|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
How the rest of the East Bay Athletic League and then North Coast Section softball season plays out remains to be seen, but there is one thing for sure.
Whenever the Foothill High season ends this month, it will end the illustrious careers of seniors Kaycie and Sophia Burdick.
When the two leave Foothill (Kaycie to play softball at the University of Washington and Sophia to play softball at San Jose State), there will be a massive void to fill.
The two were also impactful volleyball players for the Foothill team that went to the CIF State final last season.
Both are obviously excited about what the future holds. but at the same time are not sure what it will be like without the other.
“It will be really weird,” Kaycie said of life without Sophia. “I will miss just being around her and doing things with her. I mean she’s my best friend, so outside of just softball I’m being separated from someone that I’m always around and love spending time with.”
Sophia also acknowledges it will be a new experience.
“It will be very weird and different,” Sophia said. “I will miss her positive attitude, her funny personality, and how she makes every environment easy and comfortable to be in.”
The two started playing sports around 5 or 6, and until this past summer when they were on different travel softball teams, they have almost always played together.
This year will likely be the last as teammates — but what a year it’s been.
It started in the fall where they returned for Foothill volleyball, the defending NCS champions. It’s Foothill, so the team will always at the very least be a contender, but this year went to a whole other level.
The team was put into the NCS Open Division where they fell in the semifinals, but by being in Open, they moved on to the CIF playoffs as the No. 5 seed in Division I.
It all came together and four wins later, they were in the CIF final against Palos Verdes. They fell to Palos Verdes in the final — a team with several D-I volleyball players — but the run was amazing.
“We made it a lot further than anyone thought we would be able to,” Sophia said. “I am very grateful to have experienced that, and it was an amazing way to end my volleyball career.”
For Kaycie it was almost like having a chip on her shoulder.
“We had a lot of people doubting us at the beginning of the season, especially after the loss of some key seniors from the previous season,” explained Kaycie, who was the EBAL MVP. “Because of that we wanted to prove a lot of people wrong, and from there we just connected as a team.”
One major difference for Kaycie between her junior season and senior campaign, she went from being one of several options to being the main option. She was a dominant player, and there were times in the postseason she put the team on her back and brought the team a victory.
“Leading a team like that taught me so much which I am super grateful for,” Kaycie said. “Making it to state was such a great experience, but the season as a whole was so much fun and something I will always remember.”
Honestly, Kaycie is one of the top five overall athletes I have seen come out of Foothill and one of the top ten that I’ve ever seen from the EBAL. At 5-foot-7, she was behind the eight-ball as a college recruit despite playing like a 6-footer.
That, along with her sensational junior year on the softball field, made the decision easy for college athletics.
“It was hard knowing that I am undersized for volleyball, which kind of made it clear to me which sport I wanted to keep playing at the highest level,” Kaycie said.
Let’s look at that junior softball season. Kaycie finished the year hitting .552, scoring 37 runs, driving in 20, with nine home runs. She walked 11 times and only struck out four times. Her slugging percentage was an amazing 1.045.
“Earning all the awards and the recognition I did was an honor, but it also put more pressure on me for this season,” said Kaycie.
Pressure aside, she is hitting .481, scoring 27 runs, driving in 18 runs with five doubles and five home runs. She has only struck out six times in her senior year.
“Kaycie is the person you want up to bat in the most timely situations,” Sophia said. “You can always rely on her to get the job done. Not only that, she is a great teammate and leader.”
While Kaycie is the pop for the Falcons, Sophia has been writing her ticket this season with a .524 average off 33 hits and scoring 19 runs. She doesn’t get cheated at the plate, with only one walk during the season.
“She’s a very underrated player,” Kaycie said of her sister. “She’s athletic, strong, fast, dynamic, and she has sneaky pop. Sophia has a very high ceiling, and she is only starting to realize that herself. Once she builds a little more confidence in herself, I think she will be unstoppable.”
We know the San Jose State coaching staff feels good about things — and Sophia couldn’t be happier.
“The second I visited San Jose State, I knew that was the place I wanted to go,” Sophia said. “The coaches and the environment are absolutely amazing.”
Editor’s note: Dennis Miller is a contributing sports writer for Embarcadero Media Foundation’s East Bay Division. To contact him about his Pleasanton Preps column, email acesmag@aol.com.
