Samantha Butts, a senior shortstop for Calloway County High, will officially sign to play college softball at Austin Peay State University during a ceremony Wednesday at the high school. The signing will take place at 11am in the Calloway County Media Room.
Butts began playing basketball and softball at Trigg County as a middle schooler before transferring to Calloway County prior to her freshman year.
Samantha is the daughter of Stevie and Sharon Butts of Cadiz. Stevie said it was a conversation that Samantha had with Wildcat superfan Jerry Faris that caused her to switch from playing baseball to softball.
She was an All-First Region performer last year and All-State honorable mention. She has also been academic All-State the past two years.
Butts was also the starting point guard for Calloway County, coached by former Trigg County standout Scott Sivills.
Austin Peay is coached by Jim Perrin, who is in his third season at the helm of the Lady Govs. Perrin won 632 games in 20 seasons as Christian County head coach, winning 11 regional championships and four state crowns.
Stevie said that Perrin was recruiting another player on Sam's summer traveling team when he spotted Butts. She also considered Union University, Campbellsville, Belmont, and Trevecca in Nashville. Stevie also said some smaller schools had shown interest in Samantha for basketball.
Of course, Sam comes from an athletic family. Father Stevie was a three-sport player at Trigg County and attended Murray State. Her uncle David Butts played baseball at Murray State and was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 20th round of the 1986 amateur draft. In four minor league seasons, David hit .262 with 18 home runs and 135 runs driven in.
Sam's uncle, current Trigg County baseball head coach Jackie Sholar, also played baseball at Austin Peay.
Sam's picture comes from a very nice photo blog from Michael Dann of the Murray Ledger and Times, which you can check out by clicking here.
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