Mountain Top Media
Sydni Burko Named 2026 Sun Belt Conference Softball Player of the Year
PRESS RELEASE: MARSHALL ATHLETICS
NEW ORLEANS — A major accolade has been added to an already historic season as Marshall sophomore Sydni Burko has been named the 2026 Sun Belt Conference Softball Player of the Year.
Burko – the native of Ona who came home to Marshall this season as a transfer from Indiana University – has additionally been named the league’s Newcomer of the Year and an All-SBC First Team member at third base.
“I am so happy for Syd,” Head Coach and fellow Ona native Morgan Zerkle said. “She immediately made the Herd her home, and she’s taken the Sun Belt Conference by storm. As only a sophomore, she’s going to continue to raise our level of Marshall Softball.”
Burko is Marshall’s first Conference Player of the Year since Zerkle won the C-USA Player of the Year award as a Herd senior in 2017. Burko also joins Rachel Folden (C-USA – 2006, 2008) and Sierra Davenport (MAC – 2004) in the elite category of being named a Conference Player of the Year.
Burko has had a historic season for Marshall Softball, leading the conference and ranking 13th nationally with 21 home runs with a league-leading nine home runs in SBC contests. Her second multi-home run game of the season last Thursday sealed a new single-season Marshall program record in home runs. She finished the regular season as the league’s leader in slugging percentage (.817) and total bases (134). Burko finished 5th in the league with 63 hits and 9th in batting average at .384. Her .472 OBP ranks 6th in the league.
The Herd’s sophomore transfer had 18 multi-hit games, including three games with three hits. She had 12 multi-RBI games, including three games with three and two games with four runs driven in. Her 13-game hitting streak was the longest by a Marshall player this season, as was her 23-game reaching base streak. In four games against Top-5 competition, Burko hit three home runs against the best of the best, with a .583 average in those games.
The awards for Coach Zerkle’s Herd extend from there with junior Jules King and sophomore Ava Blake earning All-SBC Second Team.
King leads a Marshall staff which has improved from 10th in team ERA in the SBC in 2025 to third in team ERA in 2026. King finished 4th in the conference with 150 strikeouts, including a 7.2 strikeout-per-seven-inning average (2nd in SBC). King has also kept a solid mark limiting walks with a 3.69 strikeout-to-walk ratio (3rd in SBC). The Herd’s junior pitcher finished 10th in the league with a 2.70 ERA. She held opposing hitters to a team-leading .244 average. King has been versatile in the circle with nine complete games (8th in SBC) and a single-season program record six saves (1st in SBC).
Blake had a breakout sophomore season, slugging 17 home runs, which ranks 4th in the Sun Belt Conference. Her 105 total bases ranks fifth in the league. In Blake’s first season at the plate for the Herd, the sophomore had a .695 slugging percentage, ranking sixth in the SBC. Blake had 12 multi-hit games, including a pair of contests with three hits. She had 11 multi-RBI games, including four games with three runs batted in. The sophomore also showed poise at the plate, drawing 27 walks – a mark which ranks 10th in the SBC. Able to hit in the clutch, Blake delivered a go-ahead three-run home run when her team was trailing by two in the 7th to come back and defeat Coastal Carolina on the road in April. Her 1.123 on-base plus slugging percentage is eighth in the league. Blake enters the postseason on a 13-game reaching base streak.
Sophomores Diamond Leslie and Tia Titi have been added as part of the league’s All-SBC Honorable Mentions.
After earning All-SBC as a freshman, Leslie picked up in 2026, bettering her home run and triple marks with 10 homers and four three-baggers this year. Leslie had 41 hits as a sophomore, including a four-hit game on Opening Day.
Tia Titi set career-marks with 31 hits, five doubles, a triple, and six home runs for Marshall at the designated player position. With 56 total bases, Titi had a slugging percentage of .483.
“Super proud of this group and all of Team 33,” said Coach Zerkle. “They constantly push each other in practice and it’s exciting for those here to get this recognition. Jules has been solid in the circle all year and the sophomore class really showed out offensively.”
The full 2026 Sun Belt Conference Softball Postseason Awards are listed below.
2026 Sun Belt Conference Softball Postseason Awards
Player of the Year: Sydni Burko, Marshall (So., 3B – Ona, W.Va.)
Pitcher of the Year: Maddy Azua, Texas State (Jr., LHP – Round Rock, Texas)
Newcomer of the Year: Sydni Burko, Marshall (So., 3B – Ona, W.Va.)
Freshman of the Year: Haley Hart, Louisiana (Fr., 2B – Spanish Fort, Ala.)
