p.m. local time.
[His friends] stated that Everett got about halfway across the waterway when he began asking for help. All four individuals stated that they thought Everett was “just joking around” because he was smiling and did not seem to be in distress. One person did enter the water and pulled Everett several feet but stated that he is not a good swimmer and was struggling to stay afloat. He stated that Everett did not seem to be struggling. The friend stated that he let go of Everett and swam back to shore still thinking Everett was “joking”. He stated that when he looked back, Everett had gone under and did not re-surface.
The Coffee County rescue squad did discover Everett’s body in about 25 feet of water, 15 feet from the lakeshore.
The 19-year old from Clarksville, Tennessee, was the 2015 Gatorade Player of the Year in Tennessee, and pitched 12 innings for Vanderbilt this season.
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