CHESTERFIELD, Va. — The Chesterfield Little League All-Star Team, managed by Bill Fiege and coached by Kim Bossler and Steve Myers caught the attention of residents of Chesterfield County when they were showing up on ESPN while bringing home the title of Second in the Nation!

The Chesterfield Little League season started in March with four regular teams. It was a very competitive league with close games throughout the season. Out of the approximately 50 kids who played in the 10-12-year-old division, 13 were selected to represent the league on the 2021 all-star team. Six of those players played on the 2019 10u Virginia state championship team.

The all-star team started practicing in mid-June and competed in the District 5 championships in late June against Atlee, Mechanicsville, and Tuckahoe. The team went 3-0 defeating Atlee in the championship game to win the district 5 championships. They then went to the state championships in Coeburn Virginia July 9-13. The team went 5-0 at states defeating McLean, 7-5, in the championship game.

Next, they traveled to Warner Robins GA for the southeast region championships. The team defeated Florida and then Georgia to start the tournament 2-0. A 3-0 loss to North Carolina required the team to beat Georgia again to get another crack at North Carolina.

“We beat Georgia 3-0 over a two-day period due to the game being delayed overnight for rain. We then got the rematch against NC and defeated them in a winner take all final, 3-2”, shared team manager Bill Fiege.

All of the southeast region games were broadcast on ESPN+. Both teams qualified for the World Series, however, due to COVID, no international teams were able to participate in the event. Next, the team traveled to Greenville NC for the WS and made it all the way to the championship game, losing to a strong Oklahoma team, 9-1.

The 10 world series teams were put into two pools (5 each), the Jennie Finch pool and Jessica Mendoza pool. They beat Missouri 4-1 and Arizona 4-1 before losing to Texas 4-2. Unfortunately, the last pool game against New York was canceled due to New York being removed from the tournament for a positive COVID test. The game counted as a 6-0 forfeit win. Chesterfield Little League’s All-Star team won the three-way tiebreaker between Missouri and Texas to win the Jennie Finch bracket. 

After a hard-fought 1-0 win in the quarter-final game against New Jersey (which was broadcasted on ESPN News), they got a rematch against Texas on ESPN 2 Down 5-1 in the bottom of the 4th, the team scored six unanswered runs to win 7-5 and qualify for the national championship game. “After we took a 1-0 lead in the 2nd inning of the final, Oklahoma’s bats got hot, and we just weren’t able to must a comeback, losing 9-1,” shared Fiege.

The goals were to win each tournament they entered, but the expectations were simply to play hard and have fun! They met all but one goal and the girls definitely met expectations.

The team was led in hitting by centerfielder Erika Fiege with a .578 average, .689 on-base percentage, 28 runs scored, and 10 stolen bases. Left fielder Kaylie Mitchell batted .519 and led the team with 21 RBI’s including game-winners in the state semi-final, Southeast region final, and national semi-final. Catcher Aislin Bossler hit .472 with 5 doubles 19 runs scored and 19 RBI. Jenna Keefer led the pitching staff with 49.2 innings pitched, striking out 71 and having an earned run average of 2.11. Kaylee Hodges pitched 41.1 innings and had an ERA of 1.355 with 57 strikeouts.

Additionally the other team members: Isabell Viruet (3B), Kammie Walter (SS), Aailyah Myers (2B), Jasmine Miller (RF, 1B), Savannah Wright (OF), Jordan Jefferson (OF), Trista Davis (OF), and Ayslin Long (OF/C) helped bring the team in strong. Everyone played their role to help the team win. All of the parents got along well and the kids genuinely enjoyed being with one another. It was a magical run! 

When asked if they had any pre-game rituals or traditions, the team shared, “We eat what we call magic grapes. Kaylie Hodges’s parents bring grapes before every game, and we feel we play better when everyone has some. We started to win a lot of games and began calling them magic grapes.”  

The girls expressed that it was fun taking the charted bus from the hotels to the games and enjoyed being in the spotlight of ESPN. After their big wins, they ordered food into the hotel and celebrated together. What an amazing experience for all involved!

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