By ANTHONY BOTTAN
Loughran tossed the first perfect game in school history, striking out seven and leading the Lady Rocks to a 12-0 victory.
"I had no idea," Loughran said of not allowing a hit or walk. "After the game is when coach told me. I'm not sure if anyone knew - we were winning - so we were happy about that."
The Lady Rocks mercy-ruled the Vikings after five innings, as Michelle Corso went 3-for-4 with a two-run homer and four RBIs. Loughran said she threw about 65 pitches and did not reach a full count with any batter. She was humble when asked about the prestigious record.
"I guess it's a good feeling," she said. "People will see my name, and it's my record."
Loughran said this year has been harder than previous years because the Lady Rocks moved up into Conference ABC-I, where the competition is a lot tougher. "They were significantly better than us, but we stood in there and played our best," she said.
Loughran has thrown three no-hitters during her time as a Lady Rock, but says she has no plans to play professional softball. She said she would rather be a teacher in East Rockaway, and hopefully, become a coach.
Coach Joe Lores said he knew Loughran was pitching a perfect game, but superstitions kept him from telling her. "It's an unwritten rule that you never talk about it," he said. Lores recalled a game Loughran pitched during her freshman year, where she had a no-hitter heading into the fifth inning. Her father mentioned to Lores that Loughran had a no-hitter. The next batter singled to end her no-hit bid.
Lores added the perfect was game was even more special to the team because it came off the heals of a 3-1 victory over Seaford, which had won 57 conference games in a row. Corso, the team's catcher, hit a walk-off, two-run homer to hand Seaford its only conference defeat in three years.
The Lady Rocks meet Friends Academy in the Nassau Class C best-of-three championship series beginning Friday, May 23 at 4 p.m. at Mitchell Field. The second game is May 28, and should a third be necessary it'll be May 29.
