May 31, 2006 By Stephen Flinn For The 5 min read

McKEES ROCKS-Belle Vernon slugged its way to a 10-5 consolation round win over West Allegheny Tuesday at Lind Field at Fairhaven Park to take third place in the WPIAL Class AAA playoffs and advance to the PIAA state playoffs for the first time in school history. The Leopards had 14 hits off strong Indian pitcher, Lexie Volakis, much to the delight of Belle Vernon coach Tom Rodriguez.

“The last three years we only had three total hits combined in the playoffs, so I really focused my time on hitting instruction and it showed as we had seven players hit over .300 this season. It really paid off today as we made history,” Rodriguez said. “For us to get so many hits off a pitcher I saw before and felt was really strong, I can’t say enough about our performance at the plate.”

Alana Lacey led the charge with a 4-for-4 performance, which included two doubles, two bunt singles, and one RBI. She also scored three times.

“I’ve been practicing my hitting and just focused on making solid contact with the ball on every pitch,” Lacey said. “I knew I had to step up today for us to do well as a team and now it feels great to be playing in the next round.”

The Leopards jumped out of the gate and took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Leadoff hitter Kayla Nuccetelli singled, Lacey bunted for a single, and Ashley Dawson drew a walk. Pitcher Ashley Merella helped her own cause with a single that scored Nuccelelli and Lacey. Dawson then scored on two throwing errors.

“I was real surprised after hitting that single and scoring the runs that I almost couldn’t believe it,” said Merella. She went 2-3 from the plate with two singles, two RBI’s, one walk and scored once.

On the mound, Merella gave up 12 hits, but they were spread out over six innings.

One of the five runs she gave up was unearned. She recorded her first strikeout in the fourth inning, but finished strong with six strikeouts in the last three innings.

“We really brought the bats today, but I knew that wouldn’t be enough, and that I also had to do my part by pitching a strong game if we wanted to win and advance to the state’s,” Merella said. “They were a good-hitting team and I definitely had some obstacles to face at the plate, so I just kept pitching as strong as I could.”

West Allegheny closed the gap to 3-2 in the next inning.

Tiffany Medwid hit a leadoff home run that sailed more than 200 feet over the left-center field wall, and Angela Velentino scored on an error after drawing a walk and stealing second and third base.

“When she (Medwid) hit that home run I couldn’t believe what just happened to me, but by the time the next batter came up, I shook it off and focused on getting back to work.”

The Indians tied the game 3-3 in the top of the third inning but the Leopards re-took the lead in the bottom of the third after Lacey doubled and scored on an error and they never looked back.

The Leopards added two runs in the bottom of the fourth as Lacey knocked in Heather Sellew, who reached on a single, and Dawson knocked in Briana McClintock, who reached on a walk.

West Allegheny added a run in the top of the fifth but Belle Vernon kept the Indians at bay by adding a run of their own in the bottom of the fifth as Megan Chadwell doubled and scored on an error after Sellew hit a ball back to the pitcher.

The Indians scored a run in the top of the sixth and had the potential to score more, but Merella rose to the occasion. Medwid, who hit the home run in the second inning, was at the plate with a full count, two outs, and two Indians on base but was frozen on a perfectly-placed Merella outside fastball and struck out.

“I thought that was a huge strikeout because it stopped them from getting back into the game,” Rodriguez said. “If they have a big inning there, who knows how the game could have ended up.”

The Leopards blew the game open in the bottom of the sixth with a three-run rally as Lacey led off with a double and scored on a Sara Jolly bunt single. Emily Scapes singled home Jolley and Heather Sellew bunted home Merella, who also singled.

“Going into this season, I thought this might have been a tough year, but we stuck together as a team and kept working hard,” Rodriguez said. “We’re really looking forward to moving on to the next round.”

Belle Vernon will now travel somewhere near Erie on Monday to face Corry, the Division 10 champion.