Burns celebrates birthday with national title

Published 5:14 pm Tuesday, June 7, 2016

DENVER, Co. — One Gardendale High School alum has recently nabbed a Division II Women’s College World Series championship.

Bragan Burns, a 2013 graduate, helped the North Alabama softball team win its first-ever national championship on May 21 (her birthday) at the Regency Athletic Complex in Denver, Co. The Lions dropped the first game of the best-of-three championship series to Humboldt State (California) on Friday, but bounced back to win 10-1 and 4-1 on Saturday for the program’s first national title.

It was the university’s first national title in any sport since 2003.

Burns, now a junior at North Alabama, served as a catcher for the Rockets in the spring when she wasn’t competing for the Germantown Red Devils—a travel-ball team based out of Memphis, Tenn.

Out of high school, Burns signed her national letter of intent with Southern Mississippi, but transferred to North Alabama following her sophomore season with the Golden Eagles.

Burns has one year of eligibility remaining with the Lions as they part ways with senior catcher Carmen Whitfield. North Alabama also has two more upcoming senior catchers (Mary Graves and Kennedy Christy) listed on the team’s official roster. The top-ranked Lions finished a record-breaking 2016 season at 60-7 overall.

Erik Harris is the Sports Editor of The North Jefferson News. Email him at njnsports@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @jeharris2.