Burns signs with Presbyterian College

Another Lakeside High School athlete made a college commitment last week.

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Chris Burns, a senior on the Lakeside baseball team, signed a National Letter of Intent to play ball with Presbyterian College.

Burns, who celebrated his 18th birthday a day after Wednesday afternoon's signing ceremony, became the sixth Lakeside player in four years to make a baseball commitment.

Lakeside baseball coach Jay Matthews said Burns has plenty of tools college coaches seek.

"First and foremost he's the kind of student you look for. He's a guy with excellent grades," he said. "I think the selling point with Chris is when he walks onto the field he's right there at 6-5. He'll draw some looks based on his size alone."

The size is what caught college coaches' attention. Burns' versatility sealed it.

"He runs well, and he's athletic enough to where he's an outfielder, but we had to fill a position in the infield last year so he did that instead," Matthews said. "This year he'll be one of our top guys on the mound."

Burns seemed to come through at just the right times last year for Lakeside. As a junior he hit a game-winning double off the wall in the last inning to beat Evans.

In the team's first game against Statesboro, he rolled a double-play from his position at shortstop to end the inning, then led off the next inning with a hit that started a rally to win the game 8-7.

"Stat-wise he hit close to .350 for us last year," Matthews said. "He'll be one of our three returning starters this year."

Burns said Presbyterian College picked him up with the intentions of making him a pitcher and outfielder. The senior hasn't pitched for Lakeside, but he did spend time on the mound with a local travel team called the Augusta Barons.