Hall of Fame
A key piece in the early part of the Husson University softball dynasty, Kayla Merrill '16 helped the Eagles capture four-straight North Atlantic Conference Regular-Season and Tournament titles during her four-year career as a pitcher and infielder for hall of fame member Amanda Bourgoin, Kristie Hawkins and Terren Allen from 2012-2015.
The two-time NAC player of the year helped the Eagles earn a record of 124-50-1 (.714) and a 52-6 mark in conference games. While pitching Husson to the program's first-ever National Collegiate Athletics Association Division III Regional Championship game in 2015.
In 68 career appearances in the circle, Merrill earned 39 wins and posted a 2.02 earned run average in 332.0 innings, while tallying 244 strikeouts and limiting opponents to a .250 batting average. Merrill tossed 33 complete games and 12 shutouts in 47 career starts to go along with three saves.
Merrill also had a productive career at the plate for Husson, posting a .378 batting average in 146 games with 151 hits, 13 home runs, 19 doubles and eight triples, in addition to 90 RBIs. Additionally, Merrill showcased great plate discipline, recording 45 career walks and 35 strikeouts, while posting a .441 on-base percentage and a .563 slugging percentage.
In addition to her two NAC player of the year awards (2014, 2015), Merrill earned NAC pitcher of the year in 2015, becoming the first player in NAC history to win both awards in the same season and be named NAC player of the year twice.
She was a two-time all-conference selection, earned NAC tournament MVP once and was named to the NAC all-tournament team and the NCAA regional all-tournament team twice. Merrill also garnered Eastern College Athletic Conference All-New England honors in 2014 and was named the winner of the Husson Clara Swan Female Athlete of the Year Award in 2014-2015.
At the time of her induction, Merrill ranked among the program's top-10 career leaders in batting average, runs scored and home runs, in addition to being tied for the program record for home runs in a single-game with two and holding the single-season record for home runs (nine) and total bases (101). Merrill ranked inside the top-10 for many notable pitching statistics in Husson softball history and was a part of three of the 20 no-hitters that have been thrown for the Eagles. Merrill recorded a no-hitter against the University of Maine at Farmington in 2015 and combined for a no-hitter against the UMF earlier in the 2015 season. Additionally, Merrill pitched a combined perfect game against Maine Maritime Academy in 2013.
After being a four-year member of the Husson softball program as a student-athlete, Merrill spent three seasons as the Eagles' pitching coach. During her time as an assistant coach, she helped the Eagles capture one NAC championship in 2018, while working with 2018 NAC pitcher of the year, Jen Jones, DPT '20, '22.
Merrill earned a bachelor of science in nursing from Husson in 2016.
A native of Bethel, Maine, Merrill attended Telstar Regional High School.
