Keep your focus on Connecticut over the next few years to track the progress of one of the most promising softball prospects at any age division.

The player to follow would be Raegan Burnham, a 2030 lefty-hitting outfielder who plays in the Rhode Island Thunder organization on the 14U team led by Head Coach Joe Coupal.

In the fall, the 13-year-old playing on a 14U national team was named to the Clearwater Fall Classic All-Tournament Team as she hit.375 with a .545 on-base percentage and had two assists from her centerfield position.

She’s impressive in the grass with her quick reads and excellent instincts while one coach says of her prowess with the bat:

“I’ve seen hundreds of players and have not seen a better overall hitter her age yet.”

Raegan’s hitting acumen comes from an obvious place as she has six pro baseball players in her immediate family starting with her great grandfather, Brooklyn Dodgers, down to her father, Gary (Phillies among others), her Uncle Brett (Padres) and Cousin Anthony Giansanti (Cubs).

Yea, no pressure when her family’s in the stands watching her play!

A tremendous softball player now, Raegan looked early on like she’d be following in the family (baseball) business.

“I did play baseball up until the third grade,” she remembers, “starting in t-ball. Then, I started playing softball in my little town and, though it wasn’t the best competition, it worked.”

Still, baseball wasn’t out of the picture quite yet at that time… not by a long shot.

“We got a call from a friend of ours saying his team was down a roster spot and asked if I would want to play on their baseball team so I did. I played town baseball and softball at the same time—in my 12U year of baseball and 11U year of softball—but instead of doing both I just decided to do baseball to try and be selected for the All-Star team voted by players and coaches.”

“I got selected to join that team and I did we made it to States where I batted fourth for the team playing outfield and first base.”

Perhaps most important to Raegan in her young baseball career, she got to play a year with her brother Bryce on a town baseball team, the Phillies.

*****

A Mom’s Perspective

Rachel Burnham became part of the family and has been on the baseball journey with Gary since 2005.

“I was with Gary for half of his professional baseball career,” Raegan’s mother begins, “which took us all over the world together before we got married and started a family.

Engaged in 2008 and married in 2010, the couple then we had their trio of children: Raegan in 2012, Bryce in 2014 (named after Bryce Harper), and Grant in 2016.

Rachel quickly saw that the family legacy was deeply rooted and strong.

“You can feel it when you are around the family,” she explains.

“Family get-togethers always involve playing sports, going to a field together, working out, discussing or attending our kids’ sporting events to support one another as a family or attending pro sports games.”

“As a family we focus on the lessons sports teach you and how the work you put in pays endless dividends on the field and more importantly in life.”

“We love eating together as a family after the game, of course, talking about what went well and what we could continue to work on or learn from post-game. Everything in our family we relate to being a part of a team and how to be a good teammate.”

“Even when it comes to ‘winning together’ by tackling family tasks at home. Our family clean ups even have a funny name: Big League Cleanups for top level messes!

“Our house is hilarious at times because you can sit on an uneven couch and then wonder what’s under the couch and then realize someone is breaking in their glove. Or when your husband has your kitchen sink literally filled up with softballs that he’s washing (she laughs).”

“I could go on and on… !”

The mother of three explains that Raegan and her two brothers have grown up at the field and around baseball that it’s very natural for them, and they don’t know anything different.

“As for Raegan,” Rachel continues, “being our first born of three, we noticed some unique things from a young age about her.”

She then shows her excitement as she’s about to share a favorite memory of her only daughter.

“I had my childhood friend Kate over the house visiting,” Rachel begins.

“We were chatting away and Raegan was playing with her purple and pink plastic Little Tykes tee-ball set. She picked up the oversized pink plastic bat and swung and hit the ball hard, swingling lefty! My friend, turned to me and asked: ‘Wow! Has Gary been working with her?’”

“I quickly laughed at her and answered: ‘No! She’s just 18 months old!’”

“Raegan instinctively knew what to do with the bat… no one taught her. If you called my friend Kate right now ,she would verify the truth of this story. She couldn’t believe what she saw so she started taking a video of her hitting that day at 18 months old.”

“It’s one of the first videos we have of her hitting. “

So what, two decades in, does she think about the family’s deep legacy in baseball?

“My thoughts on this question center on Raegan being the first female in the family lineage with the love, desire, dedication, work ethic, and dream to keep the family legacy alive by building her own story. Raegan knows not to take her gifts for granted and that part of the legacy is sharing them with the world.”

