Notre Dame's Hailey Burnett inks with SEMO softball

Notre Dame's Hailey Burnett signs a letter of intent to play softball at Southeast Missouri State on Monday at Notre Dame Regional High School.

J.C. Reeves ~ jcreeves@semoball.com

After making a verbal commitment to play softball at Southeast Missouri State last year, Notre Dame senior Hailey Burnett made it official on Monday afternoon.

Surrounded by friends, family and her coaches, Burnett put pen to paper and signed her National Letter of Intent to become a Redhawk.

"It feels so real," Burnett said. "I'm so excited. I've been verbal, but now it's the real deal."

Playing Division I softball has always been a dream for Burnett, but it didn't necessarily come easy for the senior.

"When I came as a freshman, I was not good at all. I sat the bench the whole entire time," Burnett said. "I made it my goal to play and I feel like I did a really good job with that. I worked hard for it and I think I had a really good four years."

After putting in years of work, Burnett made a verbal commitment to play for SEMO in 2021.

Notre Dame's Hailey Burnett celebrates after hitting a walkoff home run against Jackson during the 2021 season.

J.C. Reeves ~ jcreeves@semoball.com, file

"Taryn Coon, we played 10u together and now we're going to be playing in college, so that's really cool," Burnett said. "Some friends that I'm playing with now like Maddie Carney, she's on my travel team, so I'll be going in with her to play as well."

Burnett helped lead the Bulldogs to a district championship in 2022, as Notre Dame finished 26-5 and advanced to the state quarterfinals where its season ended with a loss to defending Class 4 state champion Washington. She finished her senior campaign with a .486 batting average, going 52-for-107 at the plate with 11 doubles, one triple and five home runs while adding a team-high 39 RBIs.

In addition to her batting, Burnett was also called upon to pitch. She tossed 81 2/3 innings, going 12-2 in the circle. Burnett allowed 71 hits, 19 earned runs and walked 12 while striking out 67 for a 1.629 ERA.

"She just has a phenomenal work ethic," Bulldogs coach Jeff Graviett said. "You can talk about the numbers all day long as a hitter and what she did for us on the mound this year, but her leadership of coming out and working hard every day, taking those extra swings and doing all the little things, that is what she brought this program."

Burnett doesn't have any expectations at the collegiate level and just plans to continue to work hard and play her game.

"I know I'm going to put in a lot of work but I don't know how much it's going to take," Burnett said. "I just want to be the best player I can be there."