Coach of the Year: Molly Fichtner, ULM
All-Sun Belt First Team
P Madison Azua, Texas State
P Ryley Harrison, South Alabama
P Ashanti McDade, ULM
C Kennedy Marceaux, Louisiana
1B Aiyana Coleman, Texas State
1B Georgia Hood, Coastal Carolina
2B Morgan Brown, ULM
2B Makayla McClain, App State
3B Sydni Burko, Marshall
SS Kendra Lewis, James Madison
OF Hannah Christian, Southern Miss
OF Emma Davis, Georgia Southern
OF Keely Williams, Texas State
DP Payton List, James Madison
DP Kaelin Cash, Coastal Carolina
All-Sun Belt Second Team
P Jules King, Marshall
P Makayla Stephens, Georgia State
C Kayce Bennett, Southern Miss
1B Cali Legzdin, James Madison
2B Haley Hart, Louisiana
3B Delaney Keith, Coastal Carolina
3B Brooke Otto, Louisiana
SS Grace Barrett, App State
SS Mia Liscano, Louisiana
OF Ava Blake, Marshall
OF Meagan Brown, ULM
OF Megan Loftis, Troy
OF Harley Vestal, Texas State
OF McKenzie Walker, Georgia State
DP Ella Cunningham, Troy
All-Sun Belt Honorable Mentions
P Kayla Giardina, Southern Miss
P Abby Lovell, Troy
P Skylar Waggoner, ULM
C Valerie Combs, Georgia Southern
1B Mia Tidmore, Troy
2B Kayla Christensen, Georgia Southern
SS Makaley Boswell, Troy
SS Brie Normandin, Coastal Carolina
SS Nealy McManus, Southern Miss
OF Kylee Gleason, James Madison
OF Diamond Leslie, Marshall
OF Presley Lively, South Alabama
OF McKennah Metzger, Coastal Carolina
DP Chloe Hatcher, Georgia State
DP Tia Titi, Marshall
For all the latest information about Marshall Softball, follow @HerdSB on Twitter and Instagram.
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The post Sydni Burko Named 2026 Sun Belt Conference Softball Player of the Year appeared first on Mountain Top Media.
Two defendants in Amber Spradlin case agree with need for delay, leaving one holdout
PRESTONSBURG, Ky. — Two of the defendants in the Amber Spradlin murder case have indicated they are not opposed to another continuance in the trial, leaving only the primary defendant as having objected to further delays.
Spradlin’s body was found June 18, 2023, at the Arkansas Creek home of Prestonsburg dentist Michael McKinney. McKinney’s son, M.K. McKinney, has been charged with her murder, while both McKinneys and family friend Josh Mullins are charged with multiple counts of evidence tampering for allegedly trying to cover up the crime.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Brent Turner filed a renewed motion for another delay last week, saying evidence that could prove critical to the case is still undergoing DNA testing.
In nearly identical responses filed on Tuesday, attorneys for Michael McKinney and Mullins say they are not opposed to another delay and add that having complete results of testing could actually prove beneficial to their clients.
In particular, they say that a bloody handprint found on the couch next to Spradlin’s body and blood found on Michael McKinney’s bedroom door could exonerate their clients if someone else’s DNA is found. They add that such a finding could bolster their alternate theory of the case that Spradlin’s friend, Roy Kidd, should be considered a suspect in her death.
“The Commonwealth’s case is predicated on the theory that Defendant’s statements, actions, behavior and alleged plan to tamper with evidence were undertaken to protect co-defendant ‘M.K. McKinney’ from a murder conviction,” both motions say. “However, the outstanding forensic testing bears directly on that theory. If testing of the blood on the bedroom door or the handprint on the couch reveals the presence of Roy Kidd’s blood, the victim’s blood, or any mixture thereof, such results would be exculpatory and could materially undermine the Commonwealth’s theory. Roy Kidd has provided detailed statements to detectives indicating that he did not touch the ‘dried’ blood on the victim’s body and did not have blood on his hands when he touched the door.”
Attorneys for M.K. McKinney have not filed a response to the prosecution’s latest request for a delay, but were previously the only ones to object when the matter came up during a hearing on April 23.
Special Judge Eddy Coleman has delayed the start of the trial by one day, so that he can hold a hearing to determine whether another delay is warranted. He also ordered the prosecution to produce a witness from the state crime lab to testify about why evidence testing has taken so long and when officials there expect to be finished. Judge Coleman is also entertaining the idea of severing M.K. McKinney’s case from the other defendants, so that he can be tried on schedule and the others can have their cases delayed.
That hearing will take place next Monday. If the request for a continuance is denied, the trial will begin on Tuesday.
The post Two defendants in Amber Spradlin case agree with need for delay, leaving one holdout appeared first on Mountain Top Media.
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