Burns reflects on magical postseason run for TIgers
JOLIET – When Kade Burns reflects on what he and his Edwardsville Tigers accomplished in 2017, no doubt he'll remember many good things.
“We got a lot closer as a team this year,” Burns said after the Tigers fell to Crystal Lake South 8-3 in the IHSA Class 4A baseball championship game Saturday night at Joliet's Silver Cross Field. “I don't think we were as tight at the beginning of the year as we are now – a lot of team-bonding stuff, a lot of fun group of guys to practice with every day.
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“It was a fun experience” playing at the state tournament, Burns said, “staying in a hotel room with some of your brothers – it's a fun team. They were a good team and they came out to play.”
The Tigers had been eliminated early in the postseason the past two years, falling in the sectional semifinal in 2015 and the regional final in 2016 before this year's run to the final. “It's a big deal to get this far; unfortunately, we couldn't go the distance, but we had a great run for a team that (wasn't ranked very high). We proved a lot of people wrong out there.”
Noah Tyrrell, in particular, stood out at the plate for the Gators; he went 3-for-4 with a two-run homer in the fifth and a triple with five RBIs. “They can hit, there's no doubt about that,” Burns said. “I was hitting my spots on the mound and they were still putting the ball in play and spraying it over the field; hats off to them, they hit the ball and there wasn't really anything I could do.
“I was throwing down-and-in sinkers and they were putting it over the fence; I don't know what else I needed to do. The first (homer) was a low-and-in sinker; I don't know how (Ryan Parquette) went down and got it and he still got air under it and the win was racing out to left field (a steady breeze was blowing directly out towards left); you get a little air under it and it'll go a long way.
“The second one was a slider that started at the middle of the plate and went outside and (Tyrrell) still got his bat around it and pulled it. They were just some good hitters.” Burns wound up going five-plus innings for EHS, striking out six and conceding eight runs (all earned) on nine hits before giving way to Andrew Frank.
Burns was very happy with how the season turned out for the Tigers. “We no doubt had a good year, but a lot better than anyone was expecting,” Burns said. “We had a lot of seniors who stepped up and kind of led the team, kept everyone balanced.
“I'm sure there's a lot of other teams that would have wished to get this far.”
Burns will be heading to Central Missouri next season and he looks forward to playing for the NCAA Division II Mules in Warrensburg, Mo. “I'm excited,” Burns said. “I feel like I'm not ready to stop playing baseball yet; it'll be a fun four years to play.”
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