May 13, 2015 4 min read

CALIFORNIA – At first glance, Erica Burns is not the least bit intimidating. She stands a hair over five feet tall and almost always has a smile on her face.

The Carmichaels senior pitcher is far different on the softball field. Burns’ rising fastball can be frightening for opponents and her aggressive approach on offense can make a pitcher think twice about throwing a ball over the plate early in the count.

Freeport learned to fear Burns Wednesday afternoon.

Burns struck out seven batters, allowed just four hits and smacked a two-run homer in the fourth inning to put Carmichaels ahead for good in the Mikes’ 9-2 victory over the Yellowjackets in a WPIAL Class AA first-round playoff game at Lilley Field.

“I’m just glad she’s on our team,” Carmichaels head coach Dave Briggs joked. “She’s developed into a really nice pitcher. In her first year or two, she would just throw, but now she can mix speeds with great breaking pitches. She can still rear back and throw it by you, but she’s gotten so good.”

The seventh-seeded Mikes (14-3) advance to the quarterfinals, where they will face the winner of second-seeded Mohawk (14-0) Tuesday at a site and time to be determined. Freeport’s season ends with a 10-5 record.

Burns pitched another complete game and has 573 strikeouts for her career. The four-year starter threw only 93 pitches and reached base in three of her four plate appearances, walking twice and scoring twice.

It was her shot over the centerfield wall that crippled the Yellowjackets’ rally. After Freeport tied the score, 2-2, in the top of the fourth inning, Mikes junior Emily Lewis reached on a one-out infield single. During the next at-bat, and on a 1-1 count, Burns hit a two-run homer – her first since Carmichaels’ trip to Myrtle Beach, S.C., in late March – for a 4-2 lead.

“I’m not the biggest, but I’m built for sure,” Burns laughed. “I definitely use every ounce of what I have and mostly my legs. I was excited. It definitely felt good. I wasn’t 100 percent sure it was going (over the wall), but I was pretty sure.”

The hit gave Burns confidence in the circle, where she allowed just one hit over the final three innings and retired nine of the final 10 batters she faced, relying mostly on her changeup and rising fastball. Freeport had just one extra-base hit, which came in the first inning, and could not generate solid contact against the Point Park recruit.

Burns threw a first-pitch strike to 15 of the 27 batters she faced, including six of her strikeouts.

“I didn’t think we were patient enough against Burns,” Freeport head coach Sam Ross said. “I thought we might have had better success if we were patient, especially later in the count. She’s a nice pitcher with good location and hits her spots.”

The Mikes increased their lead in the bottom of the sixth inning when Freeport committed its fifth error. Lewis reached on a throwing error and Burns walked before senior Caroline Cree, who went 2-for-4, hit a two-run double to right-centerfield.

Katelyn Mays, Megan Walker and Emma Lowry each drove in a run later in the inning to give Carmichaels a 9-2 advantage.

Cree, a four-year starter, struck out in her previous at-bat, but jumped on a fastball thrown by Yellowjackets pitcher Jessica Kelley.

“It was easier to track pitches later in the game,” Cree said. “It was really high, but I got to it. It felt like we had the game won after that.”

That’s a safe bet with Burns pitching, but she hit a rough patch in the second inning. After Freeport’s Claire Crytzer led off with an infield single, she advanced to third on two wild pitches by Burns and scored on a sacrifice fly by Becca Fennell.

The Mikes tied the score in the bottom of the inning with help from two errors by the Yellowjackets and grabbed a 2-1 lead in the third when Mays, who was hit by a pitch, scored on an error. Freeport made it 2-2, but it was Burns who put Carmichaels ahead.

“Erica’s hit was obviously big,” Briggs said. “She has the power to hit home runs. She definitely has all the tools. That really gave us the momentum.”

Though Burns is not the biggest pitcher, her performance will be immeasurable for the Mikes as they attempt to capture their first WPIAL title since 1998 and play above their seeding in their first year in Class AA.

“It’s awesome to get this win,” Burns said. “We’ve been forgotten about, but we’re not going anywhere. We’re going to keep battling.”