Pair of Byrd High School alums, Louisiana Tech baseball greats spotted at Bulldog Blitz

Jonathan Fincher and Steele Netterville were high school and college teammates
Louisiana Tech brings Bulldog Blitz coaches caravan to Shreveport
Published: Jun. 7, 2023 at 11:03 AM CDT
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SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) - The Bulldog Blitz has landed in Northwest Louisiana.

In an effort for coaches to connect with the community, Louisiana Tech’s athletics department is holding a series of coaches caravans, in different cities across Texas and Louisiana.

In Shreveport, supporters and Tech staff met at Cantina Laredo on East 70th street. But, while our cameras were out, we spotted two of the area’s great baseball players: Jonathan Fincher and Steele Netterville.

Fincher’s Louisiana Tech career wrapped up in the team’s 7-6 loss to Middle Tennessee in the Conference USA baseball tournament. As the season wound down, Fincher was attending classes in pursuit of a Master’s Degree. During the C-USA festivities, Fincher commuted from Shreveport to Houston to pitch for Lane Burroughs’ team.

Netterville, a fellow Yellow Jacket, set numerous benchmarks and records during his time in Ruston. At one point, he delayed the start of his journey in medical school to play baseball one more season.

KSLA News 12 Sports caught up with both to talk about life after baseball with the two.

“It’s been two weeks now that I’ve been removed from it, " says Fincher. “It’s still kind of fresh and weird. I started a graduate program earlier this month. People would ask, ‘What did you do for fun?’ I was like, ‘I used to play baseball. Now I just do school work stuff.”

“I’m not going to get emotional so I’m not going to go there, " says Netterville. “He’s one of if not my best friend. When we weren’t playing we were hunting together. When we weren’t hunting, we were just hanging out, cooking or whatever. I love this school. I love this organization. I love coach [Lane] Burroughs so much.”