Leesburg, Va. — From the very first pitch, Stone Bridge High School junior ace Kayla Fekel knew something felt right. The NC State-commit had been relied on all season long to get the job done, but what she accomplished in the Bulldogs’ VHSL Class 5 State semifinal 2-0 win over Granby was more than her team could have asked for: it was perfection.
After that first pitch was swung on, Fekel threw two more strikes to retire the Comets’ leadoff batter. Then Fekel threw three more strikes to retire the second batter and another three to retire the third as her perfect game was off to an immaculate start.
“She was pinpoint throughout the day,” Stone Bridge head coach Billy Rice said. “I can’t say enough about her.”
[adrotate group=”6″]Fekel struck out the first nine batters she faced before the Comets finally put something in play by way of a foul pop fly over the left shoulder of sophomore catcher Jackie Yeager.
As soon as the ball hit the bat, Yeager sprung into action, dove, and made the catch to get the first out of the fourth inning.
“Jackie behind the plate is always so fun to play with,” Fekel said. “She always hypes me up, and I know she has my back.”
Fekel then induced a fly out to sophomore left fielder Mairin McCarthy and a pop out to junior second baseman Annemarie Waisley to get out of the fourth unscathed.
“I’m so proud of her, and the support she got in the field today; that was lights out defense. That’s exactly what we needed to do to get to tomorrow’s game,” Rice said. “Not that everyone doesn’t bring it every day, but if you have a hoss like Kayla and you can support her, it’s really difficult for the other team to be able to do anything.”
In the bottom half of the fourth, Fekel led off with a hard ground ball to the shortstop and reached on an error. Then, Yeager drove a perfectly executed hit-and-run over the head of the second baseman, which the outfielders misplayed allowing Fekel to come around to score and Yeager to advance to third as the Bulldogs took a 1-0 lead.
Three batters later, junior DP Alexa Squirewell reached on a fielder’s choice to the second baseman, plating junior shortstop Emily Hughes to extend the Bulldogs’ lead to 2-0.
“[Granby centerfielder Destiny] Harris has thunder in her hands,” Rice said. “We knew the top of the order was coming back up, so you had to think that one swing for them could tie things up, so [that insurance run was huge].”
While the insurance run was nice for confidence, it, ultimately, did not play a factor as Fekel struck out six of the next eight batters she faced, inducing a line out and ground out to retire the other two.
With two outs in the top of the seventh, Fekel battled to a 2-2 count with Granby shortstop Lovie Norman, who then fouled two 2-2 pitches off to stay alive. On the seventh pitch of the at-bat, Norman drove a ball deep to center field, but Stone Bridge junior center fielder Bergan Needles tracked it down as Fekel closed out her perfect game, 2-0.
“Honestly, I didn’t know I had a perfect game going into the last inning,” Fekel said. “But knowing Bergan had my back was just amazing.”
For the fourth time in program history, the Bulldogs are headed back to the state championship game. After dropping their first two tries in 2006 and 2013, Stone Bridge dominated Mountain View 13-2 in 2019 to claim the VHSL Class 5 State title.
While their opponent is not yet known, the Bulldogs will look to bring their second title back home to Ashburn when they play either Hickory or rival Woodgrove in the VHSL Class 5 State championship game on June 10. First pitch is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. at Riverside High School.
“As a coach, you have to be there for them and let them know what it’s all about,” Rice said. “It’s still softball, but whoever it is, we’re going to put our best foot forward.”
Sam Mesecar captured 150+ photos at the game!
Stone Bridge Batting
| Stone Bridge | AB | H | BB | R | RBI | K |
| Bergan Needles | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kayla Fekel | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Jackie Yeager | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Emily Hughes | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Avery Saylor | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Alexa Squirewell | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Morgan Harting | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Annemarie Waisley | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mylie Burton | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mairin McCarthy | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 23 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
Granby Batting
| Granby | AB | H | BB | R | RBI | K |
| Taylor Langston | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Destiny Harris | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Lovie Norman | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Camryn Hamilton | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Shaka Holmes | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Kayla McQuiller | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Maddison Crace | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Maleah Hinkens | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Maddison Gates | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Totals | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 |
Stone Bridge Pitching
| Stone Bridge | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K |
| Kayla Fekel (W) | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 |
| Totals | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 |
Granby Pitching
| Granby | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K |
| Mackenzie Samuel (L) | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Totals | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |