CAPE ELIZABETH – Jackie Moran could have been tired. She probably was, despite a pretty convincing denial.
It’s scary to think what Moran’s pitching line might have looked like if she hadn’t gone the distance in a nine-inning game less than 24 hours earlier.
Moran still fired a no-hitter, fanning 14 Oak Hill batters, to lead Cape Elizabeth to a 5-0 win over the Raiders at Capano Field on Tuesday, sending the top-seeded Capers to the Western Class B Regional final, where they will face nemesis Greely this afternoon.
“I didn’t expect (a no-hitter),” said Moran. “I know that they were No. 4 so I thought that meant they’d be good hitters. I think I threw harder than I usually do, though. It felt good. They couldn’t time me out, which is a good thing.”
Oak Hill managed just four baserunners all afternoon, three via walks and one on a fielding error.
“I was hoping she’d be a little tired after pitching all game yesterday,” said Oak Hill coach Julie Boucher. “She pitched well, though. She had us on the outside corner. We knew to bat there, but we just couldn’t put the ball in play.”
For Moran, a junior, fatigue could easily have become a factor, but the veteran pitcher bore down when she needed to. She struck out the side in order in the first inning, and added three more in the second with a pair of walks thrown in.
Moran also fanned each hitter in Oak Hill’s lineup at least once.
“You really just have to use your legs and go for it,” said Moran. “I know my defense is behind me and even if they do hit me I know they’ll get it.”
The Cape offense opened up in the third. Lisa Wolanski led off with a single.
Two batters later, Marla Houghton poked a triple to deep right-center to plate the Capers’ (16-2) first run.
Colleen Martin followed that up with a single to score Houghton and later scampered home herself on a single off the bat of Moran.
“Pitching and defense has been our strong point,” said Cape Elizabeth coach Joe Henrikson. “We didn’t have all the weapons in the lineup contributing today, but we had enough.”
Oak Hill pitcher Danni Potvin pitched well in four of the six innings she worked, allowing just two hits and four baserunners in those four innings. The five runs on seven hits in the third and sixth innings, though, ultimately did Potvin and the Raiders in.
The Capers scored those two insurance runs in the sixth on three singles, one each from Moran, who went 3-for-3 at the plate, Emily Richardson and Lauren Donovan.
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