EHS' Burns 'excited' to get ball for state final

JOLIET – Edwardsville's Kade Burns hadn't pitched much going into this, his senior season.

Burns has proven to be a valuable pitcher for the Tigers this season, giving EHS some quality innings, especially on Monday, when he was the complete-game winning pitcher in Edwardsville's 11-3 Champaign Super-Sectional win over Orland Park Sandburg.

This evening, Burns will get the ball when EHS goes for their first state championship in nearly two decades against Crystal Lake South in the IHSA Class 4A final at Joliet's Silver Creek Field. The game is scheduled to start about 5:30 p.m. following the third-place game between Burbank St. Laurence and Winnetka New Trier.

“It's the biggest game I'll probably ever pitch in; I'm pretty excited,” Burns said following the Tigers' 3-1 semifinal win over the Vikings Friday evening. “But I can't let nerves get the best of me; I'm going to go out and pitch like I have every game game this year.”

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Burns had played in the field prior to this season; he had pitched some his freshman year for the Tigers before he came to the pitching staff this season – and now, he'll be on the mound with a state championship at stake. “I'd be lying if I said I had this planned at the beginning of the year,” Burns said. “It's worked out so far and I'm just excited to get on the mound again.”

Burns had to battle his way through the first part of Monday's super-sectional win against the Eagles; Sandburg had taken a 3-2 lead on Edwardsville before the Tigers' eight-run explosion in the top of the fifth that sent them to Joliet; once EHS had taken command, Burns was unstoppable, retiring the last nine batters he faced to get the win.

Burns and Andrew Yancik have borne the brunt of the pitching duties this postseason for the Tigers, accounting for all but two of the Tigers' outs in their run to the final. “These guys have been so outstanding; it's incredible to just be able to go out and do what they do,” said Tiger coach Tim Funkhouser. “The stuff that they have and how they're able to manipulate it against the hitters is something special.

“When we won at U of I, the guys in the bullpen – they were throwing at the time and they had just finished, they were getting loose during the game – those guys are good too. That shows you what confidence we have in these guys for them to go out there and finish games or pitch; they've been strong and taking care of their arms – they're shortstop-pitchers, that's tough to do - and they've done a great job of that, managing themselves. They're great competitors and just cool cats.”

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