© East County Sports.com
EL CAJON (3-20-08) -- The no-hitter streak isn't over, it just took a day off.

Following seven consecutive days of no-hitters by East County pitchers, the streak ended Tuesday, so Granite Hills' JENNY LAHITTE and Valhalla 's CELINA CRUZ made up the difference by each tossing no-hitters Wednesday (Mar. 19) to make it nine no-hitters in as many days of competition.

After starting the string of great pitching performances on Mar. 10, Lahitte came back to fire her second no-hitter of the season by halting Carlsbad , 5-0, in Falcon Fiesta pool play action at Granite Hills.

Meanwhile in Las Vegas , Cruz registered a perfect game against Cimarron-Memorial, as the Norsemen breezed to a 13-0 decision in the Fred Davison Memorial Tournament. Cruz faced only 12 batters as the Nevada run (mercy) rule is applied following four innings instead of five like in California.

For Lahitte, a change in attitude may be the reason why eight of the no-hitters have been tossed by teams from the Grossmont South League.

"The girls might be more competitive," said the sophomore, who struck out eight Lancers. "I don't know how they feel, but I know I want to be better than I was last year."

Lahitte opened strong, setting down the first 11 Carlsbad batters, including six on strikes, before Carlsbad gained the first of two walks for the ballgame.

It's the third no-hitter by Granite Hills pitchers this season -- the other belongs to BRITTANI BERTUSSI, who stopped Morse.

"We're both completely different pitchers," noted Lahitte. "Brittani goes more with screwballs, while I go up-and-down with drop balls and curveballs."

Holding a narrow 2-0 lead, Lahitte helped the Eagles score three times in the 7th by smashing a 2-run homer to left-center field to cap a 3-RBI performance.

In the 1st, Bertussi singled and stole a base, scoring on an AMANDA OMAHEN basehit. Omahen then stole second and scored on Lahitte's sharp roller through the infield.

MEGAN BELIO followed the same game plan in the 7th with a lead single and a stolen base. Bertussi drove Belio home with a single, following by Lahitte's homer.