Albemarle baseball coach Jimmy Bibb first saw Joe Burris during a little league camp. In his first two seasons at the helm of the Patriots baseball team he saw Burris show great promise as a sophomore and then have an unreal junior year. He now has a Division 1 college talent on his roster returning for a senior year. On the first day of summer, Burris made a commitment to play for Virginia Tech.
“I remember when I first saw him (in a little league camp) he said this was the dream for him,” Bibb said. “It’s what he always wanted. It’s great to see this since he worked so hard for it, and he’s a great kid too.”
Burris had true breakout season as a junior for Albemarle as both a pitcher and hitter. He went 6-2 on the mound with as save, pitching 58 innings and giving up only 33 hits, 14 runs (of which nine were earned) and walking twelve. He struck out 72 batters and finished with a 1.09 ERA in arguably one of the toughest districts in the state the Commonwealth.
At the beginning of the season Bibb was taken aback by the work that Burris did during the offseason.
“The jump from his sophomore year to his junior year was dramatic,” Bibb said in an email release. “He took it upon himself to change his body and the results were evident in his performance. I think Joe has a pretty high ceiling. Joe is throwing 86-87 mph with great movement as a lefthander and has excellent command of his pitches. He has 3-4 pitches that he can throw for strikes including a plus cutter.”
Tech doesn’t just get an arm in Burris though. In his junior year Burris hit .459 and 12 doubles to go with 4 homeruns, striking out just three times all year.
For the Hokies he brings balance as he played first base soundly and has ability to play in the outfield as well.
As for the pitching, the Albemarle ace has hardly topped out. His coach sees a lot more ahead of him before he gets to Blacksburg, noting that he could add 3-4 mile per hour to what he already has in the high 80s.
“ Joe was maybe under the radar a little bit because of the quality of pitchers in the Commonwealth District, as well as the state as a whole,” Bibb said. “I think Virginia Tech is getting an outstanding player as well as a person.”
And for the Patriots it’s another strong commitment. In 2008 Vince Coles singed with Louisburg. In 2009 Ty Molinaro signed with Pitt before transferring to UNC Wilmington after being drafted by the New York Yankees. 2010 saw Joey Varaksa sign with Longwood.
Now when the Hokies come to Davenport Field in Charlottesville, the Patriots have one of their own to watch come 2014.
