Longtime assistant and 2017 MACJC Sports Hall of Fame inductee Bill Selby enters his 21st season with the Northwest baseball program in 2025. Selby helps in all aspects of NWCC baseball, including serving as the Rangers’ hitting instructor and third base coach.
Since joining Carson’s staff in 2006, Selby has helped develop 150 four-year players and 18 Major League Baseball draft picks.
Northwest has seen great success at the plate under his watch, ranking among the nation’s best in batting average. In 2024, the Rangers hit .314 as a team and totaled 506 base hits, the most in a season since totaling 599 in 2007 - his second season as the Northwest assistant coach.
Selby and the Rangers were also productive in several other categories, including runs batted in (RBI), totaling 321 for the season. Northwest was also walked 286 times, a new program record, while also setting a new team record with 143 stolen bases.
One of the main leaders in the stolen base category was Jacob Hill, who broke the Rangers’ stolen bases record with 62 career steals. Hill, who later signed with Delta State, finished with 42 steals last season alone, coming up four shy of breaking Dalton Dulin’s single-season record of 46 (2015).
Hill was also reliable at the plate as well, accounting for 66 hits last season, entering the program record books in a tie for 10th-most single season hits. His teammate, Cade Greer, led the way with 71 base hits and 17 doubles, which joined six other former Rangers for the most doubles in a single season.
Though Northwest finished under .300 at the plate over the last three seasons, catcher Ryan Lee provided a bright spot in 2022, hitting .402 on the season and earning NJCAA All-American accolades. Lee was also named Player of the Year for NJCAA Region 23 and signed with Little Rock following his one-year stint in Senatobia.
Another bright spot over the 2021-22 seasons was Caleb Hobson. The outfielder and Pontotoc native batted well over .300 for his career and signed with UT-Martin following his time at Northwest, and was later drafted to the Colorado Rockies organization in the summer of 2023.
In a shortened 2020 campaign, the Rangers hit 13 home runs and batted .321 in 15 games. Prior to that, Northwest pounded out 55 home runs in 2019, 13th-most in the country, and slugged .490. Northwest has finished in the Top 30 in the NJCAA five times in average, including 18th in 2014 with a .327 average – second best in the state.Â
Selby also plays a big role in the Rangers’ aggressive play on the basepaths. The signal caller has seen Northwest steal 100 bases in five of the last nine seasons, including 126 in 2015, tying the school-record set in 2013. Northwest swiped 117 bags in 2014, 108 in 2012 and 104 in 2011. Â
Since his arrival in 2006, the Rangers have amassed an overall record of 539-358-2 (.601) and 285-158 (.643) mark against conference and former division opponents. Northwest has missed the postseason only twice in his 19 seasons, captured the 2007 and 2011 MACJC North Division Championship and has played for the MACJC Championship three times.
Prior to joining Northwest in 2006, Selby put the wraps on his 14-year professional baseball career that spanned from 1992-2005 and included stops with the Cleveland Indians, Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox. He was drafted by the Red Sox in the 13th Round (366th overall) of the 1992 MLB Draft, spending five seasons with the organization.
Selby played in 198 total MLB games, with a .223 career batting average. Mostly used off the bench, Selby hit a career high six home runs in 2002 with the Indians. The most dramatic of those home runs came on July 14, when he hit a walk-off grand slam against 13-time All-Star and five-time World Series champion Mariano Rivera to defeat the New York Yankees, 10-7, in the bottom of the 9th inning. It was the first walk-off home run that Rivera had allowed in his career.
Selby became the sixth player in Buffalo Bisons (Triple-A) club history to be inducted into the Buffalo Baseball Hall of Fame on August 25, 2007. In the Bisons’ modern era, Selby ranks first in hits (378), doubles (90), RBI (245) and runs (217). He’s second in games played (370) and third in home runs (60). Selby was the team’s MVP in 1999 (.295, 20Â
homers, 85 RBI) and played in the 2000 Triple-A All-Star Game in Rochester, New York.
Selby closed his career by being named to the Mexican League All-Star Team while playing for the Campeche Pirates, batting .318 with 25 home runs and 93 RBIs. Before joining the Pirates, he played minor league ball with the Memphis Redbirds and Iowa Cubs. Other career highlights include being named a Carolina League All-Star in 1994 and International League All-Star in 2000.
A 2008 inductee into the Northwest Sports Hall of Fame, Selby was the Rangers’ MVP in his only season in 1990, hitting a single-season school record .477 from the plate with 14 home runs, 13 doubles and 43 RBIs. He was named an All-State and All-Region 23 selection at season’s end.
Selby played his final two seasons for Southern Mississippi, where he was a teammate of current head coach Mark Carson. His name is still scattered in the Golden Eagles’ record books, owning single-season school records for home runs (23), doubles (31) and slugging percentage (.824) and ranking in the top 10 in numerous career categories despite playing just two years. He was inducted into the USM M-Club Hall of Fame in 2011.
Selby is married to the former Teri Capers of Walls, a former Northwest cheerleader. The couple have two children, Erica and Eli (22).
