The perks of winning: Lady Leopards honored with parade
Submitted photo
Members of the Belle Vernon WPIAL Class AAAA softball championship team display their gold medals on Sunday in Belle Vernon. The community held a parade and festivities honoring the team, which won its fourth WPIAL title overall and third in the last four years.
Edward K.Thompson
Belle Vernon softball players Sammie Buza (left) and Alex Sokol ride in a fire truck during a parade to honor the Lady Leopards for winning the 2018 WPIAL Class AAAA softball championship.
Belle Vernon’s softball team should be used to parades by now.
The Lady Leopards were involved in their third one in four years and second in a row on Sunday thanks to winning a trio of WPIAL championships.
Coach Tom Rodriguez’ squad still had enough new blood in it that it was the first time for such a celebration for over half of the roster.
“I had 22 kids and there are 13 girls on the team this year that this is their first time (winning a WPIAL title),” Rodriguez said. “So I’m sure those that were there were excited.”
Not all the players could attend, although pitching ace Bailey Parshall, who is now attending Penn State and will play for the Lady Lions this upcoming season, was there. Parshall holds just about every pitching record in the books for the Lady Leopards and was also their best hitter.
“There were 14 players there,” Rodriguez said. “Four were away on vacation and some were in tournaments. Still, it was good to see most of the team together one more time.”
Rodriguez credited R.J. Sokol, whose daughters Alex and Mekenzie were key members of the team, for making most of the arrangements. Alex has graduated while Mekenzie will be a senior this fall.
“R.J. asked me right after we won, ‘Hey, when are we going to have a parade?’ And he organized everything so much thanks to him.”
The team met at the high school, then took a victory lap of sorts.
“This time we rode through all the communities in a bunch of fire trucks,” Rodriguez said. “We left the high school and we went through Rostraver area then we went through Washington Township, then Fayette City, then Belle Vernon and North Belle Vernon.
“When we got back to North Belle Vernon we walked the last couple blocks. Then we met down the (Community Bank) Park and they had food and drinks for the girls there.”
Belle Vernon has won four WPIAL titles overall, all under Rodriguez, and two of them in dramatic fashion.
The Lady Leopards defeated Elizabeth Forward in the 2007 final, 3-1. They claimed their second crown in 2015 with a 5-4 win over Yough with a four-run rally in the bottom of the seventh.
Belle Vernon has gone a combined 42-6 over the past two seasons in winning back-to-back district championships for the first time.
The Lady Leopards were 20-2 in 2017 and defeated Yough again, 4-1, in the final.
This past season BV went 22-4 and used a three-run rally in the top of the seventh to again defeat EF, 5-4, in the WPIAL final.
That led to yet another celebration on Sunday.
Rodriguez was happy to see his players enjoying the moment.
“The girls really appreciated it,” he said. “It’s been a nice run.”