CALEDONIA — Don’t dismiss the benefit of a little extra work.
Hope Burton knew she wasn’t hitting like she wanted to, so she took Caledonia High School fast-pitch softball coach Robin Elmore up on her offer to stay after the game against Noxubee County High and take some more swings.
Burton wanted to capitalize on the opportunity because she knew a game against Houston, one of the team’s biggest rivals and one of the contenders in Class 4A, Region 4, was next on the schedule, so she wanted to be at her best.
Cuts in the cage and off a batting tee followed and left Burton feeling good for what she hoped was going to be a ringing performance.
By all estimation, Burton did a lot better than her “pretty good” assessment she offered of her performance. For the record, Burton had a three doubles and a sacrifice fly to lead Caledonia to a 6-3 victory. Elmore said the victory was the team’s first against Houston since 2008 or 2009.
For her accomplishments, Burton is The Dispatch’s Prep Player of the Week.
“I guess I figured it out once I stayed after and actually put in the time and tried to do better,” said Burton, who was moved from the leadoff position to the No. 4 spot, or clean-up position.
“After the game, I was thinking it was a good thing I did well because if I wouldn’t have done well people would have been wondering why I was batting fourth.”
Elmore said Burton “smoked” the left fielder on the first double, delivered a gap shot on her second double, and lined another shot to the left-center field gap for her third hit of the game. Burton said she was pulling the ball earlier in the season but she wasn’t hitting with as much authority. She said the time she spent in practice helped her confidence and allowed her to bring more power to the plate.
“These hits were way more powerful and the technique was better,” Burton said of what she believes was her first game with three doubles. “It made a huge difference. Houston always has the mind-set that, ‘Oh, it is Caledonia. This is going to be a win.’ But this year we wanted to make it different. That was a main goal to beat Houston because it is such a huge district game for us.”
Elmore said Burton has been a mainstay in the program since she was a seventh-grader. She said she didn’t know how many swings Burton took off the “Iron Mike” pitching machine, live pitching, and off a batting tee the day before the Houston game.
“She has been such a joy to coach because she always gives you her best,” Elmore said. “She works hard. I have had to move her around and she has never batted an eye when I asked her to do something. She always has been team oriented.
“She is an encourager. I have never heard anything negative come out of her mouth.”
Burton hopes to carry over the momentum to today, when Caledonia (10-6) plays host to Leake Central at 6 p.m. She and classmates Nicole Kifer and Alex Burns will be honored between the junior varsity and the varsity games. The game will help determine if Caledonia makes the playoffs. Kosciusko (7-2), West Lauderdale (6-3), Caledonia (5-4), Houston (4-4), and Leake Central (4-5) are in the running for Region 4’s three playoff spots, according to maxpreps.com.
Burton said Monday she planned to do extra work on her pitching to make sure she was prepared for the matchup. Her hope was that extra time proved just as fruitful as the work she put in last week.
“As long as I bring the energy, it always starts with me,” Burton said. “That is what coach always tells me in pitching. As long as I let it start with me, everybody else will do just as well. That is usually how it goes. It is a ripple effect. That helped a lot in our Houston game. One person would do well and then the next person would hit well and the next person would hit well.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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