COMMUNITY COLLEGE ROUNDUP : Corson Again Pitches No-Hitter; Cypress in Finals

Laura Corson of Cypress College doesn’t throw hard, but she proved again Saturday that her pitches are hard to hit.

Using various off-speed pitches, Corson pitched her second no-hitter in two days, leading the Chargers (45-10) to a 1-0 victory over Chabot (49-5) in the winners’ bracket finals of the California Community College Softball State Tournament at Golden West.

Cypress advanced to the championship game of the double-elimination tournament at 1 p.m today, and will face the winner of the 11 a.m. game between Sacramento City and Chabot. If Cypress wins the 1 p.m. game, it wins the State championship. If the Chargers lose, they must play the same team at 3 p.m. for the title.

Corson (28-7) will pitch for Cypress again today, and after pitching 21 innings in less than 1 1/2 days, she admitted her arm was sore.

“Laura wasn’t sharp today,” Cypress Coach Brad Pickler said of Corson, who walked three and struck out none. “It was one of the ugliest no-hitters I’ve ever seen. But credit our defense. They really picked it up.”

Cypress right fielder Jackie Boxley’s diving catch in shallow right to rob Chabot of a base hit in the second inning exemplified the Chargers’ defense. Cypress also turned one double play and executed a successful pickoff play.

Cypress scored its only run in the first inning after Tricia Barr led off with a triple into the right field corner, and scored two outs later on a wild pitch.