Tigers' Burris bounces back from leg injury, gets off to hot start in 2017

EDWARDSVILLE – Dylan Burris has been swinging a hot bat for Edwardsville's baseball team at the start of this season.

Burris, a senior, went into Thursday's scheduled Southwestern Conference game against East St. Louis hitting .500 for the season (11-for-22) with five doubles and a triple and eight RBIs with an .818 slugging percentage, helping the Tigers get off to a 6-0 start.

Last season, though, Burris' 2016 campaign was cut short because of a leg injury he played with through the first part of the year. “I had a cracked (right) femur last season I kept quiet (about) for the first 22 games,” Burris said. “It was just gradual stress and started to break over time; I should have said something about it much earlier.

“I knew it before the first game, but the team means a lot to me and I didn't want to give that up.”

Burris ended up missing the Tigers' postseason games because of the injury; they were eliminated in the IHSA Class 4A Belleville West Regional final to the host Maroons; he did play in Edwardsville's first 22 games.

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“It's hard,” Burris said about having to miss out on the last part of the season. “I had a hard time; it's nice to support my team and I'm a team player, but being a guy like me, it hurts me. I wanted to be out there and help my team; to see them struggle and know I could have done something different to be out there and help them win or have a different outcome, it was painful for me.”

The injury also kept Burris out of the summer baseball program until late July. “Once I got cleared, I did a little rehab and I was right back in it as soon as I could get going,” Burris said.

Having to miss out on a significant part of the season last year spurred Burris during the off-season. “If anything, it pushed me harder this winter,” Burris said. “I didn't want it to end up like last season; I knew my junior year didn't end how I wanted to end. I wasn't on the radar for a lot of colleges; this year, I had to work hard all winter to come out and leave my mark because this is my last chance.”

Burris' hot start has come thanks to keeping things simple. “Just having the right mind-set, having a level head and not trying to hit home runs on a windy day,” Burris said. “It's just having the right mind-set.

“I put on almost 20 pounds this winter just on constant lifting and preparing for the season; everyone else is waiting for summer and I'm waiting on March 1 all winter (for the start of baseball practice); I'm excited for the season and preparing (for the start of the season).”

The Tigers are scheduled to host Parkway South at 11 a.m. Saturday in a single game, then travel to Alton for a 4:30 p.m. Tuesday before hosting Belleville West at 4:30 p.m. April 6.

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