Burns overcomes injury to pitch again

Everyone has to crawl before they can walk and then walk before they run. While Eddie Burns never struggled for talent, he has had to do his share of crawling and walking before taking over and becoming an integral part of the starting rotation this past season.

This summer, Eddie was drafted in the 16th round by the Atlanta Braves. Burns was also selected by the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox to play in the Cape Cod League, a league that is formed by the best that college baseball has to offer.

"The summer leagues are set up by Tech coaches. They make calls around to the various summer leagues, and they select players based on performance. My selection by the Red Sox was set up by Coach Moranda," Burns said.

Burns has played well in the league, becoming an important part of the pitching staff.

"It's been a good experience here [at Cape Cod] for the whole family. I'm going up against the best that the college game has to offer," Burns said.

Before becoming noticed by professional scouts, Burns had to battle himself just to have a shot to pitch again. In 2005, Burns was forced to redshirt due to reconstructive shoulder surgery. The year after that, he was only able to make one appearance for the Jackets and spent most of the season rehabbing the reconstructed shoulder.

"Coming back from surgery, last year was really the first year that I could pitch competitively. It has been a long process for me," Burns said.

Last season, Burns started the year as a reliever. Eddie's first start came against Western Carolina on February 27. It didn't go well for him or the Jackets as Tech lost 10-7, with Burns allowing seven runs in four innings.

However, Burns' next start was a gem. In Panthersville, Burns threw a complete game shutout, allowing just five hits and two walks while fanning four. This was his breakout game, and after that outing he would never sit in the bullpen again.

After that, Burns rattled off two more wins in a row in starts against Georgia Southern and Wofford. After those two starts, head coach Danny Hall inserted Burns into the weekend rotation on Saturdays.

While Burns did not pick up another win in his weekend starts the rest of the regular season, he allowed just 17 earned runs in 32 innings pitched.

In the ACC Tournament, Burns threw against Virginia's Sean Doolittle. Through six innings, the score was tied at one. While this could have been Burns' time to shine, it was not to be, as sheets of rain on the Baseball Grounds at Jacksonville ended Burns' chance to win.

"We finished up on a low note, which is certainly not anything that you are pleased with. It will be interesting to see how things are changed, but there won't be much alteration from the way players practice day-to-day. We all work pretty hard," Burns said.

Burns has until August 15th to sign a contract with the Braves. If he does not sign, then he will return to the Jackets for his junior season.