By Kevin Mills,Staff Writer

BETHEL – Jessie Farrington didn’t exactly feel like herself Monday.

Though the Telstar pitcher felt a little off, she found solace in a scoreboard and scorebook that told her otherwise.

For the first five innings, Farrington no-hit Dirigo and finished with a two-hitter in a 10-2 Western C semifinal win.

The Rebels (16-0) advance to today’s regional championship game at Saint Joseph’s College at 7 p.m.

“It takes me awhile to warm up,” said Farrington. “It’s usually a couple of innings before I really get into my game, but the whole game had me guessing. I wasn’t on or on as I usually am.”

Farrington had three walks in the first two innings, but by the time she allowed another Cougar to reach base, her Rebels were already up 8-0.

“The rain, we’ve played only three games in our last two weeks,” said Telstar coach Jim Lunney. “She had a little bit of time off.”

While Farrington shook off the rust, her struggles paled in comparison to Dirigo’s pitching problems. The Cougars (13-4) switched pitchers three times but couldn’t find a hot hand. Dirigo gave up 12 walks. The Rebels scored six runs on walks, wild pitches or a hit batter.

“We had a great season but obviously, today, was a disappointing way to end it,” said Dirigo coach Gavin Kane. “I knew coming into this ballgame we had to pitch very well. You can not give an outstanding team like Telstar that many extra baserunners and not get hurt by it.”

The Cougars also couldn’t generate the offense it needed to stay close. Abby Fenstermacher had Dirigo’s only hits. She broke up the no-hitter in the sixth and had a RBI single in the seventh.

“Jessie throws with great velocity, and we had a hard time catching up to her,” said Kane. “We were a little defensive against her. Once we got down 6-0, we knew it would be tough for us to comeback against her.”

Two strikeouts in the second showed she was finding her niche. Farrington, who finished with nine strikeouts, has never lost in her high school career and her fellow seniors are now 60-7 in four years.

“Strikeouts are definitely what I look for,” said Farrington. “I kept thinking, I do have a no-hitter. No hits have been given up.’ I guess I was just down on myself.”

Dirigo escaped the first inning down just 1-0. Starter Katie Hutchinson walked four and Telstar’s Tiffany Jordan scored the first run on a wild pitch. Kane brought in Fenstermacher with two outs and the bases full. She got a ground out to end the inning.

Telstar added five more in the third, sending 11 batters to the plate and drawing five walks, forcing Dirigo to flip pitchers again. Kayla Mills drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. Jordan and Chelsea Cozzolino brought in runs with a walk while Josie Reiss plated a run when hit by a pitch.

“This is one of those games where patience was our best key on offense,” said Lunney. “They were walking and throwing wild pitches. We had to wait for opportunities.”

In the fourth, Liz Rosenberg and Abby Hutchins each scored on wild pitches. An inning later, Farrington and Rosenberg singled in runs. Dirigo’s first run came in the sixth when Fenstermacher scored on a wild pitch. She singled in the other run in the seventh.