Central’s Burnett wins national softball honor

PELLA—Central College sophomore right fielder Franie Burnett (Ankeny, Centennial HS) was named the National Fastpitch Coaches Association’s Division III softball player of the week.

Burnett is the first Central player to receive the NFCA honor since Kiley Lythberg was tabbed March 23, 2011.

Burnett was earlier named the American Rivers Female Athlete of the Week. She hit a sizzling .667 in 10 games last week, with two doubles, two triples, 10 RBI and 14 runs scored while going 12-12 in stolen base tries. She tied a school mark with five steals against SUNY-Brockport Thursday. She had 13 putouts and one assists defensively.

For the season she’s hitting a team-high .477 with 15 runs scored, 14 RBI and 14 stolen bases. Burnett was a first-team all-conference selection last year as a freshman.

Central posted a 9-1 record at the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic in Fort Myers and Naples, Florida. The Dutch are 10-6 overall and open the northern portion of their schedule with their first home games of the season this weekend. Bethel University (Minn.) visits Saturday while Fontbonne University (Mo.) is at Pella Sunday. Both non-conference doubleheaders start at 2 p.m. at the A.N. Kuyper Athletics Complex softball field. A video webcast and live stats for each game can be accessed through the Central athletics website at athletics.central.edu.