Andi Hearn helped Warren Central retain its mastery over Vicksburg High, firing a no-hitter in the Lady Vikes’ 3-0 win at Lucy Young Field Monday night.

Hearn struck out 11 and issued just two walks. She also had a key double in the bottom of the sixth to drive in a run in Warren Central’s decisive three-run sixth inning. The win evens WC’s record in the young season at 1-1 while Vicksburg slips to 0-2.

“This is my and Mandy’s (Fuller) last year to face our high school rival and even though people say we are a young team, we have girls who have been playing fastpitch since they were 4 years old,” Hearn said. “We’ve worked hard and I think the Northwest Rankin game helped get us ready for this game.”

The Lady Vikes dropped a close 5-4 decision to Northwest Rankin on Saturday, but WC coach Dana McGivney liked how her team responded both in that game and again on Monday against the Missy Gators.

“I thought we played well in the opener at Northwest. We played good defense. Tonight, we played good defense again and Andi did a wonderful job of pitching. We couldn’t get many hits, but we were hitting it hard and then we finally strung something together,” McGivney said.

Neither team scored through the first five innings. VHS ace Kristi Shelby limited WC to a single in the second and third innings while Hearn faced the minimum of 15 batters through five innings. Brittany King drew the Missy Gators’ second walk of the game against Hearn, but was left on first after Hearn struck out Claire Ray to end the inning.

In the WC sixth, Sydnei Smith led off with a single against Shelby. Shelbi Conerly followed with a double to the right-center gap to score Smith to break the scoreless tie. Hearn then fought off an 0-2 count by blasting a double to left to score Conerly.

“She (Shelby) threw me an inside pitch, which happens to be my favorite pitch,” Hearn said.

Hearn took third on the relay throw home and then scored the Lady Vikes’ third run on Fuller’s RBI groundout to short.

In the Vicksburg seventh, Hearn struck out two of the three she faced to cap her no-hitter.

“My curveball really worked well and the rise was good, too and then I mixed in my screwball now and then,” Hearn added.

Vicksburg coach Amanda Yocum said her team must run the bases better in order to score against a tough pitcher.

“We made some baserunning errors again tonight. This is our second game and we have a lot of work to do. I was happy with our defense, but again, their key girls stepped up for them,” Yocum said.

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Contact Jeff Byrd at jbyrd@vicksburgpost.com