The way the ball was thrown could have to do with Burns success/failure. Because of the striking windmill windup softball pitchers have, batters often lose eye contact of the ball so by the time the ball is in sight again, it is too late to make solid hitting contact. ---It also doesn’t help that softball bats have smaller barrels than baseball, preventing them to have less power than baseball hitters. Softball bats are shorter than baseball bats, the maximum size of a softball bat is 34 inches while as in baseball a competitor can have their bat up to 42 inches, which leaves baseball players to reach the outside of the plate easily -- as for females, not so much.