As Alain Girman continued to mow down Neshannock hitters, the distance between him and his teammates continued to grow.

Nobody would even sit near the super sophomore left-hander let alone dare have the nerve to say something to him about his in-progress no-hitter.

Well, that was until Avery Sandor's mouth worked a little faster than his brain.

"It was an accident, I swear," Sandor said.

"I was talking to Jesse (Campbell) and told him to look at the scoreboard, that they had no hits and that Alain has a no-hitter going. He was sitting right there. He just walked away and sat on the other side of the bench."

It was the top of the seventh inning of Wednesday's WPIAL Class A championship game and Girman had yet to allow a Neshannock player to get a hit off him.

Girman was three outs away from his second consecutive no-hitter in these playoffs and this one would bring Serra a second consecutive title.

Can you say jinx?

"I said, 'Are you kidding me?'" Girman said.

"I walked away and went to the bathroom for like five minutes. I couldn't believe he said it."

With Serra in seeming control of the game leading 7-1 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, all that needed to be decided was if Girman was going to throw yet another no-hitter.

Girman made the final inning quite interesting, but a bases-loaded fly ball deep to right field in a 7-3 game was hauled in by Sandor just steps from the fence that solidified the no-hitter as the Eagles became the first Class A team ever to win back-to-back Class A titles.

"Oh my God, I couldn't believe it," said Girman, who ran his consecutive hitless innings streak to 122⁄3.

Girman struck out 12, but walked six and hit another batter.

There were three errors made behind him including two in the crazy seventh inning in which he walked two others. He threw 40 pitches in the last inning. He threw 76 in the first six.

With the no-hitter still intact, Serra coach Brian Dzurenda was in quite a predicament.

"I can't yank him in a no-hitter," Dzurenda said. "I went out and asked him how he was and he told me he'd get him. He's a bulldog out there on the mound. He wants the ball in these situations."

Serra jumped out to a big lead by putting up three runs in the third and four more in the fourth off of surprise Neshannock starter Alex Strittmatter.

Ryan Caldwell had a big say in those innings as he hit an RBI double in the third and a two-run homer in the fourth.

"I really don't even know what I hit," Caldwell said of his homer. "I just hit what I saw."

The Eagles also got RBI singles from Girman and Sandor and Serra was in total control, mostly because of the dominance from the kid the Eagles had on the mound.

Girman did get in a little trouble in the third when a walk, error, a hit batter and a wild pitch scored a run. Girman retired the order in every other inning except the seventh.

And what a seventh inning it was.

Girman quickly loaded the bases with two walks and an error on Sandor in right field on a popup by Mike Baker. Girman rallied to strike out the eighth and ninth hitters and appeared to have the no-hitter sealed when Chris Tsangris hit a roller to Matt Loftis at second.

Loftis made just his third error of the season that made the score 7-2. Girman then walked Strittmatter and it was 7-3 with John Sansone coming to the plate with the bases loaded.

Sansone smacked eight home runs as a freshman last year and was told by coach Mike Kirkwood to swing for the fence.

"I pulled him aside and said a rule of thumb if the tying run comes to the plate you let him swing," Kirkwood said. "I told him the first pitch is his to tie this. He missed the first one, but I thought he tied it up and I like our chances if we tie it up."

"Once he hit that ball, I thought it was out of here," Girman said.

So did Sandor. So did Dzurenda.

"I thought it was a tie game," Dzurenda said.

"Of the bat I thought he drilled it," Sandor said. "It looked like it was going to go. I got on the warning track and looked up and the ball was right there. I would say five feet from going out. It was really close."

But Girman's unprecedented second no-hitter in the playoffs was intact.

"I am speechless," Dzurenda said. "I don't even know what to say. He is an awesome pitcher. I don't think he was throwing as hard, but he had a better changeup and curveball. This kid is the real deal."

Serra got two hits from Girman, Caldwell, Sandor and Tyler Kugler.

Strittmatter picked up the loss for Neshannock (17-5) as he went 31⁄3 giving up five runs and seven hits.

Kirkwood wasn't happy with the strike zone and let the home plate umpire know that throughout the game.

"I thought the strike zone was a little bit all over the place," Kirkwood said. "When you get to the WPIAL championship I think you should have your best behind the plate. I have been coaching for 24 years and never have been ejected, coached basketball for about 20 and I have never got a technical. I don't argue, but I have to defend my players."

"We were the benefit of some question strike calls, but a few went the other way, too," Dzurenda said. "It went both ways and he is over there complaining about the calls. He should've been ejected from the game four times."

NOTES: Serra (21-1) will play District 6 runner-up Bishop Guilfoyle (11-11) in the first round of the PIAA Class A playoffs Monday at Seton Hill. Guilfoyle lost to Homer-Center Wednesday night, 5-1 ... Girman has struck out 25 batters in his past two playoff games.

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