DATE: Friday, May 23, 1997                  TAG: 9705230903

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C7   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   34 lines

HIRSCH'S NO-HITTER ADVANCES CAVALIERS TO REGIONAL TOURNEY

Melissa Hirsch saved her best for what could have been Princess Anne's last.

Hirsch fired a no-hitter and went 3 for 3 with an RBI as the Cavaliers grabbed an Eastern Region tournament berth with a 5-0 victory over Kellam in the Beach District final.

The Cavaliers (21-2) will meet Peninsula District top seed Gloucester in the regional first round Monday at Princess Anne. Other regional matchups: Southeastern No. 1 Great Bridge vs. Eastern No. 2 Churchland at noon, Eastern No. 1 Wilson vs. Southeastern No. 2 Western Branch at 2 p.m. and Beach No. 1 Salem vs. Kecoughtan, 7-2 winners over Bethel in Thursday's Peninsula tournament final, at 4 p.m.

Despite opening the season with 17 straight victories and reigning as South Hampton Roads' top-ranked team through most of the season, the Cavaliers faced a winner-go-on, loser-go-home final against the Knights, who upset top-seeded Salem in the semifinals.

But the Knights couldn't solve Hirsch, the co-district player of the year who set down 18 in a row from the first, when Shannon Banks reached on an error, until Hilary Pavlidis' two-out, seventh-inning walk.

``I just tried to say on top of them and move my pitches around,'' Hirsch said. ``And I have to give credit to my awesome defense.''

Hirsch got more than enough offensive support in the first when she drove in Kelly Hartzog with a double, Kristi Nixon scored on an error and Jen Kanten knocked in Nixon with a single.

``This is the way Princess Anne played in March and April,'' Cavaliers coach Dennis Nixon said.

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