Kelly Zane was recruited to play baseball for Butler County Community College by former Butler head coach, Rick Dreiling. After finishing his prep baseball career at Wichita Southeast High School, Kelly would come to Butler County and play the 1985 and 1986 seasons.

In those two years, Zane played second base on two teams that won a total of 64 games. During his freshman year Butler County went 29-16 and won the Western-Sub Regional. They have six of them since then.

Butler County was 35-13 during Zane's sophomore year, 1986, and won the KJCCC Western Division title, also the first of what is now a total of 6 Championships.

Zane was an impact player as he left his mark in the record books. He would leave the Grizzlies as a leader in both career and single season offensive records. Kelly is in the top five players of several single and career offensive categories.

Single Season
Runs Scored - 73 (1986)
Batting Average - .437 (1986)

Career
Walks - 81
Runs Batted In - 107
Batting Average - .408

After two solid years for Butler County, Kelly Zane went to the University of Arkansas. He earned two letters (1987-1988) while playing infield for the Razorbacks and batted .333 and .332 in those two years. He was named Newcomer Southwest Conference Player of the Year, South #1 Regional MVP at Bossier City, Louisiana in 1987 and was named NCAA Defensive Player of the Year in 1987. Zane was drafted by the Montreal Expos, with whom he played at Salt Lake City, Utah; Rockford, Illinois; and West Palm beach, Florida.