The biggest concern heading into the 2008 season for West Allis Central softball coach Dax Rodriguez was finding someone to replace the graduated Bernadette "Bird" Dostalek in the cleanup spot.
After all, Dostalek had hit .545 last season and had accounted for 41 percent of the Bulldogs' offense on her way to earning Community Newspapers Inc. All-Suburban honors.
He need not have worried.
Into that considerable void stepped junior Corinne Burgermeister, who has been the primary force behind the Bulldogs' 10-1 start., After a two-game sweep of rival West Allis Hale earlier this week, Burgermeister was hitting .542 with five doubles, four triples, one home run, 13 runs scored and 18 runs batted in, topping Dostalek's 2007 total.
In a key 8-5 victory over then-unbeaten Menomonee Falls that propelled Central into the lead in the Greater Metro Conference, Burgermeister went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a home run and five RBIs.
"She's getting big hits," said Rodriguez, whose team was only 6-15 last season. "Her slugging percentage has to be in the .700's. "She's just been an outstanding girl in the four spot to fill in for Bird."
Oh yes, Burgermeister is also the team's pitching ace. She has started every game and has allowed over three runs on only four occasions with an earned-run average under 1.50 and a strikeout-walk ratio of five to one. "She's not an overpowering pitcher, but she hits spots," Rodriguez said.
Hale coach Corri Morgan said, "She's a very nice pitcher. She gives you very few good pitches to hit. She works the plate, inside, outside, high, low."
In Central's April 29 game against the Huskies, she got off to a rough start, allowing three runs on four hits in the first inning and falling behind 4-0, but she hung tough, shut down the Huskies while her team rallied and was rewarded with a 9-7 victory.
"I just stayed confident in our team," Burgermeister said, "because we've been doing well the whole time. As a team, we're really coming together. Last year, we couldn't put it all together, but this year, it's working really well."
Central has also received plenty of help from numerous other players, such as leadoff hitter Nicki Bloomer, Taylor Zube, Jo Jo Borchardt and Lindsey Becker, among others, but Burgermeister is the leader of its resurgence.
She has helped bring GMC championship dreams to Central. Heading into Thursday's game against Brookfield Central, the Bulldogs are 8-1 in the GMC, leading Falls and Divine Savior Holy Angels by one game. The Bulldogs will welcome DSHA to Dorow Field on Thursday, May 8, and travel to Menomonee Falls' Willowood Park on Tuesday, May 13.
Regardless of those outcomes, simply being able to play big games like that is quite a jump from last year for the Bulldogs.
