<p>In her first plate appearance, Franklin College softball player Morgan Burch launched a home run.</p>
<p>Right away, her confidence soared.</p>
<p>In her next at-bat, she doubled. Then she singled.</p>
<p>And then, the sophomore slugger did something really special.</p>
<p>In her final plate appearance against Berea College on March 28, she belted another extra-base hit that assured a 16-5 win for the Grizzlies.</p>
<p>But it did more than that.</p>
<p>Burch’s final hit was a triple, completing a 4-for-4 day at the plate and, more notably, giving her the distinction of hitting for the cycle.</p>
<p>Rare in baseball and rarer still in softball, where triples are harder to come by, completing the cycle happens when a player collects a single, a double, a triple and a home run in the same game.</p>
<p>When Burch did it, it generated plenty of excitement on the softball team. Long after the fact, that is.</p>
<p>At the time, no one in the Grizzlies’ dugout — including Burch — realized what she had accomplished.</p>
<p>“Actually, my dad did mention something about it when I got home that night,” said Burch, who, like her teammates, was caught up in the thrill of winning and oblivious to individual highlights.</p>
<p>Even Grizzlies coach Butch Zike, a longtime baseball and softball coach, wasn’t cognizant what his player had accomplished until she was named the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Hitter of the Week.</p>
<p>“I didn’t realize she did it until I read it,” said Zike, whose team has been more focused on winning than anything else.</p>
<p>And perhaps that was the best part about Burch hitting for the cycle. It happened in the context of a win, and it happened at a time Burch was already red-hot at the plate, all of which contributed to it going unnoticed.</p>
<p>For the week, the Grizzlies went 6-2. During that stretch, Burch hit .538 (14 for 26) with a 1.038 slugging percentage.</p>
<p>She blasted seven extra-base hits, including two home runs, and drove in 15 runs — the highlight being a four-RBI performance during an 8-3 win against HCAC rival Hanover.</p>
<p>“She’s an even-keeled kid,” Zike said. “This is a player that wasn’t in the starting lineup early and just waited her time.</p>
<p>“And once she got it, oh, she’s just exploded and carried us these last couple of weeks.”</p>
<p>A starting outfielder from Cascade High School, Burch is hitting .442 on the season with three doubles, three triples and 16 RBIs for the 16-8 Grizzlies.</p>
<p>“We’ve been getting a lot of bonding time. Something’s happened this year, and we’ve just clicked,” Burch said. “On the field, off the field, we all work together.”</p>
<p>“Working together just makes things better as a team. It helps us win.”</p>
<p>Although it is unclear whether Burch is the first Franklin softball player to ever hit for the cycle, but it is a very achievement.</p>
<p>In Major League Baseball, for example, hitting for the cycle has occurred only 306 times since Curry Foley first did it in 1882.</p>
<p>As for Burch, she remembers hitting for the cycle as more of an enjoyable day at the plate than a historic feat.</p>
<p>“I just felt relaxed and had fun,” she said. “You’re just getting up there and relaxing. That was the best part of it.”</p>
<p><p style="text-align: left"><strong>They’re No. … 3?</strong></p>
<p>Center Grove, the defending Class 4A state softball champion, is ranked No. 3 in the preseason poll.Penn occupies the top stop, followed by Crown Point.</p>
<p>Rounding out the top 10 is Carmel at No. 4, followed by Lake Central, Avon, Floyd Central, Franklin Central, Castle and Cathedral.</p>
<p>Off to a 4-0 start, the Trojans are the only local team ranked in the top 10 of the softball polls.</p>
<p>Edinburgh, however, received votes in the Class A poll and is 14th.</p>
