Perfection.

It doesn’t happen very often.

But Lucy Fearday achieved pitching perfection Monday afternoon against Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City.

The St. Anthony hurler faced 21 batters and retired every single one of them. CHBC didn’t have a base runner in the game. Fearday didn’t allow a hit or a walk and struck out 12 in her 96-pitch performance.

Her teammates didn’t have a lot of hits, but took advantage of Fearday’s terrific pitching and four errors by CHBC to come away with a 9-0 win at home.

Fearday had at least one strike out in every inning. She struck out the side in the fourth and then ended the game in impressive fashion, striking out the final three batters of the game.

The Lady Bulldogs scored all the runs they needed in the opening inning. Cameron Rios led off with a base hit, stole second, stole third and scored on a throwing error by the catcher. Abbie Wernsing walked, Fearday was hit by a pitch and both runners eventually scored on a pair of passed balls.

SAHS added two runs in the second and then completed the scoring with a four-run fifth. Rios, again, started things with a base hit and got to second on an error. Wernsing followed with an RBI single and went to second on the throw home.

After a sacrifice bunt, Fearday lifted a sacrifice fly to bring in the third run. Sydney Kibler then singled, Maddie Kibler reached on an error and both later scored on another error.

St. Anthony improved to 9-6 on the season. The Lady Bulldogs are scheduled to travel to Flora today (Tuesday).

Emma Mason belted a three-run homer in the first inning, helping Casey-Westfield break on top, en route to an 11-4 softball win at home Saturday over St. Anthony.

The Lady Bulldogs took a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Addie Wernsing got a one-out single and Lucy Fearday then connected for a two-run homer.

But Mason’s round-tripper capped a four-run inning for the Lady Warriors, who then tacked on six more runs in the second.

St. Anthony scored single tallies in the third and seventh – both driven in by Hailey Niebrugge. She had an RBI single in the third and a sacrifice fly in the seventh. Cameron Rios had three hits in the game for SAHS.

Fearday took the loss for the Lady Bulldogs. She pitched 1.2 innings and allowed eight hits and 10 runs. She walked two. Stacie Vonderheide pitched the remaining 4.1 innings and gave up just four hits and a run.

St. Anthony, now 8-6 on the season, will play at home Monday at Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City and then travel to Flora on Tuesday.

The St. Anthony Lady Bulldogs exploded for 10 runs in the eighth inning Monday and posted a 14-8 victory at South Central.

The Lady Bulldogs sent 12 batters to the plate and banged out eight hits in the big inning. Maddie Kibler drove in the first run with a base hit and then capped the inning with a two-run homer. In between, Grace Karolewicz had a two-run triple, Sydney Kibler a two-run double and Lucy Fearday also drove in a pair with a base hit.

It took a while for St. Anthony to get untracked. The Lady Bulldogs were shutout through the first five innings and trailed 4-0. But their offense came alive in the sixth.

Cameron Rios and Addie Wernsing started things with base hits and both runners moved up after stealing a base. Sydney Kibler drove in the first two runs with a base hit, another scored on a ground ball and Karolewicz delivered a two-out RBI single to tie the game at 4-4.

Fearday pitched the first seven innings and got the win. She allowed seven hits and four runs, while walking one and striking out eight. Sydney Kibler pitched the eighth and allowed four runs on four hits.

The Lady Bulldogs improved to 7-3 on the season. They will now face Effingham in the City Series on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. They will play at the EHS diamond on Wednesday and Friday and play at home Thursday. Game time each day is 4 p.m.

The roles were reversed Friday afternoon.

This time, it was the St. Anthony Lady Bulldogs that had a big inning, striking for seven runs in the first.

Even though the Effingham Lady Hearts had a six-run inning of their own, they were never able to make up that first-inning deficit.

As a result, St. Anthony finished with a 12-8 win in the third game of the annual City Series. Effingham won the first two games to clinch its sixth straight City Series championship.

In the first two games, it was Effingham that put up big innings to take the early lead. Friday’s game was much different and it was different immediately.

With one out, Addie Wernsing got the uprising going with a shot into the left-centerfield gap for a double. Hailey Niebrugge singled to put runners at first and third. Niebrugge then stole second and Wernsing came home on the throw.

Sydney Kibler reached base on a fielder’s choice, and with two outs, the Lady Bulldogs got rolling. Maddie Kibler singled to bring home a run and Grace Karolewicz walked to load the bases. Stacie Vonderheide followed with an infield single that drove home a run, an error allowed another run to cross the plate, Cameron Rios laid down a perfect bunt that brought home yet another tally and Wernsing capped the seven-run frame with a two-run single.

Sara Burger was able to quiet St. Anthony’s hot bats.

The Lady Bulldogs, who had averaged 17 runs over their past five games, were limited to just two Wednesday afternoon.

Burger allowed just six hits over seven innings, leading Paris to a 4-2 win at home.

St. Anthony took a 2-0 lead in the top of the third. With two outs, Cameron Rios singled and raced to third on a base hit by Addie Wernsing. On the throw to third base, Wernsing scooted into second. Lucy Fearday then came through with a single, driving in both runners.

But Paris responded by putting together a pair of two-run innings in the third and fourth. Burger made that stand up.

Fearday took the loss for SAHS. She allowed 10 hits and 4 runs. She didn’t walk a batter and struck out four.

The Lady Bulldogs dropped to 6-2. They are scheduled to face Teutopolis in the Cross Creek Classic. That game will begin at 7 p.m. Friday at Evergreen Hollow Park in Effingham.