Published: May 20, 2008 12:33 am         

Collins no-hits Logansport

No. 3 McCutcheon ousts Lady Berries with 3-0 win.

LAFAYETTE — Last Friday, McCutcheon pitcher Tori Collins felt too conscious of being on the verge of a perfect game.

As she approached a no-hitter in Monday’s Class 4A sectional opener against Logansport, Collins kept her composure.

“I came out and trusted my defense,” Collins said. “I trusted what I knew how to do. I got rid of the butterflies in my stomach and did what I’ve done my whole life and just pitched.”

Collins struck out nine while recording her second no-hitter of the season, leading third-ranked McCutcheon to a 3-0 victory.

Collins (16-3) walked one, and two Berries reached base on errors.  

She took a perfect game into the seventh inning against Zionsville last Friday but settled for her third one-hitter of the season.

“She’s throwing very, very well,” McCutcheon coach Jim Bates said. “When she gets stuff to work, she’s pretty effective.”

Defending sectional champion McCutcheon (24-5) advances to face rival Harrison (18-8) in tonight’s 7:30 semifinal. Lafayette Jeff (4-20) faces Kokomo (17-6) at 5:30 p.m.

Collins and Logansport lefty Molly Long (14-6) matched each other with shutouts into the fifth inning. Mavericks senior Kristen Garza recovered from an 0-2 count to draw a walk leading off the bottom of the fifth. No. 9 hitter Stephanie Martin followed by ripping an 0-1 pitch down the right-field line. Garza scored on the triple, and Martin came home when Logansport second baseman Brianna Brewer bobbled the relay throw.

“The first one went by and it was a strike, and I’m like, ‘Oh crap,’” Martin said. “I go up there and I’m like, I’m just going to bust it. I told Kelsey Rummel I was going to hit a home run, but you know, triple-error, same thing.”

Collins, who threw a five-inning no-hitter against Westfield on April 29, retired the first 14 batters she faced until Berries junior Jaclyn Slusser reached on Martin’s error with two outs in the fifth.  

Erin Angle reached on Collins’ error leading off the seventh, and one out later, Darrien Harris drew a walk.

The rally died when Collins coaxed a fielders’ choice groundout from Long and struck out Slusser. Jenna Pfeiffer’s fly out to center field earlier in the inning was the only ball Logansport hit out of the infield.

“She threw a nice ballgame,” said Logansport coach Gary Hoffman, whose team finished 17-8. “I thought we were a little impatient there early in the game. We just weren’t swinging well.

“The girls are upset because they knew we could go far.”

McCutcheon knows it will face a motivated Harrison team tonight. The Mavericks have won four straight games in the series — decided by a total of five runs — and won 1-0 in 14 innings earlier this season.

“It’s always a big game between us,” Collins said. “... I don’t know who’s the better team. We’re going to find out tomorrow.”