Monday, May. 23, 2011

Dean pitches to perfection

Fuquay-Varina sophomore Alissa Dean knew exactly what was on the line as she stepped inside the circle for the final three outs Friday night.

While most pitchers working on a no-hitter try not to think about the feat they're about to accomplish, Dean couldn't take her mind off it.

She didn't have just your run-of-the-mill no-hitter going - she had a perfect game in the second round of the 4-A softball playoffs.

Dean won't have to forget about it any time soon as she recorded the last three outs in succession - just as the first 18 - and led her team to a 4-0 win against Durham's Riverside High School.

"I'm just so tongue-tied and shocked," Dean said. "I was thinking about it the whole game... I would get a little nervous in the dugout, but when I was on the mound I stayed focused."

For a split second, it looked as though the Pirates were going to erase the perfect game and the no-hitter with one swing of the bat by third baseman Mackensie Green.

But Fuquay senior shortstop Alexa Cannon slid to her knee and fielded the ball on a short hop, then spun around and gunned the ball to first, just a half-step before Green touched first base.

The home crowd went wild, and Riverside's fans were deflated.

"(Cannon) saved a base hit there at the end," Fuquay-Varina coach Deb Clarke said. "Hats off to our defense tonight."

The last two batters of the game grounded out softly to second base, and Fuquay's celebration commenced.

Dean, one-half of Fuquay's dominant pitching duo along with Ratcliffe, racked up six strikeouts and completed the perfect game in only 69 pitches, 50 of which were strikes.

This marks the fifth straight year the Bengals (21-3) have made it to the third round of the softball state playoffs.

"We like this time of year," Clarke said. "We like the challenge of facing different teams in the playoffs... We didn't know much about Riverside coming into the game."

Fuquay will now travel to PAC-6 4-A champion Person County on Tuesday. If the Bengals can pick up the road win, a possible fourth match-up with Holly Springs awaits on Friday for the right to move on to the Final Four.

Holly Springs has won two of the three match-ups this year, including a tiebreaker game held after both squads had finished the conference schedule but before the playoff brackets were released.

Catcher Alyssa White led off with a triple in the second inning and later scored on a sacrifice bunt by rightfielder Rachel Honrine. Center fielder Camille Patterson followed with a home run that bounced off the scoreboard just past the left-field fence.

The 3-0 lead held until the sixth inning, when the Bengals tacked on another run in the sixth inning. after senior Lindsey Barrett ripped a two-out double to centerfield, advanced to third on a passed ball, then scored on an error.