Spring sport spotlight: Freshman Burgess begins to heat up during key stretch for Duke softball

Every week, the Blue Zone breaks down an outstanding spring athlete, looking at their weekly performance and their season as a whole. Up next is Amiah Burgess:

This season, No. 6 Duke softball has been one of, if not the school’s best sports team. Their sterling 44-6 record has been mostly driven by returning talents Claire Davidson, Aminah Vega, Cassidy Curd and Jala Wright. The four stars have a combined six ACC player/pitcher of the week honors, and consistently rank among the most talented players in the country.

However, this week it was freshman Amiah Burgess who outshined them all. In five games, she went 8-for-13 at the plate, tacking on eight runs herself and driving in another seven. 

So far this season, Burgess has been somewhat of an afterthought on the list of the team’s most productive batters, having only started in 29 of the 50 contests. Although she hasn’t seen consistent time on the diamond, she has made the most of her opportunities, with a strong .372 batting average.

The League City, Texas, native has shown a knack for getting on base this season with a 16.3% walk rate, but something her game has lacked so far was the long ball. That may have changed this week, as she hit two home runs. During the rest of the season, she had only knocked three balls out of the park.

Overall, this last week of the regular season has treated not only Burgess well, but the entire program. In out-of-conference matchups against Gardner-Webb and Longwood along with an ACC series against N.C. State, the Blue Devils won all five of their games and outscored the opposition 35-8. In Sunday’s win, it was Burgess who tacked on a key insurance RBI with two outs in the seventh. She scored Davidson from third base, increasing the margin to the eventual final score of 5-3.

If Duke wants to keep up its reputation as one of the best teams in the nation into what could be a deep run towards the Women’s College World Series, head coach Marissa Young will need all hands on deck. Burgess’s week has been indicative of what the young left fielder’s career could look like. Now, it will be up to her and the rest of the team to carry that momentum from a strong finish to the regular season into what will surely be a challenging postseason.