Duo Gives Centreville Final Berth

When her last fastball induced yet another swing and miss yesterday, Centreville pitcher Jessica Ferrick dropped her glove and ran home to hug her catcher, Victoria Marvin.

A few minutes later, Ferrick said she didn't know about her no-hitter during that embrace. Instead, she was thinking of Marvin's heroics in the Wildcats' 4-0 win at Robinson in the Northern Region semifinals.

"She did amazing," Ferrick said of Marvin, "and the past few games, she's the first person I go to. She's my best friend on the field and off the field."

The Marshall University-bound seniors both had banner days for Centreville, which will play for the region title tomorrow against South County, a 6-5 winner in nine innings over McLean in the second game.

Ferrick struck out 12 Rams and surrendered only a leadoff walk in the fourth inning of her third no-hitter this season. And Marvin, who came into the game with two home runs, gave her team a 2-0 lead with solo blasts in the third and fifth innings.

"I've been in a slump for the longest time and it's been really annoying," Marvin said, "but I stayed after yesterday and took extra batting practice and I guess it paid off."

Marvin's first home run was a rainbow that just dropped over the fence in center field. Her second was a laser that cleared the left field fence by at least 10 feet and caromed off the football field's press box.

With those runs, Ferrick cruised, extending her scoreless streak in the region tournament to 22 innings. She has struck out 33 hitters over that stretch.

"I felt pretty confident and the fans were cheering, which helps out," she said. "And when we got that lead, I was feeling more relaxed, which helps me pitch better."

Nobody could relax in the late game, especially after South County scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh to send the semifinal into extra innings.

The Stallions started their rally with one out when juniors Taylor Dillow and Stephanie Sbardella both got infield hits and senior Kayla Reisinger followed with a walk to load the bases.

Senior Meaghan Hunt then drove a pitch to the left-center field gap, scoring Dillow and Sbardella.

"I'm not going to lie -- I was so nervous," Hunt said of her at-bat. "But my coaches calmed me down. They said, 'Just ignore the people and do your thing.' That's what I did."

South County tried to score the winning run on Hunt's hit, but a nice relay from Highlanders left fielder Allison Wilhelm to shortstop Lauren McColgan to catcher Carolyn Gilbertson nabbed the runner at home.

Stallions pitcher Chelsey Dunham almost won the game in the next at-bat, but her liner up the middle deflected off of pitcher Lauren Sutherland's glove and went to McColgan, who threw out Dunham.

In the ninth inning, with a runner on third and two outs, Dunham came up again, and this time laced the game-winning hit into right-center field.

"I was just thinking one up the middle or something small and just score that run," Dunham said. "And I came up with that hit and I'm so excited for my team. I wanted it for them so bad."