Feeling comfortable can be one of the first steps toward success, and Bailey Sellers backed that up throughout the 2017 high school baseball season.

He was so comfortable on the mound for the Thorsby Rebels that it earned him the honor of The Clanton Advertiser’s 2017 Baseball Player of the Year in Chilton County.

“I’m grateful for it,” Sellers said. “I had really good teammates to play with and I’m miss playing with those guys out there on the field.”

Over the years he developed into a go-to guy for the Rebels and someone that head coach Billy Jackson felt confident about with the ball in his hands at crucial situations in a game.

“It is a little nerve racking, but I guess that is why I’ve always liked it, because it gives you that rush,” Sellers said. “I like the challenge.”

He has played travel baseball each summer since he was eight years old.

“Baseball has been my life over the last five or six years,” Sellers said. “Everything about it just feels right to me.”

According to Sellers, that continued game experience and practice were two key components that have made him the player he is today.

“You have to be focused the entire game and on every batter,” Sellers said. “You can’t let guard down, because the whole game starts with you and you can control it.”

His pitch selection includes a curveball and two-seam fastball, which both left hitters searching for answers at the plate on several occasions throughout his high school career.

“I stick with the two [pitches] and they seem to work if I mix them up and spot them up right,” Sellers said.

It was common for Sellers to go the distance in games. His ability to consistently pitch all seven innings is an aspect of his game that he prides in.

“I like to not let my team down and I feel that if I go all seven [innings], then I helped the team the best that I could,” Sellers said.

Pitching was not the only way that Sellers impacted a game, as he also had a regular spot among the heart of the batting order.

Excelling on the mound does not always result in success at the plate, but this was not the case

“Some people can get focused on just pitching and it is easy to do,” Sellers said. “I liked having to the chance to step up to the plate with a chance to help my team.”

Sellers enjoyed the opportunities to view the game from a hitter’s mindset as opposed to only from the mound.

“I’m a very free swinger,” Sellers said. “I don’t have a lot of patience and if I see a pitch I like, most of the time I’m going to swing at it.”

Sellers was a senior leader on a team that made a deep playoff run and reached the third round of the postseason.

“We all felt like we could have gone even farther, but it was meant to be,” Sellers said. “Hopefully we were able to put Thorsby back on the map and where it belongs.”

All-County Team

Pitcher: Tristen Antinoro, Maplesville

Pitcher: Bailey Sellers, Thorsby

Catcher: Will Johns, Jemison

First base: Thad Hunter, Maplesville

Second base: Griffin Green, Chilton County

Third base: Chase Deason, Jemison

Shortstop: Graham Blakenship, Thorsby

Outfield: Cain Niece, Thorsby

Outfield: Dalton Smitherman, Isabella

Outfield: Trever Thompson, Chilton County

Utility: Tristan Short, Verbena

Designated hitter: Christin Brown, Maplesville