POWAY – Mya McGowan and Sophia Burmeister were 6 years old when they first played softball together on an all-star team.
According to Sophia’s mother, Brandy, they weren’t the type of girls longing for their hair to be braided just so, adorned with ribbons.
“Our girls weren’t the ponytail type,” said Brandy Burmeister. “They came in with messy hair, wanting to play in the dirt all day.”
And they were competitive.
“If one threw the ball, the other had to throw it farther,” said Brandy. “If one hit a home run, the other had to hit a home run. If one burped, the other one had to burp louder. You name it, they were competitive about it.”
McGowan and Burmeister are now 17 years old. Whether on rec teams, all-stars or travel teams, and for the past four seasons at Poway High School, they’ve played together every year since they were 6.
McGowan, bound for Cal, is the stoic, flame-throwing pitcher with ice in her veins.
Burmeister, off to Clemson, is the energetic catcher who hits majestic home runs.
They’re best friends, but their 11-year run as pitcher-catcher teammates will soon end.
“It’s very sad,” said Burmeister. “It’s the end of a chapter, and the ending of this chapter is going to be very emotional. It’ll be a bittersweet moment.”
Poway (19-6), ranked No. 2 in the San Diego Section, wraps up the regular season Friday night with a home game against rival Rancho Bernardo. Then it will be on to the playoffs, where the Titans will try to win a third straight CIF San Diego Section Open Division championship.
How big of an impact have McGowan and Burmeister had on the program?
The year before they set foot on the Poway campus, the Titans were 5-24. Since McGowan and Burmeister’s arrival, Poway is 92-27-2.
In addition to winning Open Division titles the past two seasons, Poway won the Southern California Regional championship in 2023.
One pitches, the other catches. Burmeister bats second in the order, McGowan third.
“They came in with big expectations from everybody,” said Poway coach Jim Bennet. “And they lived up to it.”
McGowan earned first-team All-CIF honors as a freshman, sophomore and junior. She was the CIF San Diego Section Pitcher of the Year as a sophomore when she posted a 19-1 record with a 1.12 ERA.
Burmeister was a first-team All-CIF selection as a sophomore and junior. She was named the section’s Player of the Year last season after hitting .495 with 14 home runs and 38 RBIs.
Because they might be looking toward moving on to college, it’s not unusual for seniors to suffer subpar seasons.
McGowan and Burmeister are doing just the opposite. They’re going out not with a blip but a bang.
McGowan is 12-4 with a 1.72 ERA, having struck out 130 in 109 2/3 innings. At the plate, she’s batting .500 (37 for 74) with eight home runs and 26 RBIs. Burmeister is hitting .513 (39 for 76) with 17 home runs and 36 RBIs.
The 17 home runs have tied the school record and are one shy of matching the section record of 18 set by Our Lady of Peace’s Stefini Ma’ake in 2023.
“I want the single-season record,” said Burmeister. “Tying it’s not enough.”
“They’re having tremendous senior seasons,” said Bennet. “It’s a credit to the hard work they’ve put in, since they were little girls.”
There is a special bond between a pitcher and catcher. They spend hours practicing together, off to the side, no one else in sight. They develop a connection, messages conveyed without words.
“They have whole conversations with just a look,” said Brandy Burmeister. “They’ll look at each other, give each other hand signals. It’s a conversation we don’t understand.”
At 5-foot-10, McGowan is a hard-throwing right-hander. She said she has been clocked at 68 mph and regularly throws 64-66 mph. According to Jon Moore, who coached at Torrey Pines for 31 years before stepping down this season, the average high school pitcher throws about 55 mph.
A 68 mph softball fastball translates to a 100 mph baseball fastball.
“She throws hard,” said Bennet. “She has a rise, hard drop, natural curve, a changeup.”
But to Bennet, it’s not the “stuff” that separates McGowan.
“She’s not one to get flustered,” he said.
In the 2023 SoCal Regional championship game against a Westlake Village Oaks Christian team that had crushed 69 home runs (43 more than Poway), McGowan, then a sophomore, pitched a complete game, allowing just five hits and three walks.
“The moment’s not too big for her,” said Bennet.
McGowan, who played varsity basketball for four seasons, is an exceptional athlete who plays first base when she’s not in the circle.
“She makes plays just naturally and you ask, ‘How did she do that?’” Bennet said.
Burmeister came to Poway with the reputation of a power hitter.
“Everyone said she’d break the school home run record and she tried to do it in one week as a freshman,” said Bennet. “Every single time she tried to hit the ball as far as she possibly could.”
Burmeister hit six home runs as a freshman, eight as a sophomore. That total jumped to 14 as a junior and 17 this year.
Moore feels McGowan is the best pitcher in the county and Burmeister the best hitter.
“They’re a terrific combo,” said Moore. “They’re good sports, too. Good people. Real good people.”
As close as the pair are, as well as they know each other, there’s something fascinating about the duo. Their personalities are polar opposite.
McGowan doesn’t tip her pitches, nor what’s on her mind. Bases loaded, no outs or a 1-2-3 inning, her expression seldom changes. She’s a sphinx.
By contrast, Burmeister is the loudest person in the Titans’ dugout. After home runs, she’ll wave her arms from side to side trotting down the third-base line, letting out a primal scream.
“They’re yin and yang,” said Brandy Burmeister.
And when their high school careers are over, they’ll soon go from teammates to rivals. With Cal now in the ACC, McGowan, a future Golden Bear, will almost certainly toe the rubber one day with Burmeister, a Clemson Tiger to be, digging in the batter’s box.
“I feel like there will be a lot of nerves, but also a lot of excitement,” said Burmeister. “We’ve both been waiting for that moment to play against each other.”
Asked how she’ll pitch Burmeister, McGowan said: “Nothing on the plate.”
When they play against each other at Cal, Bennet said he’ll hop on a plane to catch the confrontation.
“I don’t really know who’ll have the advantage,” Bennet said. “But it’ll be pretty fun to watch.”
Poway’s 1-2 punch
2025 stats:
Mya McGowan
Pitching: 12-4, 1.72 ERA, 109 2/3 IP, 130 K, 31 BB
Batting: .500 (37-74), 8 HRs, 26 RBIs
Sophia Burmeister
Batting: .513 (39-76), 17 HRs, 36 RBIs
Career stats:
Mya McGowan
Pitching: 56-14, 1.57 ERA, 476 2/3 IP, 484 K, 138 BB
Batting: .374 (135-361), 27 HRs, 94 RBIs
Sophia Burmeister
Batting: .442 (151-342), 45 HRs, 125 RBIs
