Former Panthers Blake Butcher, Jonathan Fleckenstein, and Blane Swift have signed to play professional baseball with the High Desert (Calif.) Yardbirds of the independent Pecos League.
All three players were key figures in leading the Panthers to a school record 40-6 season, which included a berth in the NCAA South Regional, and the USA South regular season and tournament titles.
Butcher was on the Division III ABCA/Rawlings All-America second team, the ABCA/Rawlings South All-Region first team, and D3baseball.com All-South Region second team. He was a first team USA South All-Conference selection for the second year in a row. He batted .342 with seven home runs and 50 RBIs this past season.
Fleckenstein was on the ABCA/Rawlings South All-Region second team and the D3baseball.com All-South Region third team. He was a first team USA South All-Conference selection after posting a 6-1 record, five saves, and a 1.75 ERA.
Swift was a second team selection on both the ABCA/Rawlings South All-Region and the D3baseball.com All-South Region. He was on the first team USA South All-Conference after batting .375 with five home runs and 31 RBIs.
Butcher and Swift have already played in 10 games for High Desert. Swift is batting .278 with eight RBIs, whil Butcher is hitting .267 with four RBIs. Fleckenstein has pitched a total of 2-2/3 innings in three appearances on the mound.