Today, Gary Burnham continues to advance the family’s stick-and-ball legacy by coaching his kids in their youth sports now that his own playing years are gone.

“Raegan lives with a real-life example of what it takes to be great at anything,” the athlete’s mom adds. “Her dad dedicated his whole life to the game and he was smart enough to know that one day his time playing would come to an end.”

“Now with gray hair and an aging body, he is passing on his knowledge of the game, metal toughness, and the mindset of a Hall of Fame athlete.”

“Raegan knows playing softball is built on much more than God-given gifts and talent but requires continuous time, dedication, hard work, and growth to reach her full potential. She knows it’s a blessing to play ball and to be on the field. We root our family in God, gratitude, growth, togetherness, and, of course, sports.”

*****

Looking Back at the Family’s Baseball Heritage… One At A Time

Here’s a closer look at the half-dozen baseball standouts in the family as described by Raegan’s father, Gary Burnham…

Vic Giansanti

*** Great great uncle and the brother of Gary’s great grandfather, he was a pitcher for the St Louis Cardinals D Level Team, the 1938 Fostoria Cardinals. 

Raegan never met him, but I remember him well.  He would come over my house when I was probably 10 years old in South Windsor Ct to visit my grandfather and show me where he would press the baseball so far down in between his fingers he literally had a lot of scar tissue build up in between his point finger and middle finger on his throwing hand because he split his skin open pushing the ball in there for a fork ball which was a great pitch back then.

Click HERE for more info

Ralph Giansanti Sr.

*** Great grandfather and utility player for the Brooklyn Dodgers D Level Team 1946 Thomasville Dodgers. 

Raegan never met him.  He was my grandfather and played a big part of my baseball development as a kid and a coach.  He was a college umpire and scout as an adult and coached all my teams as a kid.

Click HERE to link to his stats

Ralph Giansanti Jr.

*** Great uncle and 5th round draft pick of the Atlanta Braves out of South Windsor High School.  He played in the Braves organization from 1980-to-‘83. then played in Italy. 

Raegan has a great relationship with him as he comes to her games sometimes and hangs out with us when he is in town.

Click HERE to link to stats

Anthony Giansanti

*** Anthony is Gary’s second cousin and Raegan’s third cousin. “My grandfather and his grandfather are brothers,” Gary explains.

Anthony played 15 years and then mostly in Mexico after playing for the Cubs for six years.

Click HERE to see his stats

Brett Burnham

*** Brother to Gary and Raegan’s uncle, he played in the Padres organization for a couple of years

“Raegan talks to him all the time and is very close with his four kids,” Gary says. “They (the kids) are excellent in athletics as well.”

Click HERE to see his stats and bio

Gary Burnham Jr.  

*** Raegan’s father, he played baseball at Clemson after being drafted by the Cubs in the 22^nd round of the amateur draft in 1993. He would eventually play in several farm systems for teams like the Reds, Cardinals and Phillies before time in Taiwan and Japan.

Impressively, Gary is in the Clemson University Athletic Hall of Fame (2023), the Reading Phillies Baseball Hall of Fame (2016) and the South Windsor (Conn.) High School Hall of Fame (2014).

Click HERE to link to his in-depth bio

*****

Growing Up with Heroes in the Family

Raegan’s dad remembers that there was also a reminder in the house of those he looked up to on the baseball diamond.

“When I was a little boy,” Gary begins, “I would stare at my grandfather and uncles’ picture on my grandmothers’ wall in their Brooklyn Dodgers and Atlanta Braves uniforms and envision myself as one of them someday.”

Not surprisingly, when every gathered there would eventually be competitions roll out.

“Family get-togethers were food, then sports events–baseball, football, basketball,’ Gary remembers.

“It’s all we did and it’s really all I wanted to do when I was a kid, to someday have my own baseball card and be a professional.   Thankfully, I was fortunate enough to play at Clemson and in the pros for 14 years.  It was a magical run.”

Gary says it was crucial for him to honor those who had gone before him.

“I wanted to make the men before me proud of my accomplishments and was well aware of the torch I was carrying.  It was my duty to carry the family torch forward into a higher level.”

Today, the sports line down to Raegan has been impacted by Father Time.

