Shelton State Major League Players
Russ Davis, Shortstop
Shelton State, 1987-88
Russ Davis played eight seasons in Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees, Seattle Mariners and San Francisco Giants. From 1994-2001, Davis played in 612 MLB games and compiled a .257 career batting average with 84 home runs and 276 RBIs.
A native of Hueytown, Davis played two seasons for the Bucs and was drafted in the 29th round of the 1988 MLB Draft by the New York Yankees. He was named the 1992 Eastern League MVP while playing for the Albany-Colonie Yankees. Davis made his MLB debut with the Yankees on July 6, 1994 against the Oakland Athletics. He played 44 career games for the Yankees in 1994 and 1995. The Yankees lost in the American League Division series to the Mariners.
He was traded to the Seattle Mariners, along with Sterling Hitchcock, for Tino Martinez in December, 1995. Davis played in 435 games over four seasons for the Mariners. He batted .256 with 66 home runs and 222 RBIs with the Mariners. Davis had three straight 20 home run seasons from 1997-99. He slugged a career-best 21 home runs in 1999. On July 17, 1999, Davis belted the first home run in Safeco Field history in a 9-1 win over the San Diego Padres. Davis belted a solo home run off Woody Williams in the bottom of the fifth inning. Alex Rodriguez hit a two-run home run later in the inning for the Mariners.
He signed as a free agent with the San Francisco Giants after the 1997 season. He played two seasons with the Giants (1998-99). He played in 133 games with the Giants and batted .259 with 16 home runs and 44 RBIs. His final MLB game came against the Anaheim Angles on June 14, 2001.
Brandon Medders, RHP
Shelton State, 1999
Brandon Medders played six Major League seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks and San Francisco Giants. He made 251 career relief appearances and compiled a 16-7 record and 3.61 ERA. He logged 234.2 career innings and allowed 94 earned runs and 233 hits with 175 strikeouts and 104 walks.
He spent four years with the Diamondbacks and compiled an 11-6 record and 3.52 ERA in 133 relief appearances for the Diamondbacks. He made his MLB debut on June 20, 2005 against the San Francisco Giants. He retired three of the four batters he faced in his debut. An injury prevented him from pitching in the MLB Playoffs for the Diamondbacks in 2007.
Medders signed a minor league contract with the Giants in 2009. He played two seasons with the Giants in 2009 and 2010. He went 5-1 with a 3.75 ERA in 75 career games He made 14 appearances for the Giants during the 2010 season. San Francisco won the NL Western Division title with a 92-70 record. The Giants defeated the Atlanta Braves in the NL Division Series and Philadelphia Phillies in the NL Championship Series. San Francisco defeated the Texas Rangers in five games win the 2010 World Series.
Medders and former Shelton State third baseman Matt Downs were teammates with the Giants in 2010. Downs played in 29 games before closing the season with the Houston Astros.
A graduate of Hillcrest High School, Medders spent one season with the Bucs before signing with Mississippi State. As a junior in 2001, he recorded six wins and six saves and held the Bulldogs win the 2001 SEC Tournament Championship. He was named to SEC All-Tournament Team.
Medders was drafted three different times in his career. He was selected in the 37th round of the 1998 MLB Draft out of Hillcrest High School by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He is one of two Hillcrest alums to play Major League Baseball, joining current Chicago White Sox slugger Tim Anderson, who won the 2020 AL Batting Championship. Medders was drafted the 18th round of the 1999 MLB Draft out of Shelton State by the Kansas City Royals. In 2001, he was selected in the eighth round by the Arizona Diamondbacks out of Miss. State.
Matt Downs, Third Base
Shelton State, 2003
Matt Downs played four seasons in Major League Baseball with the San Francisco Giants and Houston Astros. He played in 235 games and batted .253 with 18 home runs and 57 RBIs.
He played in 46 games over two seasons for the Giants in 2009-10. He batted .214 with two home runs and nine RBIs. He made his MLB debut with the Giants on June 19, 2009 against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
He was claimed off waivers by the Houston Astros during the 2010 season. He played in 208 games over parts of three seasons for the Astros. He batted .235 with 18 home run and 57 RBIs. He played his final game on Oct. 3, 2012 against the Chicago Cubs.
Downs and Shelton State RHP Brandon Medders were teammates with the Giants in 2010. Downs played in 29 games before closing the season with the Houston Astros. Medders pitched in 14 games for the Giants.
He played at Bibb County High School before spending one season at Shelton State Community College. He was drafted in the 25th round by the Pittsburgh Pirates out of Shelton State. Downs by-passed the MLB draft and signed with the Alabama Crimson Tide. He played three seasons for the Crimson Tide and was a member of the 2006 SEC Championship team. Downs was named SEC Player of the Week in the final regular season series at Tennessee that helped clinch the regular season title.
Downs was drafted in the 36th round of the MLB Draft by the San Francisco Giants after his three-year career at UA. Downs was one of five MLB players on that 2006 Alabama team, joining Alex Avila, Tommy Hunter, Wade LeBlanc and David Robertson.
He is the current head baseball coach at Marion Military Institute. Downs, Bobby Sprowl (Shelton State) and Travis Garner (Bevill State) are the three Alabama baseball alums currently serving as head coach in the Alabama Community College Conference.
Shelton State Bucs in the MLB Draft
1986
Kevin Moynaugh, RHP Kansas City Royals 1st Round
1988
Tim Brader, LHP Detroit Tigers 7th Round
Randy Vaughn, RHP Kansas City Royals 8th Round
Russ Davis, SS New York Yankees 29th Round
1989
Jerry Shelton, 3B Boston Red Sox 31st Round
Shannon Jackson, LHP Toronto Blue Jays 46th Round
Tony Anderson Atlanta Braves
1995
Jason Turman, RHP Montreal Expos 11th Round
1999
Brandon Medders, RHP Kansas City Royals 18th Round
Jon Mark Sprowl, Chicago Cubs
2000
Matt Moyer, RHP Cincinnati Reds 21st Round
2001
Jamil Knight, RHP Chicago Cubs 45th Round
2002
Matt Cobb, LHP Tampa Bay Devil Rays 38th Round
2003
Matt Downs, 3B Pittsburgh Pirates 25th Round
2004
Adam Tennyson, Kansas City Royals
Blake Cooper, RHP California Angles 41st Round
2005
Jared Bradford, RHP Tampa Bay Devil Rays 21st Round
2006
Robert Phares, RHP Boston Red Sox 24th Round
2007
Ty Latham Chicago White Sox
2009
Blake Mechaw, LHP Baltimore Orioles 26th Round
Trey McNutt, RHP Chicago Cubs 32nd Round
2010
Kenny Fleming, OF Atlanta Braves 30th Round
Cory McGinnis, RHP Pittsburgh Pirates 44th Round
2011
Matt Kimbrel, RHP Atlanta Braves 32nd Round
2013
Trevor Sprowl, 2B Atlanta Braves 33rd Round
2014
Caleb Beach, RHP Atlanta Braves 13th Round
Grayson Jones, RHP Cleveland Indians 14th Round
2015
Grayson Jones, RHP Atlanta Braves 11th Round
Chase Johnson-Mullins, LHP Atlanta Braves 13th Round
2021
Colby Smelley, C Chicago White Sox 13th Round
2022
Drake Logan, SS Chicago White Sox 19th Round
2023
Garrett McMillian Pittsburgh Pirates 7th Round