VERMONT SPORTS HALL OF FAME

(Photo Courtesy Colorado Silver Bullets)

Newbury

Softball/multi-sport

Inducted 2019

The first softball inductee to the VSHOF, Elizabeth Burnham was a remarkably versatile and talented athlete, competing in several sports in high school and college while also enjoying a professional career in baseball.

The Newbury native excelled in field hockey, soccer, softball, tennis and basketball while attending Oxbow Union High School. She was arguably the best softball player in the state as a junior and senior, especially the best catcher in Vermont earning Division I college offers before choosing Big East power UConn.

Her Oxbow field hockey teams won three consecutive state titles and enjoyed a 45-game winning streak. She played on the Olympians’ basketball teams that won three straight state championships, including 74 consecutive victories. In basketball, she was the first at Oxbow to record more than 2,000 career rebounds and 1,000 career points. 

Oxbow honored her as the school’s outstanding female athlete in 1986-87. She received a special award in 1988 for earning 12 varsity letters.

At UConn in the spring of 1989, Burnham was one of the top first year softball catchers in the Big East. She  was selected as the NCAA first-team all-Northeast catcher. That summer she played for the Select Team USA against Canada and was named the tourney’s top hitter and most valuable player.

Burnham later transferred to Lyndon State College where she played four sports. She was the MVP of the softball team, hitting .475. In 1993, she earned all-district first-team in softball while leading the nation in RBIs at 1.82 with a .444 batting average. Also in 1993 she was the Mayflower Conference basketball player of the year, led the Hornets in scoring in soccer and was named LSC’s female athlete of the year. In 1995, Burnham was named Lyndon’s MVP in tennis. She was named to Lyndon’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2009. 

In 1994-95, Burnham joined the Silver Bullets women’s professional baseball team as a catcher. She was selected from over 4,000 players. In two seasons, she played 62 games as one of two regular backstops for manager Phil Niekro, a Baseball Hall of Famer. She wore No. 14 in honor of Vermont being the 14th state in the union.