Uebelhor to Houston, former Raider to ink pro deal with Astros

By Kris Norton, [email protected]

Huntingburg - With the 601st overall pick in the 20th round of the Major League Baseball Draft, the Houston Astros made former Southridge Raider Mick Uebelhor Dubois County's newest professional baseball player.

"I am going to sign there," said Uebelhor on Monday afternoon. "What they're bringing to the table and what they're offering is something I feel like I can't pass up. It's a dream come true, for sure, and it's something that's really special, so I'm going to go through with it."

Uebelhor has 30 days to sign his contract, though he anticipates travelling to Houston and signing prior to the deadline.

Fresh off of a solo season with the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, the Huntingburg junior recorded a 3-2 win-loss record with four saves. Over 44.2 innings pitched, Uebelhor struck out 59 batters against just 12 walks and finished the 2026 campaign with a 3.43 Earned Run Average.

Heading into the final day of the draft, Uebelhor says that the Astros, among others, had showed interest.

"The head scout for our area, I'd had a little meeting with him and they had invited me to their workout, so they were on the radar a little bit," Uebelhor said. "But going into it, we really didn't have an idea."

As for draft day, itself, a lot of watching and waiting with those closest to him, Uebelhor said, "My advisor was at the house with me, and then I had like ten or so of my best buddies over and a little bit of family. 

Later in the day, phone calls started becoming more frequent.

"Once things started picking up, organizations were in contact with my advisor, kind of going back and forth," Uebelhor said. "Before they picked me, the Astros let me know."

While it's Mick Uebelhor's name on the draft board, he says that it's not his accomplishment, alone:

"Something like this doesn't happen from where you're at by yourself, you need the right people around you, the people who believe in you. I couldn't have asked for anyone or anything better. Everyone has their own path, and everyone has their own journey to get to where they're going and I wouldn't change mine for anything."

Between graduation from Southridge High School and competing at Western Kentucky University, Uebelhor's journey took him to play at Oakland City University and Prospect League baseball with the Dubois County Bombers - a team within the Uebelhor family.

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The full audio story as it was heard on WITZ 104.7 FM can be heard below.