May 20, 2008 By Mike Ciarochi 3 min read

CALIFORNIA – Belle Vernon’s 4-2 win over Indiana in a WPIAL Class AAA quarterfinal softball playoff game came down to one pitch. Lady Leps shortstop Apryl Patterson took it for a ride that didn’t end until the ball landed just beyond the left field fence at California University of Pa.’s Lilly Field for a grand slam home run.

In a game that featured only seven hits, Patterson’s shot was, without a doubt, the biggest.

“We needed a little lift,” Belle Vernon coach Tom Rodriguez said. “Apryl’s a good hitter though. She was our leadoff batter for part of the season, but we needed her to drive in more runs, so we moved her down to third.”

Rodriguez moved Patterson down to third in the lineup and it was from that spot that she launched her first homer of the season and first as a varsity player.

“I just wanted to put the ball in play,” Patterson said. “Both pitchers were pitching no-hitters for a while there, so I just wanted to get a run in for us. I know I hit it real hard and I thought it was going to hit off the fence, but it went out.”

And it carried the Lady Leps to the WPIAL semifinals, where they will play Montour, a 1-0 winner over Waynesburg Central. That game will be played Wednesday or Thursday at a site and time to be determined.

Adonah Perry reached on a one-out error in Belle Vernon’s fifth inning and got to second when Katie Gauden’s fielder’s choice ground ball was misplayed. Alana Lacey singled to center to load the bases for Patterson.

Belle Vernon’s Ashley Nichols hadn’t given up a hit through five innings and had struck out the side in the fifth, but Indiana got a couple of runs back on two hits and two BVA errors in the sixth to make it a game again. Danielle Corle’s RBI single was followed by Aubree Frye’s sacrifice fly for the other Indiana run. Nichols stranded two Indiana runners with her seventh and last strikeout of the game.

“Ashley is doing better,” Rodriguez said about Nichols, who had a chipped bone in the thumb of her pitching hand late in the regular season. “Her thumb is still a problem, but every game she’s getting more of her control back.”

Nichols missed only one game with the injury and has improved her record for the season to 13-6 by winning back-to-back playoff games. Belle Vernon is 13-7, while Indiana finished its season at 13-10.

“It was a good ball game that came down to a few key plays,” Indiana coach Harold Wilson said. “We were in some situations where a key hit could have made a difference, but we didn’t.”