MARRIAGE AND A DIAMOND: EUGENE COUPLE NOW TEAMMATES.

Byline: Steve Mims The Register-Guard

Golfer Annika Sorenstam has had months to prepare for her highly anticipated appearance on the PGA Tour next week.

Kendall Burnham got just a couple of hours of notice before she stepped into the batter's box for the San Angelo (Texas) Colts of the independent Central Baseball League.

"It caught me off guard," said the 1992 Churchill High School graduate, who was known as Kendall Richards when she starred in softball for the Lancers. "I was supposed to have a relaxing summer, but it definitely hasn't been that way so far. It's been a whirlwind, quite an experience."

Burnham arrived Tuesday night in San Angelo and planned to spend the summer watching her husband, Jake, a 1995 South Eugene High School graduate, play for the Colts.

Before batting practice on Wednesday, Jake informed Kendall that the Colts wanted her to play for the team as well.

"I thought they were kidding, but it sounded like a neat opportunity," Kendall Burnham said. "I love to be around baseball, and not everyone gets that opportunity."

Especially not many women. Burnham is believed to be the third woman to play professional baseball in a men's league. The Colts are sure Jake and Kendall are the first husband and wife tandem to play together professionally.

Kendall Burnham entered San Angelo's 8-1 loss to Amarillo on Wednesday night as a pinch hitter in the ninth inning and struck out, but she will get more opportunities at the plate.

"She swung the bat well against a guy throwing 88 and 89 miles per hour," San Angelo owner Harlan Bruha said. "I really think she will help us out. This is not just a publicity stunt. We are sincere, and she has the capability and desire to help the team as a utility player."

Kendall Burnham, 28, has become an instant celebrity, doing interviews all day Thursday. The team was fielding additional inquiries from media outlets across the nation, including ESPN and CNN.

"This thing has just been unbelievable," said Jake Burnham, who plays third base for the Colts. "We have a picture we're supposed to take for Sports Illustrated tonight. I just got off the phone with Baseball America. First day off, we're supposed to fly to L.A. to be on the Jimmy Kimmel show. Initially, it was just going to be a little extra money in our pockets for the summer and a little bit of exposure, but then, boy, it's really, really taken off."

The attention has put the quiet couple under a huge spotlight.

"Jake and I are very shy; we are low-profile people," Burnham said. "This attention is not something I get excited about, but it goes with the territory, so when given the opportunity I will speak about it."

Jake Burnham was traded from the Sioux Falls Canaries to the Colts this season and told Bruha and manager Steve Maddock about his wife, who played college softball at California and Texas A&M before playing professionally in Florida and Georgia.

"Jake told me that Kendall was an outstanding softball player who worked with him in the winter," Bruha said. "One thing led to another and we said, `This girl has possibilities.' We decided to invite her to take batting practice. She hammered the ball and looked very good, so we offered her a contract."

Independent baseball teams, which are not affiliated with any major league team, have been well known for staging bizarre promotions to increase attendance, but Burnham and the Colts say they are taking this seriously.

Bruha said there is no time limit on Burnham's contract, and he expects her to travel with the team on next week's road trip to Springfield, Mo., and Shreveport, La., and possibly play second base.

"I truly believe men are bigger, faster and stronger, and this is a different game than softball," she said.

"But if I get to play, I will take the mindset to take advantage of the opportunity. I love a good challenge."

Burnham is still getting used to the differences between softball and baseball. She stepped to the plate on Wednesday with a 31-ounce bat, five ounces heavier than the bat she swings in softball.

"The biggest difference is the pitchers' release point coming overhand and from a mound as opposed to underhand in softball," Burnham said. "I took batting practice on Wednesday, and I only saw three pitches in the game, but I got that first at-bat out of the way."

Her new boss liked what he saw.

"You won't find many better female athletes," Bruha said. "She is in great physical condition, and she looks the part of a baseball player.

`If not for her long hair, which she pulls up in her hat, you'd never know that was a young lady out there."

CAPTION(S):

Jake and Kendall Burnham talk in the Colts dugout Wednesday in San Angelo, Texas. The Burnhams are the first husband-and- wife duo to play in a regular-season pro baseball game. Baseball: Club owner says the move isn't a publicity stunt Continued from Page A1