THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, April 21, 1995 TAG: 9504210649
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Short : 38 lines
Sarah Putnam pitched a five-inning no-hitter Thursday as Nansemond-Suffolk rolled past Norfolk Collegiate, 10-0, at N-SA.
Putnam (8-3) struck out seven and came within one batter of pitching a perfect game. Norfolk Collegiate's Allison Bethea reached on a walk with two outs in the fifth.
With the victory, N-SA improved to 12-4 overall and 3-0 in the TCIS. Norfolk Collegiate (3-8) lost for the first time in three conference games.
It was the second straight no-hitter for the Saints. Wednesday, three N-SA pitchers held Cape Henry hitless in a 25-0 rout. It was also N-SA's second victory over Norfolk Collegiate in less than a week. The Saints upended the Oaks, 10-3, last weekend during the Booker T. Washington Spring Classic.
Errors hurt the Saints' performance in that game. But Thursday, like Putnam, the team was nearly perfect. The Saints made no fielding mistakes and took the suspense out of the game quickly by scoring five runs in the first inning.
Nansemond-Suffolk first baseman Leslie Warren, an eighth-grader, led a seven-hit attack by going 3 for 3 with 3 RBI. Her fifth-inning single drove in Putnam for the tally that triggered the 10-run rule.
Putnam went 2 for 2 with a double, two RBI and three runs scored, and catcher Lea Wilson added an RBI and also scored three runs. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
RICHARD L DUNSTON/Staff
Nansemond-Suffolk catcher Lea Wilson chats with Sarah Putnam, whose
two-out walk in the fifth was the only blemish in a no-hitter.
by CNB