Four shutouts and a perfect game: Picayune softball pitcher dominating Gulf Coast
Kylie Burnette has been about as untouchable as a pitcher can be in 2022.
Picayune’s senior star in the circle is having a season most can only dream of. Against West Harrison on Thursday, she recorded her 100th strikeout in just 15 games, reaching that number while issuing just two walks in 82 innings of work.
Her performance has been a major step forward for the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College signee, who struggled a year ago, finishing 2021 with an ERA north of 5.50.
“I think I went through a rough patch last year and I’ve worked harder to become a better pitcher and it’s definitely impacted my life for the better,” Burnette told the Sun Herald. “I have so much more confidence in myself as a softball player.”
Her combination of command, glove-pounding heat and confoundingly late movement has left her opponents at a loss. On March 24 against Long Beach, she harnessed all three to achieve the pitcher’s pinnacle: a perfect game — a perfect game she didn’t even realize she was working on until she had the Bearcats down to the final pitch.
“It was one of the best perfect games anybody could have,” Burnette said. “It got to the seventh inning, two outs, two strikes on the batter. Everybody was saying ,‘you’re throwing a no-hitter’ and I’m like, ‘nobody has gotten on base in this game.’ I was one strike away from doing something that never really happens, and when I did it, coach Courtney (Dickens) runs up to me and says ,‘you just threw a perfect game.’ That was pretty incredible.”
Burnette only recorded a few strikeouts in that game while leaning on a stingy defense, led by second baseman Kaigyn Kulas and third baseman Brooklyn Wilson, that made several key stops to keep the perfect game alive.
Burnette’s perfect game was no fluke: The win was her fourth shutout of the campaign, another chapter in a remarkable season.
“Kylie puts a lot of work in outside of practicing with me,” Dickens said. “She puts a lot of work in and I think she kind of zones in and stays in her zone.”
Opposing batters have struggled to adjust to Burnette’s presence in the center of the diamond. Her velocity forces batters deeper in the box, where they’re quick to learn her pitches have late movement.
Above all else, Burnette has displayed pinpoint control. She forces hitters into action and wastes very few pitches.
“She does a good job of keeping the batters off balance,” Dickens said. “She has some offspeed pitches and that’s basically what we do. She does a very good job of hitting her spots. Whatever I call, she normally hits her spot which I think makes her very successful... Usually whatever I call is where it’s going. Very few off nights for her.”
Burnette committed to further her softball career at MGCCC in October, and that decision spurred the season she’s having now.
“I think if I wasn’t going anywhere after my senior year, I would’ve died down a lot,” said Burnette, who has helped lead a relatively young Picayune squad to a 12-8 record so far, giving the Maroon Tide a chance to win in every game.
“I would’ve given up on softball my senior year,” she said.”Knowing that I’m going to college after this to play two more years, it’s made me strive and work harder and find the grit that I need to play harder for my team.”
