GC Softball: Burke drives in 8 in Lady Tigers' 29-6 romp over Cleburne
Mar. 5—How do you score 29 runs in just four at-bats?
Just ask Corsicana's Lady Tiger softball team, which is now 2-0 in the district race after beating Cleburne 29-6 Tuesday night in Cleburne, where the home town Yellowjackets never want to see Brinly Burke again, and where Burke may never see another strike.
Cleburne would have been better off walking Burke all night. Instead she saw strikes and destroyed them, going 4-for-4 with a double and a grand slam to drive in eight runs (yes 8 runs). She doubled in Corsicana's 10-run second, singled and belted her grand slam in the eight-run third, and singled in the nine-run fourth and final inning of the mercy-rule victory.
The bad news for Cleburne was that Burke was not alone.
The Lady Tigers had 19 hits in four innings, and belted three homers, including two slams. Kaylee Tidwell had a grand slam to put an exclamation point on a monster night as she went 3-for-3 and scored five times, and Jaden Smith hit a three-run blast and drove in four runs.
Marleigh Tidwell, who started and picked up the easy win, went 4-for-5 and drove in four runs, and leadoff hitter Sadie Mitchell (she can fly) scored five times and drove in a couple of runs. Alyssa Wood and Gabby James both scored three runs and drove in two more. And both hit doubles.
It was a party at the plate and everyone was invited in a game this program has been waiting to play. Burke, the best softball player in the Golden Circle, didn't play last year because of an injury, but she's letting people know she's back with plans on doing some damage her junior year.
The Lady Tigers are off to a fast start in a brutal district loaded with talented teams, and they face the top team in the district when they play Midlothian at home Tuesday night.
"That's going to be the biggest game we've played in my three years here," said Corsicana coach Courtney Anderson. No one knows how Anderson's young team would have done last year, because the season was canceled after one district game.
Anderson appreciated the win Tuesday, but went out of her way to talk about staying humble after the one-sided romp.
"That's my main thing, to always stay humble," she said. "It feels good to be 2-0, but we play in a tough district and anybody can beat anybody.
"We talk a lot about getting better every day," she said. "I have a lot of confidence in them, and it felt good to see us hit the way we hit. I think they can really be a good team."
