Mitchell Butler is taking his talents to East Central Community College after signing with the school in the Northeast Lauderdale library on Wednesday. Butler plans to play first base for the Warriors on the field while studying engineering off the field.

“He’s an awesome young man,” new Northeast baseball coach Brock McKnight said. “I was at Southeast last year, so I had the privilege of playing against him for three games last year. By far the hardest guy we had to figure out how to get out, that’s no doubt. He hurt us a lot off the plate this last year.”

Butler plays first base for the Trojans, and last season he hit his way to a .471 batting average and a .589 on-base percentage while racking up seven home runs and 27 runs batted in.

He said he will miss his good friends that he has played with for a long time at Northeast, but he is looking forward to playing for a winning team with a good coaching staff and solid facilities at ECCC.

“I’d like to have a good run at East Central and then go to a four-year (program) to play baseball, and then get my degree,” Butler said.

McKnight has not been with the Trojans for long, but he said he can already tell that Butler is a vocal leader who also leads by example.

“When Mitchell Butler speaks, everybody listens,” McKnight said. “Great guy, great leader. He’s played a lot of baseball innings for this school over the past few years, and the kids know that he’s been through the ringer.”

Community college is a good opportunity to learn how to do college, to learn how to manage your time and to learn how to manage your athletic responsibilities, according to McKnight.

“I’m a community college guy. I love it,” McKnight said. “He’s going to possibly the best baseball coach to ever do it. Coach (Neal) Holliman and his staff do a tremendous job. With him going this route, his ceiling is just through the roof for whatever he wants to do in the future.”