Burns top pitcher for Kent State

Gabrielle Burns, a senior pitcher for the Kent State softball team from Wellsville High, has developed into one of the top pitchers in the Mid-American Conference.

Burns leads the MAC in earned run average (1.09) among pitchers who have appeared in more than one game, and is No. 2 in strikeouts (193) and No. 4 in wins (16-5 record) in 24 appearances and 147.1 innings.

The daughter of James and Georgeanna Burns and a special education major, Burns shares the MAC pitching spotlight with her teammate, Kylie Reynolds, a 5-foot-7 sophomore from Morgan County High in Grensboro, Ga.

Reynolds leads the MAC in wins (19-4) and strikeouts (219) and second in ERA (1.28) in 32 appearances and 158.1 innings.

Burns and Reynolds are coming off their second straight shutout wins Wednesday in a doubleheader at Cleveland State, as they won 1-0 and 3-0, respectively. It was Reynolds’ eighth shutout of the year, Burns’ seventh.

In Burns’ previous outing Sunday at Buffalo, she fanned 13 in the Golden Flashes’ 4-0 win.

Maplewood’s Pozzuto also on KSU mound staff

KSU’s other pitcher is Markie Pozzuto, a 5-7 freshman from Maplewood High and the daughter of Mark and Wendy Pozzuto, who also has been outstanding in limited playing time.

Although Pozzuto, a chemistry major, has appeared in only five games and 14.1 innings as a backup to Burns and Reynolds, she has a 2.44 ERA which ranks No. 11 in the MAC, and a 1-1 record with 18 strikeouts.

Kent (36-10), coached by Karen Linder (12th season, 340-269), leads the MAC East Division (16-2) entering a doubleheader today against Central Michigan (25-14, 14-3 MAC West Division) at 1 p.m. CMU leads the MAC West.

KSU’s 36 wins are the second-most in school history.

Burns recently was named MAC East Division Pitcher of the Week for the third time this season.

Earlier this season, Burns was named MAC East Division Pitcher of the Week on Feb. 19 after the Strike Out Cancer Tournament, and Feb. 26 after the First Pitch Classic.

McDonald’s Tondo is UAA first-team pick

CLEVELAND — Ashleigh Tondo, a 5-9 sophomore point guard guard for the Case Western Reserve University women’s basketball team from McDonald High, has been named to the All-University Athletic Association First Team.

Tondo, a pre-medicine major, ranked No. 1 in the UAA in assists with 4.8 per game and shared No. 1 in steals (2.4 ).

She led Case Western Reserve in scoring with a 14.9-point average, which ranked No. 2 in the UAA., and also was No. 15 in rebounding (5.8).

She played in all 25 games (13-12, 6-8 UAA), and led the team in average per-game playing time with 35.6 minutes .

Tondo scored a career-high 25 points against Kalamazoo on Jan. 3.

“Ashleigh [Tondo] had a great sophomore season for us,” first-year coach Jennifer Reimer said. “She nearly triple-doubled more than once and that speaks volumes about the type of player she has become.”

In Tondo’s previous season as a freshman, she played in all 25 games and averaged 8.8 points. She ranked No. 2 on the team in total assists (57) and No. 3 in rebounds (113).

In Tondo’s top game as a freshman, she had 17 points, 11 rebounds and six steals against the College of Mount St. Joseph.

XJohn Kovach writes about college athletes for The Vindicator. Write him at kovach@vindy.com.