Elon Butler played three seasons at Cal on a squad that made the NCAA Tournament all three times, a power-hitting utility player from San Jose, California who started games for the Bears at second base, shortstop and right field.
In three seasons she hit 37 home runs with 112 RBI, a career .328 hitter with a .621 slugging percentage. On Wednesday she transferred to the Ducks.
NFCA named her a Second Team All-American in 2024, Second Team All-PAC-12 in her sophomore season. That year she led the Bears with 17 circuit clouts and 44 RBIs. As a junior she hit a career-high .361.
In a statement, Oregon coach Melyssa Lombardi said,
“I am impressed with Elon’s power at the plate. She can change the game with one swing. She has faced elite pitching her entire career and has excelled. "
She can turn a single into a double with her ability to run. I also like her athleticism and versatility on defense. Elon’s a competitor and will be a great addition to Version 8.”
She'll help the Ducks in replacing clutch-hitting Dez Patmon and shortstop Paige Sinicki, the glue for Version 7, the 54-10 squad that made it all to Softball World Series in Oklahoma City.
That tells you the softball part of the story, but Butler is far more than a gifted, versatile power hitter. The daughter of LaDonna and Howard Butler majored in data science at Cal Berkeley, considering medical school after her undergrad. She enjoys drawing, painting and writing.
While at Cal she led a group of Bear players in a protest for social justice, kneeling during the national anthem to draw attention to ongoing police brutality.
She told Marisa Ingemi of the San Francisco Chronicle, “At the end of the day, I’m going to stand on what I believe in. That was just the biggest thing, that I was proud of myself. I’m proud of my teammates for that we still stand on what we believe."
At a tournament in Louisiana she heard boos and catcalls, epithets about "woke nonsense" and keeping politics out of sports.
Seventy-six years after Jackie Robinson, the politics still aren't out of sports. Because athletes are people too. And Elon Butler is an intelligent young woman with a conscience as well as an exceptional ability to hit a softball.
In a game against Oregon in March of 2024 she erupted for six RBI. Now she's a Duck.
BOOOOM! 💥
— Cal Softball (@CalSB) March 10, 2024
10th homer of the year for Elon Butler. #GoBears pic.twitter.com/2ytfnqs7Ab