ELON, N.C. -- Shortstop Neal Pritchard became the fifth member of the 2011 Elon baseball team to be provided with the opportunity to play professional baseball as he has signed a free agent contract with the St. Louis Cardinals organization. Pritchard will report to the Appalachian League's Johnson City affiliate.
Pritchard was a second-team All-SoCon pick as well as an all-state selection in 2011. In his senior season, the Asheboro, N.C. native hit .295 with eight doubles, a triple, eight homers and 39 RBI for the SoCon regular season champion Phoenix. Against league competition, the Asheboro, N.C. native batted .340 with five doubles, one triple, six home runs and 27 RBI.
He concluded his career ranked among Elon's all-time leaders in games played (2nd with 233), at bats (6th with 762), hits (8th with 229), runs scored (7th with 163), doubles (3rd with 49), home runs (T-3rd with 36) and RBI (4th with 170). Pritchard's 679 career assists are the most for any Elon player at the Division I level.
The Cardinals are scheduled to make one trip to Burlington, N.C. this season to face the Burlington Royals just minutes from the Elon campus. The Cardinals will head to town for three games on August 22-24.