Vanderbilt tries to cope after pitcher's death

— -- NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The rain started falling around 7 p.m. at Vanderbilt's Hawkins Field.

Some Commodores baseball fans awaiting entrance for the team's NCAA regional game against Xavier scattered, seeking shelter. A small group remained just outside the stadium's main gates, letting drop after drop splatter on them.

They were quickly becoming soaked. But they likely didn't feel a thing. Long before the rain, a numbness had washed over everyone here.

Vanderbilt freshman pitcher Donny Everett died Thursday. The 19-year-old drowned while fishing with teammates and friends at Normandy Lake about an hour southeast of campus.

On Friday, the school's baseball community -- the coaches, players, fans and everyone else associated with the team -- tried its best to do the impossible and cope with a promising young person gone too soon.

"You have a hard time believing it. You have a hard time accepting it," said Vandy athletic director David Williams, who drove back from the SEC spring meetings in Florida after learning the news. "You don't want to believe it. You don't want to accept it."

Longtime Commodores coach Tim Corbin, along with his players, made the decision late Friday morning to proceed with the NCAA regional opener against Xavier. Originally scheduled for 7 p.m., the game was ultimately postponed due to inclement weather.

The teams will play at noon Saturday, with Vanderbilt, the 2014 national champion, trying to get back to the College World Series for the third consecutive season.

After wrestling Thursday with the decision of whether to play, Vandy decided to move forward because it was the healthiest response, Corbin said.

"It made sense. That's their safe haven," he said. "The field was their safe haven. Just to get in some type of routine and continue to do what they do, it's almost like a rehabilitation process for them.

"When you go through something like this, you don't have the answers. There's not a textbook. You just try to work through it the best you can."

Signs of mourning were abundant at Hawkins Field. The team had "DE41" scrawled on their hats. Fans wore No. 41 buttons and black ribbons. Some placed flowers around the 2014 national championship trophy that resides just inside the stadium's front gate.

"This morning, I prayed. That's all I could do, was pray. And I made a billion ribbons," said Paula Clark, a resident of nearby Murfreesboro who has held season tickets with her husband for six seasons. "You have to do what you can do to get through the situation. ... There are no words to explain this."

Earlier in the day, the team traveled to Everett's hometown in Clarksville, Tennessee, which is about 45 miles northwest of the state capital. The Commodores wanted to grieve with Everett's family, particularly his parents.

Upon arrival, Teddy and Susan Everett were outside waiting for them. The team formed a giant circle in the front yard, crying and laughing and telling stories about Everett for 45 minutes as a Vanderbilt flag hung on the house behind them.

"It was helpful for Teddy and Susan," Corbin said, "and I think it was certainly helpful for our kids."

Corbin acknowledged that freshman Chandler Day and redshirt sophomore Ryan Johnson were the two players with Everett on Thursday.

"They were the first two kids who were comforted by the team," said Corbin, who has been at Vanderbilt since 2003. "They understand the level of guilt that those two kids have thrown upon themselves. We're trying to help them through that."

Corbin described Everett as a "fun-loving, teddy bear, real, Midwest American kid." During a 10-minute news conference, Corbin tapped his fingers against the table. He sometimes closed his eyes. He also flipped between present and past tense when describing Everett.

"His dad was in the military. His mom is just as sweet as she can be. And that was Donny," Corbin said. "Donny was this big, strong kid who threw the ball very hard. ... He's just a positive life force: quick smile, easy to be around. It's consistent every day. There's no mood swings. He's happy. If our team is having fun somewhere, he's in the middle of it. The kids just loved him. Him going fishing with teammates? Of course. That was him. That was Donny."

Everett, who committed to Vanderbilt as a high school sophomore, was Baseball America's No. 21 overall prospect last fall. He was the highest-rated recruit in the magazine's top-ranked class. If not for his firm commitment to Vandy, the sense was that he would've been a first-round MLB draft pick. (He was still taken by Milwaukee in the 29th round.)

Everett had a 1.50 ERA in six appearances (two starts) as a freshman for the Commodores. Corbin said he had projected Everett to be a starter in 2017, someone capable of chasing recent Vandy pitching legends such as David Price and Sonny Gray.

"Sometimes we build people up never knowing what they'll become, but you could make an easy statement to say that he was going to be the next great one," Corbin said. "I thought the young man had a chance to play professional baseball at the highest level for a long period of time, as long as he'd stay healthy. And that's tough to say, but I believe it. I would like to think I knew it."

In his bio on the Vanderbilt baseball website, Everett described why he chose the school.

"The family here is just something you cannot pass up," he said. "The life lessons that Coach Corbin can teach me, I will always remember. The education is great and will help my life after baseball.

"The memories I will make will be the best of my life."