Sept. 4, 2008
LEXINGTON
, Ky. —
Kentucky
freshman infielder Andy Burns, an Aflac-All-American at Rocky Mountain High School in Fort Collins, Colo., has been named the ninth-best prospect in the Northwoods League, Baseball America, announced Wednesday evening.
Burns, a 6-foot-2, 185-pound middle infielder, comes to UK as part of a star-studded recruiting class – featuring five high school All-Americans (Alfac or Louisville Slugger) in 2008 – a class that could rank tops in the nation and as the best in program history.
As a 17-year old in one of the more challenging summer collegiate leagues in the nation, Burns held his own, batting .225 (46-for-204) with 22 runs, six doubles, two homers, 19 RBI and a 38-21 SO-BB ratio. Burns swiped 13-of-19 bases during the summer, while playing for the Duluth Huskies.
“Burns was regarded as a third- to fifth-round talent this spring at Rocky Mountain High in Fort Collins, Colo., but he slipped to the 25th round because of signability and turned down the hometown Rockies in order to attend Kentucky,” Baseball America’s Aaron Fitt detailed in the prospect breakdown. “He played most of the summer as a 17-year-old against much more advanced competition, and he held his own given the circumstances, hitting .225 in 59 games, a much longer season than he’s used to … He projects to hit for average and some power once he cleans up his mechanics and refines his approach.”
As one of the top prospects in high school baseball, Burns earned the distinction as the 38th-best prospect in the nation, as rated by Baseball America in October of 2007. Burns, the two-time Colorado Player of the Year, also earned first-team All-America honors by Louisville Slugger and the American Baseball Coaches Association in 2008. Burns set school season records for runs (45), hits (39), RBI (43), walks (34) and home runs (13) while at Rocky Mountain High School. As a junior, Burns hit .546 with a 1.181 slugging percentage and a .649 on-base percentage. A former first-team All-State and team MVP selection as a football player, Burns led his baseball team to the Colorado 5A State Championship as a junior and senior.
Burns, a 25th round MLB Draft pick in 2008, joins the historic UK recruiting class that features high school All-Americans Cory Farris (Florence, Ky., Boone Co. HS), Braden Kapteyn (Lansing, Ill., Illiana Christian HS), Alex Meyer (Greensburg, Ind., Greensburg HS) and Michael Williams (Knoxville, Tenn., Farragut HS). Also highlighted the class are first-team All-State selections Sean Bouthilette (Elizabethtown, Ky., Elizabethtown HS), Chase Green (Nicholasville, Ky., West Jessamine HS) and Chad Wright (Paducah, Ky., Heath HS). UK also got three of the better transfers in the nation, including 6-foot-5, 265-pound slugger Will Campbell (Bellevue, Wash., Bellevue CC), Gunner Glad (Pahlequah, Okla., Eastern Okla.), a utility player with 18-homers in 2008, and submarine right-hander Nick Kennedy (Los Angeles, Calif., East Los Angeles).
Kentucky
Opens Fall Practice Season
A year after posting a school-record 44 wins and advancing to its second NCAA Regional Championship game in the past three years, the Kentucky baseball team has opened its fall practice, beginning group work on Wednesday.
The Wildcats, under the direction of first-year head coach Gary Henderson, began fall instruction with group work at Cliff Hagan Stadium.
The fall practice season will continue through November with practice finishing on November 9, following the annual intrasquad Fall World Series. Dates and times for the Fall World Series are to be announced.
