INSIDE THE LOCKER ROOM Brittany Burke '08 hurls the truth our way

Author: Zamir Ahmed, Sports Editor

Burke currently has a 6-3 record with a 2.20 ERA this season for the Middlebury softball team.



The Campus: Why did you start playing softball?

Brittany Burke: My sister played it when I was little. And so, I wanted to be like her. And my dad played with her, so I would always just go out into the backyard and play with them.

TC: When did you first start playing?

BB: I didn't play tee-ball so I must have started in like fourth grade, actually playing on a team so whenever, however old I was then.

TC: Do you play any other sports?

BB: I played field hockey and basketball in high school but not anymore.

TC: So why did you choose softball?

BB: Um, it was just the one I started with the earliest. I guess I loved it the most and I played it the most throughout high school so it was my big sport out of all three.

TC: What is your best pitch?

BB: My change-up, just because it really keeps batters off-balance and it's a very hard pitch to hit, so I like using it.

TC: Any superstitions?

BB: I don't, I really don't. I'm not a superstitious person - I don't step on the lines on the field - but I don't have any like, anything I need to be... get done, stuff like that.

TC: How do you psyche yourself up for a game?

BB: I guess just being with the team is what psyches me up. It's listening to our warm-up mix and stuff, there's a certain song that I love to have on before the games. Um, but just being with the team, and I usually pitch the second game so I'm pretty psyched up from the first game and ready to go for mine.

TC: What's the biggest advantage of being an athlete at Middlebury?

BB: I would say the biggest advantage is definitely the team, having a team community. The girls on my team are definitely my best friends, like my best girlfriends on campus, and having that group of people you can go to and be with everyday, you can just get outside with and blow off energy and also just have that solid base of friends is huge.

TC: Is it hard to balance playing a sport with other aspects of life at Middlebury?

BB: I don't think so. I think I'm used to always having something to do, somewhere to be, um, to practice. It's definitely a demanding thing to pitch everyday and stuff like that to make sure that, even when our team has days off, a lot of the time I'll have to pitch. So it's definitely a little bit more time consuming but that it fits in pretty easily, like there's a time I would want to be outside or working out anyway so it fits in pretty easily with the day.

TC: Who is the funniest person on the team?

BB: [Laughs] There are so many. I would say the most outrageous…I don't know. I would say Ellen Sargent ['07] is the funniest person on the team for me.

TC: Who is the most intense?

BB: I would say that Lauren Battaglia ['06] is the most. On the field, she's the most intense. She's our catcher so she's the one who's sort of out there running everything and it's not through anything - she just sort of controls everything - not through like being really vocal or anything, just her presence on the field is very intense.

TC: What's your best softball moment?

BB: Um, I don't know. I guess this season… I mean I've loved all the moments but this Saturday, coming through and winning both games when we were down was huge. But I would say my favorite moment this season was watching our rookie, Amelia Magistrali, hitting her home run over the fence 'cause we talk about how that's - we have such a big field and we always talk about how we really want… the seniors have always talked about how they really want to put one over the fence and only one - two people in our whole history had down it before and one of our rookies did it, so that was really exciting.

TC: Is the Middlebury field a pitcher's park?

BB: [Laughs] It's a pitcher's park, even though I've had a home run hit off me on our field, but it is a pitcher's park.

TC: If you could change one thing about the sport, what would it be?

BB: I don't know, I've never been asked this before.

TC: Is there some rule you just hate or would like to see modified?

BB: I would like to say bad umpires, I would like to change bad umpires. But, um, there aren't any rules that I hate. Being a pitcher I get really nervous, I see some fields are smaller than others so I'm like 'Oh, someone will definitely poke one over the fence on this field' or something like that, but there are no rules or anything I would change, I don't think. I love it the way it is.

TC: Have you ever argued with an umpire?

BB: Nope. I'm not an argumentative… I'm one of those people that stays out of it. There's been many times when I could have.

TC: Do you have any nicknames?

BB: They call me 'Burky' on the field. It's not really that exciting.

TC: What is the one thing you want to do before you graduate?

BB: [Pauses] I'd like to perform, like onstage in something, singing. Singing was a big part of my life in high school and I don't really do it here so I would like to be able to sing in some way in some form, um, at school.

TC: What is one sporting event you want to go to?

BB: Yankees-Red Sox. [Laughs]

TC: Playoffs or just regular season?

BB: I've just never been at a game where they've played each other, so I'd love to be at Fenway.

TC: So you're a Red Sox fan?

BB: Yup. I don't want to be in the Bronx.

TC: Will they win the World Series this year?

BB: Um, yes, yes they will.

TC: Even without Johnny Damon?

BB: Even without Johnny Damon. Good riddance!

- Zamir Ahmed, Sports Editor