Gene “Butch” Rounsaville

The baseball, football and basketball teams all looked to Butch’s leadership – and golden arm-in 1961-62. He was an Antioch quarterback and pitched on the baseball team. Butch also played basketball, scoring 200 points his senior year. He was named All Nor-Cal and unanimous First Team All-League. The three-sport star was Athlete of the Year at Antioch in 1962. Fresno State University offered him a scholarship for basketball. After one season he transferred to Diablo Valley College where he played basketball, baseball and football. He was named Golden Gate All-Conference quarterback in 1963. In baseball, his ERA of 1.84 became the fourth all-time lowest in 50 years at DVC. Butch was DVC’s Athlete of the Year in 1964. He finally settled for one sport – baseball. He signed with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1965. In 1968 he led the Eastern league with most wins (14), most shutouts (6), most completed games (14) and an ERA of 1.76. Butch was the first Antioch player to break into major league baseball when he made his White Sox pitching debut against Minnesota on April 7, 1970. He won 62 minor league games in his professional career. In 2006, “Big Righty” was named to Reading, Pennsylvania’s “AA” Hall of Fame as one of the best all-time pitchers.