By MIKE SCANDURA

Sports correspondent

PROVIDENCE ---- Tolman High coach Craig Giarrusso had a rather simple, but direct, question for pitcher Macayla Kirylo in the top of the seventh inning Friday in Game 1 of the best-of-three, Division III championship series against Scituate High at Rhode Island College.
"I just wanted to see how she was feeling because she was over 100 pitches," said Giarrusso, noting that Scituate had a runner on first with one out and a 2-0 count on leadoff batter Emma Hackett. "I asked her one question: 'Can you finish this out?'
"She looked me in the eyes and said 'Yes,' and I had confidence the minute I walked away that she was going to do the job."
Indeed.
Kirylo finished with her seventh no-hitter of the season as Tolman rallied to beat Scituate, 5-2.
Game 2 in the series is scheduled for 2 p.m on Sunday at RIC. Game 3, if necessary is "TBA."

In retrospect, this wasn't a "classic" no-hitter in the sense that even though Kirylo struck out eight Spartans, she also walked nine. And two of the Spartans she walked scored runs to give Scituate (17-3) a 2-0 lead after 3½ innings.
"She's had a few of those this year," said Giarrusso. "I thought the walks were going to come back and hurt us. Fortunately, they didn't. In a couple of her no-hitters this year she's given up eight to 10 walks. It's something we continue to work on.
"She's only a sophomore and she was in this venue last year, and we did walk a lot last year. I think nerves are still getting to her a little bit. I don't see it as mechanical. I see it as more emotional."
Kirylo definitely got her emotions under control after Giarrusso's trip to the mound.
First, she came back from 2-0 down against Hackett and struck her out swinging. And then she retired Victoria Ramos on a routine fly to left to cap the no-hitter and give Tolman (20-0) a leg up in the finals.
"I don't worry about (no-hitters)," said Kirylo. "But at first I was shaky and I was scaring myself. After a while, I got myself through it.
"I know if somebody hits it my team will back me up. I just concentrate and I throw it."
Kirylo indicated that winning Game 1 could (should?) make it easier for her to "concentrate" in Game 2 on Sunday.
"I feel like a big weight has been lifted off my shoulders," she said. "Now I can get some rest (today) and I'll come back (Sunday) as fresh as ever."
The possibility existed after 3 ½ innings that Tolman would come back Sunday trailing by a game - one reason being Scituate left-hander Shannon Audet allowed only two hits through the first three innings and continually worked ahead in the count.
But the Spartans imploded in the fourth as Tolman scored five unearned runs on three hits, two walks and three errors.
Kirylo delivered the first hit, an RBI single that pulled Tolman within 2-1 - and which came after Scituate's left-fielder dropped a fly ball in foul territory for an out.
Brenda Parker then applied the capper by cracking an RBI double to center field for a 5-2 lead.
"This team all year long has found a way to battle back when it's been down," said Giarrusso. "Tonight was another example of that. I said to the kids coming into the (fourth) that we're swinging the bats well, we're making good contact and continue to make contact and maybe something will open up for us.
"Brenda's double really opened it up and it seemed like everybody relaxed on the bench. The weight was taken off our shoulders."
Scituate put that weight on the Tigers' shoulders by scoring an unearned run (Ramos walked an eventually scored on a wild pitch) in the third and an earned run on two walks, a wild pitch and Heather Audet's fielder's choice in the fourth.
"I had a lot of concern about Scituate," said Giarrusso. "Scituate is a very, very good team. They return everybody back from last year and they're very athletic.
"We beat them twice during the regular season and I was concerned about beating them three times. I'm a little apprehensive going into Sunday's game because they're a tough team to beat."
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Scituate  001    100    0--2-0-5
Tolman 000    500    x--5-6-1
Shannon Audet and Ashley Cinquergrana; Macayla Kirylo and Brenda Parker.