Aren't you glad winter's gone? Wednesday morning was great for watching softball, and there was an interesting matchup as Nokomis beat host Skowhegan 5-0. Nokomis pitcher Patrice Cianchette tossed a no-hitter and the Warriors had 12 hits, but this wasn't really a mismatch.

The game was very well played for this time of year. The only defensive play that got a star on my scoresheet was when Skowhegan left fielder Mallory Hancock made a tumbling catch to end the Nokomis fourth inning, but both teams looked strong.

Skowhegan had chances in nearly every inning, and got four runners in scoring position. But they couldn't hit Cianchette, and Nokomis finally broke the game open with four runs in the sixth inning.

Nokomis lost to Skowhegan 2-0 in the quarterfinals last year (despite a three-hitter by Cianchette) and Cianchette said that did cross her mind on Wednesday.

"Of course we think about it," Cianchette said. "We expect that they're going to be a good team, because they are. They'll always be a good team. They're Skowhegan. They've got a great coach.

"It's in the back of our minds, but you can't take (back) what happened last year. We just had to go with what we had to do today."

One other note: Nokomis center fielder Erin Knight and second baseman Sabrina Vaillancourt each switched from lefty slap hitters to their natural right side for Wednesday's game. They combined for two hits and a walk in eight trips to the plate.