Meet the Gators: Colby Shelton & Brody Donay
Friday, October 20, 2023 | Baseball
Batting one-two in the 2023 Meet the Gators series are a pair of top-20 impact transfers in infielder Colby Shelton and catcher Brody Donay. Both enjoyed stellar freshman campaigns outside of Gainesville last season, with Shelton coming to Florida from Alabama and Donay out of Virginia Tech.
Beginning with Shelton, the Lexington, S.C. native will rep No. 10 in Orange & Blue. In his first exposure to the college game, Shelton collected Freshman All-American honors and slashed a robust .300/.419/.729 with 25 big flies. He led the Crimson Tide in home runs, slugging and OPS (1.148) while also adding 10 doubles, 51 RBI and 49 runs scored.
Back in September, Shelton was ranked by D1Baseball as the No. 50 college prospect for the 2024 MLB Draft. The only Gator to receive a higher ranking was returning Unanimous First Team All-American Jac Caglianone.
Originally from Lithia, Fla., Shelton was a multi-sport athlete at Bloomingdale High School as a letterwinner in baseball (four-time) and swimming. He earned first-team all-conference honors in consecutive seasons as a junior and senior, finishing with a .360/.474/.644 career batting line backed by 14 homers, 21 doubles, 69 RBI, 64 runs and 15 steals in 84 games.
As a junior, Shelton hit .405/.510/.708 with five homers and seven doubles across 27 games to help lead Bloomingdale to the Florida Class 6A State Championship. In the process, he was also named First Team All-313 Preps. After a senior campaign that saw him post a .382 average and 1.241 OPS in 24 contests, Shelton was ranked as the No. 129 recruit and No. 29 shortstop in the class as well as being the No. 27 player and No. 4 shortstop in the state according to Perfect Game. He also competed for Ostingers Baseball Academy during his prep years.
As the son of Eric and Bonnie Shelton, Colby has two sisters, Kiley and Karley. For the Sheltons, athletics is the family trade: Kiley is a freshman softball player at Colgate while Karley is a freshman softball student-athlete at South Carolina. His parents were both Division I student-athletes at UNC-Charlotte as well, with his father lettering in baseball and his mother in softball. Colby is majoring in finance at the University of Florida.
Shifting back to Donay, the Lakeland, Fla. product is primed to don No. 29 for the Gators. The six-foot-five backstop's career is already off to a tremendous start, as he was named Freshman All-ACC with the Hokies last season thanks to a .260./.352/.585 clip that featured 12 homers in just 39 games (33 starts). Across 123 at bats, Donay collected 32 hits including four doubles, 38 RBI and 32 runs while fielding at a .976 clip.
Playing under Head Coach Matthew Diaz at Lakeland Christian School, Donay lettered four times as the team's starting catcher from 2019-2022. The Vikings claimed the district championship all four years of Donay's career while winning the county championship twice (2021-22) in addition to a 2019 State Championship. He also collected a trio of All-Country accolades and in his senior 2022 campaign was named District 10 Player of the Year, All-State and All-County.
Appearing in 83 career games at Lakeland, Donay batted .357/.484/.680 with 16 homers, 14 doubles, 84 RBI, 51 runs and four steals over 210 at bats. His senior year was particularly brilliant, as he swatted 10 home runs and seven doubles while slashing .378/.538/.878 for a 1.416 OPS.
Donay also competed for the Fall 2021 Giants Scout team and for Ostingers Baseball Academy from 2019-21, where he was selected to play on numerous all-tournament teams. Coming out of high school, Perfect Game tabbed Donay as the No. 236 recruit and No. 13 catcher in the class in addition to being labeled as the No. 38 player and No. 3 backstop in Florida.
As the son of Kristia and Jason Donay, brody has two brothers, Tyler and Griffin. His father competed in baseball for one year at Rollins before transferring to play football for two years at Evansville. Meanwhile, his mother was a four-year letterwinner in volleyball at Evansville and his eldest brother, Tyler, is a sophomore pitcher at Embry-Riddle.
