Today we spotlight a top 20 player in the 2015 Hot 100 who is a five-tool player headed to the Pac-12 and committed to her future head coach over FaceTime on her iPhone!

Name: CHERISH BURKS
Grad Year: 2015
Pos: outfielder
High School: East Union (Manteca, Calif.)
GPA: 3.74
Club: AASA
Stats: .550 batting average, 52 runs, 31 RBI as a leadoff hitter, 15 doubles, four home runs
Honors: Modesto Bee Player of the Year, 1^st Team All-Area, 1^st Team All-League
Height: 5-foot-4
College: Oregon

***

FloSoftball.com: What are your thoughts on being done with high school, sad or excited for the next chapter?
Cherish Burks: Not sad, mostly excited to see where my new journey will take me. I’m focused on the summer now but am definitely looking towards Oregon and competing there.

FS.com: Was softball your first love or did you play other sports first?
CB:  Soccer came first before softball. I started playing at age five and continued until I was 12 when I was on a club team. I had to make a choice and I choose to play softball.

FS.com: What was it about softball that made you fall in love with the sport?
CB: I love softball, it’s a big thing in my family. My mom played softball at Sonoma State and my dad played baseball there. To me, what I love about softball is the competition, the family atmosphere and how everyone has each other’s back.

FS.com: Was there a moment in your career when you thought, “Wow, I’m actually pretty good and might be able to play in college!”?
CB: Honestly, I’ve never had one of those moments because when I was younger a lot of people doubted my abilities and looked past me. I’ve had people tell me I’m a great player, but to me I just feel like every other player. I don’t like to think of myself as being above someone else because there will be a day when I’ll fail like everyone else eventually does in the sport. It’s the nature of the game.

FS.com: Were you surprised, then, when you started getting interest from colleges?
CB: Yes, I was surprised and it gave me confidence in my game. The first college interested in me was Delaware, which was the fall of my sophomore year.   I found out through a coach that were really interested in me. I was like, “That’s cool, I guess can do it (get to college).”

FS.com: How and when did Oregon come into the picture?
CB: I went to an Oregon camp when I was an incoming freshman, actually, I went to two of them and on the first visit I fell in love with the school and coaches and they became my dream school. Through my recruiting coach then—Pete Aguayo, who’s now the head coach for the Sorcerer’s Gold—he told me after an OnDeck Camp in Hemet that they wanted me to go on an unofficial visit and after that unofficial I verballed.

FS.com: When was that?
CB: It was the summer before my junior year, in 2013.

FS.com: Walk us through the moment when you told the Duck coaches you wanted to commit…
CB: I remember that moment perfectly because Coach White was supposed to be there in Oregon on the unofficial and his flight was delayed so we did it through FaceTime on my iPhone. He asked me if I wanted to be a Duck and I said, “Of course, I do!” It was me, my parents, Coach Spencer and Coach White who was in San Francisco at the time.

FS.com: What did the coaches say they liked most about you and your game?
CB: They said that I’m basically a lefty batting from the right side. I have speed and can also hit for power.

FS.com: What’s been the highlight of your athletic career so far (or top 2-3)?
CB: There’s a lot of them, but I would say softball-wise it was when we won section this year. We were the underdogs, but we ended up being undefeated in league. Coach Bryan (Merrida, head coach of AASA) coaches at Pioneer High and we’re rivals. We had to beat them twice to win sections and we did, 12-1 and 17-3.

 

Quick Hitters

 

Fill in the blank… If I wasn’t playing softball, I’d be:_________________
… playing soccer.

Last movie you saw and what did you think of it:
Jurassic World… I loved it.

Favorite motto or philosophy of life:
I made this up: “Success is never half speed.”

If you were handed a $1,000 and had to spend in one day, what would you do with it?
I’d take a trip to one of the L.A. beaches.

What’s something unusual or different about you that few know?
I play tennis and I started off as No. 1 doubles my freshman year. I only played that one year, but it was cool.

What’s the one thing/object, besides your phone, that you can’t live without?
Nothing, I really don’t get attached to things. I don’t watch TV and my music in on my phone.

Do you have any softball superstitions or rituals?
They change, like last year in Boulder I had to have Lucky Charms, a banana and orange Gatorade. Actually, every game I still have an orange Gatorade!

What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?
Play with confidence, don’t play scared.

What’s your “guilty pleasure,” something you hate to admit you love?
Coffee ice cream, although no one else likes coffee ice cream.

If you could have a super power, what would you want it to be?
X-ray vision.

Last song/CD you bought:
A Beyonce CD

If you could have dinner with anyone dead or alive, who would it be?
It would be Tre Zongs, cause he’s a really good singer and he’s really attractive!

What did you want to be when you were little?
I wanted to be a doctor, but now I want to be a firefighter.

Nickname(s):
Cher (pronounced “chair”)

Something on your “must do” list:
Renting a beach house for a week or skydiving.

What is your hometown/area best known for and what makes you proud to say you’re from there?
We used to have water slides, but know we’re known for our water tower. Everyone knows everyone to some extent; all our high schools bond together. We have rivalries, but afterwards we all hang out and have no issues.