HAMMOND, La. – Four of the Southeastern Louisiana players selected in the 2016 Major League Baseball Draft earlier this month have signed professional contracts.

Pitchers Domenick Carlini, Pat Cashman and Kyle Cedotal all graduated from Southeastern. Redshirt junior infielder Jameson Fisher will forgo his final year of eligibilty.

"This has been a process," head coach Matt Riser said. "When I first got here, we had some talented young men, but we had to change the mindset. We did that and a couple classes after that, it wasn't the same talent, but they were winners. Now you see a combination of that."

A native of Zachary, Louisiana, Fisher was selected in the fourth round (116th overall) by the Chicago White Sox. Through five games with the Great Falls (Mont.) Voyagers of the Rookie-level Pioneer League, Fisher is hitting .444 (8-for-18) with one RBI and three stolen bases. He has hit safely in all five games, recording multiple hits in three.

Fisher was the Lions' highest overall draft pick since current major leaguer Wade Miley was taken by the Arizona Diamondbacks with a first-round compensation pick in the 2008 draft. He joins Miley (43rd overall), Andrew Davis (Orioles, 3rd round, 68th overall), Carl Schutz (Braves, 3rd round, 96th overall), Glen Lamas (Cleveland, 8th round, 133 overall) and Chris Province (Red Sox, 4th round, 144th overall) as the highest overall draft picks in school history.

Cedotal, selected in the 20th round (590th overall pick) by the Colorado Rockies, worked a pair of scoreless innings in relief for the Boise (Idaho) Hawks of the Short Season Single-A Northwest League in his pro debut.

The left-hander from Denham Springs, Louisiana, held the Eugene Emeralds to just one hit in those two innings. He struck out two and did not walk a batter.

Carlini, selected in the 21st round (633rd overall pick) by the Minnesota Twins, has been assigned to the Elizabethton (Tenn.) Twins of the Rookie-level Appalachian League. The left-hander from Nesbit, Mississippi, has yet to make his pro debut.

Cashman, selected in the 30th round (896th overall) by the Chicago White Sox, is with the organization's Rookie-level Arizona League affiliate. The right-hander from Plainfield, Illinois, is 0-1 in a pair of relief outings.

"The talent is getting better each time and that's a testament to our guys out recruiting, Coach Andrew Gipson and Coach Daniel Latham, and Coach Zack Zulli when he was here. The players came in with a vision to help us win championships and knew the individual benefits would be there on the back end. Those guys had great careers for us and now have the opportunity to play professional baseball.

"It's also a testament to our pitching staff and what Coach Latham has done with them. We've identified some guys, but he's developed them as well. Out of the rotation guys, none of them had been drafted before in their career. For those guys to have opportunities like this and have that success, it speaks highly of our program."

As part of the largest draft class in program history, the group helped lead Southeastern to a 40-21 record in 2016, its second-consecutive 40-win season, and the program's first at-large bid to the NCAA postseason.

Ten Lions have been drafted in the Matt Riser era, with this year's group joining pitcher Andro Čutura (Twins, 2014), outfielder Andrew Godbold (Dodgers, 2014), pitcher Jake Johnson (Red, 2015), pitcher Kyle Keller (Marlins, 2015), pitcher Tate Scioneaux (Pirates, 2015) and pitcher Mac Sceroler (Phillies, 2016).

Southeastern has previously churned out multiple drafts picks in 1985, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1996, 2005, 2011 and 2012.

SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA LIONS IN THE PROS

Player	Team	Level	Organization
Domenick Carlini	Elizabethton Twins	R	Minnesota Twins (AL)
Pat Cashman	Arizona League White Sox	R	Chicago White Sox (AL)
Kyle Cedotal	Boise Hawks	A	Colorado Rockies (NL)
Steve Clevenger	Seattle Mariners	MLB	Seattle Mariners (AL)
Andro Čutura	Cedar Rapids Kernals	A	Minnesota Twins (AL)
Jameson Fisher	Great Falls Voyagers	R	Chicago White Sox (AL)
Andrew Godbold	Florence Freedom	IND
Brock Hebert	Jackson Generals	AA	Seattle Mariners (AL)
Jake Johnson	Billings Mustangs	R	Cincinnati Reds (NL)
Kyle Keller	Greensboro Grasshoppers	A	Miami Marlins (NL)
Wade Miley	Seattle Mariners	MLB	Seattle Mariners (NL)
Tate Scioneaux	Bradenton Marauders	A	Pittsburgh Pirates (NL)