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Beginning with Shelton, the Lexington, S.C. native will rep No. 10 in Orange & Blue. In his first exposure to the college game, Shelton collected Freshman All-American honors and slashed a robust .300/.419/.729 with 25 big flies. He led the Crimson Tide in home runs, slugging and OPS (1.148) while also adding 10 doubles, 51 RBI and 49 runs scored.
Back in September, Shelton was ranked by D1Baseball as the No. 50 college prospect for the 2024 MLB Draft. The only Gator to receive a higher ranking was returning Unanimous First Team All-American Jac Caglianone.
Colby Shelton quietly has 22 HR as a true freshman in the SEC pic.twitter.com/wIXIRfgx2Z
— 11Point7: The College Baseball Podcast 🎙 (@11point7) May 27, 2023
Originally from Lithia, Fla., Shelton was a multi-sport athlete at Bloomingdale High School as a letterwinner in baseball (four-time) and swimming. He earned first-team all-conference honors in consecutive seasons as a junior and senior, finishing with a .360/.474/.644 career batting line backed by 14 homers, 21 doubles, 69 RBI, 64 runs and 15 steals in 84 games.
As a junior, Shelton hit .405/.510/.708 with five homers and seven doubles across 27 games to help lead Bloomingdale to the Florida Class 6A State Championship. In the process, he was also named First Team All-313 Preps. After a senior campaign that saw him post a .382 average and 1.241 OPS in 24 contests, Shelton was ranked as the No. 129 recruit and No. 29 shortstop in the class as well as being the No. 27 player and No. 4 shortstop in the state according to Perfect Game. He also competed for Ostingers Baseball Academy during his prep years.
As the son of Eric and Bonnie Shelton, Colby has two sisters, Kiley and Karley. For the Sheltons, athletics is the family trade: Kiley is a freshman softball player at Colgate while Karley is a freshman softball student-athlete at South Carolina. His parents were both Division I student-athletes at UNC-Charlotte as well, with his father lettering in baseball and his mother in softball. Colby is majoring in finance at the University of Florida.
Shifting back to Donay, the Lakeland, Fla. product is primed to don No. 29 for the Gators. The six-foot-five backstop's career is already off to a tremendous start, as he was named Freshman All-ACC with the Hokies last season thanks to a .260./.352/.585 clip that featured 12 homers in just 39 games (33 starts). Across 123 at bats, Donay collected 32 hits including four doubles, 38 RBI and 32 runs while fielding at a .976 clip.
Brody Donay is 8 foot tall and not afraid to touch em all. Rhyme time on Sunday Funday
— College Baseball Central (@CollegeBaseCNT) February 26, 2023
pic.twitter.com/0LMqEdGJdU
Playing under Head Coach Matthew Diaz at Lakeland Christian School, Donay lettered four times as the team's starting catcher from 2019-2022. The Vikings claimed the district championship all four years of Donay's career while winning the county championship twice (2021-22) in addition to a 2019 State Championship. He also collected a trio of All-Country accolades and in his senior 2022 campaign was named District 10 Player of the Year, All-State and All-County.
Appearing in 83 career games at Lakeland, Donay batted .357/.484/.680 with 16 homers, 14 doubles, 84 RBI, 51 runs and four steals over 210 at bats. His senior year was particularly brilliant, as he swatted 10 home runs and seven doubles while slashing .378/.538/.878 for a 1.416 OPS.
Donay also competed for the Fall 2021 Giants Scout team and for Ostingers Baseball Academy from 2019-21, where he was selected to play on numerous all-tournament teams. Coming out of high school, Perfect Game tabbed Donay as the No. 236 recruit and No. 13 catcher in the class in addition to being labeled as the No. 38 player and No. 3 backstop in Florida.
As the son of Kristia and Jason Donay, brody has two brothers, Tyler and Griffin. His father competed in baseball for one year at Rollins before transferring to play football for two years at Evansville. Meanwhile, his mother was a four-year letterwinner in volleyball at Evansville and his eldest brother, Tyler, is a sophomore pitcher at Embry-Riddle.
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