RIESEL, Texas — Rarely do Division III baseball players get their shot at playing professional baseball.
Monday, that happened for one of Central Texas' own.
UMHB infielder Landon Dieterich signed a free-agent contract Monday to play for the Washington Nationals' system.
Dieterich was a four-year letterman out of Riesel High School, starting all four years with the Cru at first base and right field.
In 2019, Dieterich was an All-American Southwest Conference selection with a .312 batting average, 4 home runs and 32 RBI's. His career marks in Belton were a .269 average, 7 triples, 27 doubles and 10 home runs with 83 RBI's.
He'd hit two out of the park with 4 RBI's in 13 starts when the 2020 season was ended early because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“I am just ecstatic, I went through every emotion you can think of when I first got the call,” Dieterich said in a statement. “God has definitely blessed me with this opportunity. I knew I would have another chance to play but I am so glad that things worked out this way. I am so thankful to Coach Stawski for the opportunities he gave me and I am just so excited to have this opportunity to continue to pursue a life-long dream of mine.”
Dieterich said he plans to start in rookie ball, but doesn't know when he'll report because of the pandemic.
He's the first UMHB player to sign a professional baseball contract since Aaron Barteau who signed with the Pecos League in 2017.
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