EDWARDSVILLE - Blake Burris knows what it's like to win. He did it at Edwardsville High, and he's still doing it now for the Alton River Dragons.
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In his senior season, the EHS Tigers were crowned Class 4A State Champions for the third time in school history. He was a key part of that team. He was batting .315 with a .433 OBP and rove in 22 RBIs. That was just his senior year where he got to go out on top.
"We had a lot of good players on that team," Blake said. He mentioned that another current River Dragon was on that team, that player being Collin Salter.
"It was a lot of fun. I miss that team, but I'm looking forward to winning a little jewelry with this one," Blake said.
He mentioned that he didn't get to go to as many Edwardsville games as he would have liked this season to watch them lift their fourth state championship for the school.
Coming off a great season with the Tigers, Blake continued his baseball career at Lewis and Clark Community College where he plays with some other River Dragons players like Salter, Bryce Zupan, Mike Hampton, Adam Stilts, Brayden Ramsey, and Kalen Reardon.
Blake eventually made his way onto the River Dragons and is once again a key part of the batting order. He mentioned that River Dragons general manager Dallas Martz came out to a game at LCCC to watch Blake and some other players.
"They were just looking for some local guys to fill in some spots early in the year, then they ended up really liking us and we're back here again this year."
He currently has the highest batting average on the team at .378 and an OBP of .466. He boasted even better numbers than in high school, now playing against tougher opposition.
As of writing this on July 2nd, he's riding a career-high nine-game hit streak.
"It's just fun being back here," he said. He mentioned that an injury sidelined him for a lot of the season last spring, but he's back and better than ever.
He gets to do all that, and still only be a short drive from home.
"It's definitely nice to go home and stay in your own bed, especially with your family, girlfriend, or whoever."
The local guys usually get a little louder applause stepping up to the plate, and Blake, being a former high school state champion, is no exception.
"Most the fans know of you because you're from around here."
Blake mentioned that he'd like to thank Dallas and Darrel Handelsman for getting him onto the team and his current coaches for helping him get better day in and day out.
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