By Patrick Newell

Sun Sports Editor

pnewell@evesun.com

AFTON – For just the second time in the nine-year history of the Midstate Athletic Conference, a team other than Afton is standing atop the league, and it took a no-hitter to dethrone the Crimson Knights.

Greene sophomore pitcher Rebecca Hanrahan threw her fifth no-hitter this season, and was backed by sterling, error-free defense in a 4-0 shutout of Afton on Wednesday at Afton High School.

Hanrahan struck out 10 and issued two walks. “We’ve been stressing gloves and feet all year, and it really started last year,” said Greene coach Rick Smith. “The gloves have been amazing, and our infield has made just 14 errors all season. Our work ethic every day in practice says it all.”

Afton (14-3), five-time defending league champions, had its best consistent contact against Hanrahan in the fifth inning. Stephanie Parsons hit a sharp one-hop grounder to Greene’s Caitlin Willis, who calmly threw to first for the out. Taylor Briggs followed with a well-hit grounder up the middle. Greene second baseman Steph Stahl ranged far to her right, and threw to first for the second out of the inning. Brit Patten then grounded out to Stahl to end the inning.

“As soon as Steph caught (Briggs groundball), it was awesome,” Hanrahan said, who had perhaps the best view of Stahl’s fielding magic. “I felt we might have a chance today.”

The Trojans (15-2) scored two unearned runs in the third and two more unearned runs in the fifth capitalizing on Afton’s miscues. Natalie Greene reached second base in the third inning when her one-out flyball to right field was dropped. Greene stole third, and came in to score on a wild pitch for the initial run.

With two outs, Greene lead-off hitter Caitlin Willis reached on an infield single, and she scored on Rachel Turner’s double to rightcenter field. The throw home beat Willis, but she eluded the tag of Afton catcher, Briggs, for the two-run lead.

Two Afton errors weighed heavily in the Trojans’ sixth-inning offense. Hanrahan reached on an infield single two pitches after her pop-up in foul play was dropped. Brittany Youngs singled, and an infield error on Louise Holcomb’s groundball to third scored Hanrahan. Two batters later, Greene’s Natalie Greene had an RBI fielder’s choice.

“Sometimes you need a humbling moment,” said Afton’s longtime coach, Cindy Bostelman. “People string hits together and things happen. When you make mistakes, sometimes you can’t dig yourself out when you get deep into the game.”