MCKAYLA COTTON’S NO-HITTER LAUNCHES SOFTBALL TO SWEEP OVER FRIENDS

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – It was one for the record books on a perfect day at The Z on Saturday, as Avila senior McKayla Cotton threw a no-hitter against Friends in the opening game of the doubleheader sweep.

Cotton was dominant for all seven innings of Avila's first home game in more than a month, pitching seven no-hit innings, allowing just two baserunners while striking out seven Falcon batters.

A second-inning hit batter and a walk in the fifth inning were the only blemishes on the reigning KCAC Pitcher of the Week's box score.

She retired the final seven batters she faced, but wasn't necessarily keyed-in on the history she was nearing:

"It was pretty late in the game when I realized it – it was the fifth or sixth inning when I looked up and saw a zero in the hit column," Cotton noted. "I didn't want to say anything to jinx it, I just kept my mouth shut and kept pitching."

With six outs remaining, Cotton got three-straight outs in a nine-pitch inning to head to the seventh, striking out the leadoff batter before forcing a groundout and a fly out.

"The final two innings were high-intensity. I knew that I needed a win for my team. I knew that it was a close game, so I wasn't necessarily worried about the no-hitter, I was just worried about not letting any runs score."

The seventh inning saw amazing defense and dominant pitching to record the final three outs.

Leading off the final frame, Friends' No. 3 hitter belted a pitch to left field that turned Abi Beaman around, but the sophomore outfielder made a spectacular leaping catch to record the first out of the inning.

Cotton then got the final two batters to strike out swinging for the 20^th and 21^st outs of the game before being mobbed by her teammates on the rubber.

Not only did Cotton etch her name in the Avila history books, she also drove in the game-winning run at the plate on a first-inning RBI single. And in addition to her stellar defense, Beaman drove in Avila's third insurance run of the game on an RBI single in the third.

The second end of the doubleheader was another low-scoring game, with Avila rallying late for its second shutout victory of the day.

A pair of run-scoring errors in the fifth inning put Avila ahead 2-0, before game one's offensive heroes were at it again in the sixth as Beaman and Cotton each drove in runs with an RBI double from Beaman followed by an RBI single from Cotton to finalize Avila's 4-0 score.

The Eagles got more strong starting pitching in the second game from Faith Heaster, who threw five shutout innings, allowing just two hits.

After Heaster's five innings were done, in stepped Cotton.

Just over 90 minutes after her no-hitter, Cotton came back to the circle to toss two more shutout innings to shut Friends down and get a sweep over their KCAC rivals.

Avila pitching staff is now on a streak of 19-straight scoreless innings to help the program to five-consecutive victories as conference season heats up.

The Eagles will travel to Kansas Wesleyan on Wednesday for a doubleheader with the Coyotes beginning at 1 PM.

One of the best days – regardless of sport – from any Avila Eagle in school history, McKayla Cotton threw 9.0 total innings in the circle, picking up a no-hitter victory and a save, with one hit allowed, zero earned runs while going 3-for-6 from the plate, with two RBI and the game-winning RBI in the opener.

"It's my senior year, I'm putting it all out there. I'm excited and I'm glad our team is doing as well as we are."