Hood College Women's Softball

Burdette, a well-respected and highly-successful travel team coach, is in his fourth season at the helm of the Hood College softball team. Burdette's coaching career earned him induction into the Greater Washington Fastpitch Softball Hall of Fame in 2013 and the Alvin G. Quinn Frederick County Hall of Fame in 2016. Last year, Burdette earned Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth Coach of the Year honors after the team turned in a 13-win improvement over the previous year and advanced to the MAC Commonwealth Semifinals. The Blazers tied for second in the MAC Commonwealth during the regular season and are seeded third heading into the conference tournament, the team's first bid since the 2013 season. Hood leds the conference and ranked 19th in Division III in home runs (27 total, 0.79/game). The Blazers' 20 wins were the fourth-most in school history. Four players were named all-conference, with Kayli Paugh earning a place on the NFCA All-East Region team.  In 2015, the squad had a pair of All-Commonwealth Conference players in Ashley Fourcade - who set the school's career home run record - and Kristy Erfurdt. The 2014 team produced one All-Commonwealth Conference honoree, Ashley Fourcade, who set the Blazers' career home run record in just her sophomore season. Burdette also coached a team of Maryland ASA All-Stars in an exhibition against the U.S. National Team in July of 2014. His second season saw Hood post a 15-win improvement over his first year and the Blazers qualified for the Commonwealth Conference Tournament in their first year in the new league. Burdette's squad produced the CC Rookie of the Year in Ashley Fourcade, who was joined on the all-conference team by Casey Dunn, Amy Hagerdon, and Carly Farr. Hood led the Commonwealth with 22 home runs.  In his first season as the Blazers' mentor, Hood finished with a record of 8-31 and qualified for the Capital Athletic Conference tournament for the fifth straight year. Additionally, first baseman Kelly Gafner '12 was named to the all-CAC second team. As the head coach of the 18U Heartbreakers Junior Olympic Travel Team, Burdette has won over 700 games since 1995. He was recognized at the 2010 National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Convention for eclipsing the 600-win plateau. His Heartbreaker squads have amassed seven top 10 finishes in the Amateur Softball Association of America (ASA) and Protect Our Nation's Youth (PONY) Nationals, which included four top 3 finishes. Burdette has mentored 71 players who went on to play at the collegiate level, including 38 at Division I programs. Among those outstanding student-athletes is former Blazer head coach, Kate Barrick, who in 2005 was lauded as the Atlantic 10 Conference player of the year while at Fordham University. Burdette also coached Iona College teammates Alison Higgs and Liz Hammel, who captured the 2004 and 2005 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) player of the year awards, respectively. In addition, Higgs went on to showcase her talents for one season in the National Pro Fastpitch League. A native of Dickerson, Md., Burdette also serves as the camp director for the Heartbreakers Softball Camp, which he developed in 1996 with 13 attendees. Today, the camp has swelled to as many as 150 campers who wish to hone their skills in all areas of the game. Burdette has also offered his expertise as a clinician at pitching, hitting and coaching clinics throughout the Central Atlantic region, including the 2009 Softball Bash in Richmond, Va. Burdette's previous collegiate coaching experience includes a three-year stint at Mount St. Mary's University. During his first season in Emmitsburg in 2004, Burdette primarily worked with the Mountaineer pitching staff, but assumed a more comprehensive team role in 2005 and 2006. On the high school level, Burdette served as an assistant softball coach at nearby Walkersville High School from 1999-2002 and 2008-11 and helped guide the Lions to the Maryland 2A state championship crown in 1999. Burdette received a bachelor of science degree in mathematics from Elizabethtown College in 1978. He has been a member of the NFCA since 1995 and served on the executive board as the organization's National Travel Ball Representative from 2005-2010. Burdette and his wife, Barbara, reside in Woodsboro. They have six children, Jennifer, Amy, Lisa, Tara, Jimmy and Bryan in addition to four grandchildren, Ashley, Tyler, Bethany and Lyla Susan.

Lewis joined the Hood College softball coaching staff as an assistant for the 2013 season. A 2008 graduate of Roger Williams University in Bristol, R.I., Lewis was a four-year starter and four-time all-Commonwealth Coast Conference honoree as an outfielder. A team captain for the Hawks her senior year, she started all 154 games she appeared in and was consistently among the team leaders in virtually every statistical category. A lifetime .406 hitter, Lewis racked up 186 hits, including 25 doubles, 26 triples and 12 home runs in her four years at Roger Williams. She also drove in 143 runs, scored 130 runs and stole 40 bases as the Hawks' No. 3 hitter in the lineup. As a junior, Lewis led the Hawks with a stellar .492 batting average and was recognized as a first-team all-conference selection; she also earned second team plaudits as a freshman, sophomore and senior. The top-seeded Hawks advanced to the championship game of the CCC tournament her junior year as well, but fell to five-time champion Endicott in the final. Her coaching experience includes a one-year stint as the interim head coach at her alma mater during the 2009-10 season when she guided the team to a 20-19 overall record. Lewis also served as an assistant coach at the Eastbay Baseball Academy in Bristol for two seasons and as an assistant at Salve Regina University in Newport during the 2009 season. Lewis has also been involved with Coach Burdette and the Heartbreakers Fastpitch Association as both a player and coach for many years. Lewis is a native of Brunswick, Md., and graduated from Brunswick High School. She received a bachelor of science degree in architecture in 2008 and completed her master's degree in architecture at RMU in 2010. Lewis currently resides in Frederick.