Greene County Tech's Karley Burrow takes starring role in circle after varsity debut put on hold
By Kyle Sutherland | Photo by Ted McClenning
Greene County Tech achieved unprecedented softball success this spring with a 5A-East Conference title and its first state championship game berth with 27 wins.
While the historic season was a team effort, junior ace pitcher Karley Burrow was at the heart of it with an epic varsity debut after a two-year delay. Burrow, a junior, achieved numerous honors such as Class 5A all-state, all-state tournament and Class 5A Pitcher of the Year. She compiled a 19-3 record with a 1.36 earned run average and struck out 125 batters while batting .336 on offense.
However, that success did not come without multiple bumps in the road. 2022 was the first full season that Burrow was able to compete at the varsity level due to a COVID-shortened freshman season followed by an injury she sustained playing basketball in 2021.
“It was both nerves and excitement,” Burrow said. “I was nervous because I did not want to let my team down ... but I was just so excited to be back out there and playing the sport that I love. I kind of got burnt out for a little bit, like do I really want this?”
Prior to beginning her freshman season in 2020, Greene County Tech was one of the teams predicted to win a state championship before the season got canceled three games in. Burrow was not going to be one of the top arms that year for the Eagles but would have had a chance to gain valuable experience behind Kaley Sessums and Alex Jeter, both of whom are currently playing college softball.
The following year, Burrow expected to get her shot to contribute plenty of valuable innings alongside Jeter when the Eagles finished as a state semifinalist, but that all ended on a February evening on the hardwood when she sustained a spiral fracture in her ankle. Hers was a rare case where it happened the opposite way — as opposed to going in and spinning, Burrow’s went out and spun.
“I was running down the court, and the girl shot the ball,” Burrow said. “I went for the rebound and once I got it, me and this girl got into a jump ball. I went to pull it away from her and she fell on top of me. The next thing I know, I hear and feel my ankle snap. I could not even put my toe on the floor without screaming in pain.”
That was it for her sophomore season — no more basketball and no softball for the Eagles, nor summer travel softball. During the process of her healing was when things really began to be put into perspective, and she fell in love with the game all over again.
“It got taken away from me and made me truly realize how much I love this sport,” Burrow said. “Once I broke my ankle, and I was out for those three months even when I was not walking, I was still having pitching lessons. They put my knee on a bucket and I would sit there doing arm circles working on my spin and my snaps, so I think that helped.”
David Reynolds was an assistant coach during Burrow’s first two seasons with the team and led the Eagles to the state final in his first year as head coach after taking over for Tony Boyd.
“It would have been good for Karley to see Kaley Sessums because they are similar pitchers,” Reynolds said. “Karley not only missed the whole season, but she missed that mentorship of seeing a pitcher go through the conference grind and to not have to be the No. 1. It was tough on all the seniors and all of the kids.”
Going from not throwing a single pitch to being the ace throwing around 90 percent of the innings was one of the contributing factors to Burrow’s uncertainty, but Reynolds helped her take a step back to remind her she had eight teammates around her on the diamond that she could rely on.
“One thing you have to know about Karley is she is a competitor, and she is always going to be out there and put it all on her,” Reynolds said. “That is one of the things we talked about before the year is that it is not all on her. [I told her] ‘You have a good group around you, don’t go trying to strike everybody out. Put the ball in play and let the defense work.’
“We pride ourselves in being really good defensively, and I think that really clicked a couple of games into the year because she went from just being a thrower into being a pitcher. That was a big thing for her — just be you.”
Reynolds felt like that was the turning point early on when it all began to click — though all eyes might have been on her from the outside looking in as the one in the circle, she had plenty of support. That was a sign of the maturity and growth despite not having the opportunities to learn from the pitchers before her, at least on the field in a game situation.
Though she is solely focused on right now and her upcoming senior year, Burrow does have the desire to play at the next level regardless of what division that might be so long as it is what is best for her future.
“Ever since I was little it has always been my dream to play college ball, it has always been something that I am just like ‘I’m going to do it’,” Burrow said. “I think every little girl’s dream is to play in the SEC or Division I softball. I am the type of person who wants to play all four years and I have thought about playing smaller, then can always transfer and then go bigger if I want to, but I also have to think about what I want to major in to account as well.”
The Eagles will graduate a few key pieces but with Burrow and multiple other starters returning, another special season could be on the horizon in 2023. For her individually, Burrow is just taking things one day at a time and continuing to grow from the process.
“I keep telling myself, ‘You were injured last year and look how far you have come’,” Burrow said. “Imagine how much better you can be if you keep working as hard as you do. That is just my mentality: always work hard, give 100%, never give up, and do not take anything for granted because you never know when your last game is going to be.”