“My grandfather and all his brothers have passed,” Gary says sadly. “I only have pictures and stories to tell about them to my kids.  I have the newspaper articles and memorabilia from when they played hanging in my basement.”

“My uncle and brother are always around too, so Raegan and my kids have great relationships with them.  We are very close to them.”

Still, the talk around the dinner table seems to always drift back to, you guessed it: baseball.”

“We have a healthy perspective on all things sports-related including baseball and softball,” Raegan’s father continues. “I typically ask the kids open ended questions like: ‘How do you think the team played today?’ ‘How did you play today?’”

“I let them talk before I say anything.  It’s important as a parent to let them vent out everything until it’s your time to talk or until they start asking you questions.  When we get together with our family, we talk about everything although sports are probably 75 percent of the conversation!”

Inevitably, the ever-present question must be asked: “Who was the best baseball player of them all?”

Gary answers diplomatically.

“I think each player did the best they possibly could, and I know I certainly learned as much as I could from those before me and am giving all to those after me.  That’s what a good coach does.”

“As far as raw skills, each of us have our positives and negatives.  My grandfather and my uncle were super-fast speedy second baseman-type players so that their primary skill was defense.  Me and my brother’s primary asset was our hitting while my cousin Anthony had a combo of hitting, arm strength and speed.”

“We joke all the time if we took the best skills from each of us, we would be in Cooperstown!”

*****

Those Who Came Before…

Although the teenage softball standout has only met four of the six pro baseball players in her family, Raegan never tires of hearing stories about each one.

A prime example:

“I have heard the story about Uncle Vic’s tissue between his fingers about a thousand times and it never gets old,” Raegan laughs.

She then goes down the list, one by one, highlighting what she remembers of her family member’s connection to baseball.

“My dad’s grandpa, Ralph Giansanti Sr., “is always talked about whenever I’m around my family during the holidays,” Raegan begins.

“He was a big impact in my dad and uncles lives he helped them to truly play up to their potential forcing them to play up in legion baseball and shining their talent. He was also a scout and really dedicated his time to what he loved, which was his kids and grandkids and, of course, baseball.”

“My uncle Ralph visits when he can and we have a close relationship he even came to my basketball game just this week. He encourages me to be the best and helps me through questions I have.

One of the biggest pieces of advice he has given me was live in the moment don’t take it for granted every time you step on that field thank the lord for giving me this blessing to do what I love. He mentions all the time that it goes by too fast so appreciate the little things.”

Raegan continues her mental checklist of what her baseball-playing kin means to her.

“My Uncle Brett is always an inspiration because whenever we’re at their house or talking to them, it’s always sports talk while also a fun competitive environment. Last Christmas, we visited Florida where they live and we went down to the local field with all of the kids including his and we were just hitting for hours and hours.”

“His best advice he’s given to me was when I was rushing my throw from third base and it started to get wild. Uncle Brett played shortstop and second base during his career, so he knew exactly how to help me to break down my footwork and let me know to slow down and don’t rush the steps before the throw.”

“My Uncle Anthony I don’t see a ton since he has a daughter around three and just finished up his pro carrier, but we stay close in touch. He is always an inspiration. One thing that sparked my passion for the game was at a very young age we would go to the New Britain Bee’s stadium and watch him play against them. I always remember giving him a big hug after the game and he would give us some Big League chew (gum) also! “

And then Raegan brings it in personally to what her true baseball hero has done to inspire her journey.

“My dad is my biggest influence and inspiration,” the teen softball player says with love and admiration.

“He pushes me to be the best player I could possibly be. He dedicates so much time and I couldn’t be more grateful. When I’m not trusting myself, when I’m up to bat or even in the field, I can always trust my dad to help me work through it.”

“My dad never is negative towards me—he’s always there to support in a positive way and I couldn’t be more grateful. It’s such a amazing experience to go and be inspired by campuses like Clemson since my dad played there and is inducted in the Hall of Fame there.

“Whenever we visit there, we get a true-life example of seeing how hard work can pay off. I am grateful for all my Dad’s baseball knowledge because he knows exactly how I’m feeling most of the time and any little drill or tip he gives me always pays off!”

“My favorite is when I can’t get my timing down at the plate or I’m in my head my dad just tells me to sing my favorite song while at bat.”

“It helps my nerves to calm down and helps me to think less.”

— Brentt Eads/Line Drive Media