TOP ATHLETE OF THE PAST 3O YEARS: JESSIE BURCH (DEWEY)

By Mike Tupa

Sept. 19, 2025

BARTLESVILLE AREA SPORTS REPORT

During his nearly 30 years of covering area high school sports for either the Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise or the Bartlesville Area Sports Report, Mike Tupa has enjoyed the opportunity to observe some incredible athletes.

This is an ongoing series highlighting one of those athletes from the 1996-97 school year through the present. The list is not in chronological order. The athletes are presented in random sequence.

TODAY'S SPOTLIGHT

JESSIE BURCH (Dewey)

Softball (late 2000s-early 2010s)

When she arrived on Dewey High’s softball team, Jessie Burch found a program smoldering in ashes of past glory, seeking — like the ancient Phoenix of old — to soar in the upper winds that blanket the mountaintop.

By the time she wrapped up her high school diamond career, Burch had helped elevate Dewey back toward its prodigious tradition.

With her bat, glove and speed she honed herself into a razor-tipped weapon for the Lady Doggers.

In a 12-2 victory in 2010 against Barnsdall, Burch transformed her bat into Thor’s Hammer by pounding a two-run homer and a single. Kortney Bridges hurled the pitching victory as Dewey improved to 12-9 for head coach Tona Wood.

In 2009, Dewey had won only five games but was headed in a different direction fueled by Burch and her teammates.

The 2010 squad — with Burch as a senior — would win the team’s first district crown since 2003.

In the first district win against Catoosa, 11-4, Burch ripped a two-run double to break a 4-4 tie after Dewey had trailed, 3-0. Dewey also won the district final, 6-0, to improve to 17-12.

During a 1-0 victory earlier in the season against Hominy, Burch singled to lead off the eighth inning and scored the game’s only run off Bridges’ double. Burch also made it to third as a result of a dropped third strike and steals but was left stranded.

It seems Burch had been born to play softball.

She played every year since T-ball and earned a spot on the powerful Oklahoma Booyahs competitive summer team.

Burch transformed herself into an exceptional slap-hitter that helped fuel Dewey’s rise to success. But as mentioned above she also had home run power. When Wood gave her the right hand okay Burch knew she could try to park it over the fence.

That versatility made her a dangerous presence at the plate.

She also mastered the art of diving headfirst and doing a hook slide to be safe on the bases. Burch honed this art through her observation of the Bartlesville American Legion Baseball players.

Bartlesville Doenges Ford Indian coaches worked with Burch in perfecting her headfirst slide technique — an approach not many high school softball players executed 20 years ago. They instructed her on sliding off-centered past the player covering the bag and touching it with her hand.

Helping complete her extraordinary athletic assets was her speed — and her love of the give-and-take of the battle. The more dirt on her uniform the better.

It was a love whetted by her many years in helping out with Bartlesville American Legion Baseball as a Jill-of-all-trades — from ages 4 to 17. Her “job” description during Indians’ games at Bill Doenges Memorial Stadium included running the scoreboard, fetching food and sodas for the scorekeepers, assisting her mom in selling game photos and shooting her photos (pretty good) herself, some that ran in the Examiner-Enterprise.

Burch happily ran up and down the stairs to bring chief public announcer Mike Sauter his needed sustenance — an Indian Dog (no bun) with extra onions, mustard, relish and ketchup.

Those were happy days of youth, friendship and fun in a diamond setting.

Burch also played basketball — along with softball — for several years of her youth but eventually focused all her energy on softball.

Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College inked Burch to a softball letter of intent — and no doubt she would have sparkled on the college level, as well.

Life took an unexpected but not unhappy turn, and she pursued a career as a dental assistant and would work with Dr. Brenden Swisher, another area athletic legend from Bartlesville. She'd later marry her high school sweetheart, Casey Bartholemew, a Nowata athlete.

Meanwhile, Burch and her fellow seniors bequeathed a legacy of winning at Dewey that helped change the mindset.

Within a few years after her graduation, Dewey returned to the state tournament for three consecutive seasons, advancing to the semifinals one year. Burch's name remains etched on the All-State board at the Dewey softball fields, and her trophy is proudly displayed alongside other Bulldoggers All-Staters in the gymnasium lobby.

It’s been more than a dozen years since Burch last suited up for Dewey. But the memory of seeing her create an explosive dusty cloud when she ran the bases or dived for a grounder remains grittily fresh.

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This series has included the following athletes, who are listed in no particular order.

-Jena’ Williams, Bartlesville

-Eric Rolfs, Bartlesville

-Chris Smith, Caney Valley

-Jill Bryan, Copan

-Barron Tanner Jr, Bartlesville

-Hailey Tucker, Bartlesville

-Jeremy Dunkle, Dewey

-Whitney Metcalf, Bartlesville

-Tim Hamilton, Bartlesville

-Danielle Koster, Bartlesville

-Carson LaRue, Dewey

-John Hamman, Wesleyan Christian

-Jamie Elam, Caney Valley

-Sam Mitchell, Bartlesville

-Karissa Jones, Dewey

-Noah Hartsock, Bartlesville

-Tiffany Paper, Copan

-AJ Parker, Bartlesville

-Tiffany Eden, Caney Valley

-Henry Williams, Bartlesville

-Markell Carter, Bartlesville

-Rebecca Schluter, Wesleyan Christian

-Adam Hibdon, Barnsdall

-Tishuana Hunter, Nowata

-Nate Alleman, Bartlesville

Jessie Burch - Dewey

Jessie Burch - Dewey

Jessie Burch - Dewey