May 9, 2017 4 min read

BELLE VERNON – The second-ranked Belle Vernon girls softball team downed top-ranked Yough, 5-4, in a 12-inning thriller Tuesday to earn a share of the Section 2-AAAA title.

Belle Vernon ace pitcher Bailey Parshall, a Penn State recruit who set a school record with her 52nd career win, was her normal self in the circle as she limited the potent Yough offense to six hits. She struck out 14 and did not walk a batter, but it was her bat that was instrumental for Belle Vernon.

With Belle Vernon down 4-3 in the bottom of the 10th inning, Parshall singled home Megan Christner to tie the score.

Then in the 12th, with the score tied at 4-4, Parshall hit a two-out double to drive in Lexie Church to win the game.

The victory was the eight in a row for Belle Vernon (11-1, 16-1) and snapped Yough’s 13-game winning streak. It also avenged a 2-0 loss at Yough last month.

Parshall’s enthusiasm after the game was evident with her wide smile.

“We beat Yough, and this is a little bit of revenge from when they beat us earlier this year,” she said. “I was just looking for a pitch to hit (in the 12th) to drive Lexie in.”

Parshall’s game-winner would not have been possible had Church not produced a two-out RBI single to drive in Hannah Legazza prior to Parshall’s hit.

“Lexie’s hit was huge,” Belle Vernon coach Tom Rodriguez said. “And I expect Bailey to deliver as she is our leading hitter.”

The Leopards scored in each of the first two innings. With the way Parshall was retiring Yough batters early, it seemed as if those two runs would be enough.

Megan Christner led off the first with a walk. Three batters later, Kourtney Gavatorta singled her in to give Belle Vernon a 1-0 lead.

In the second, Jordan French made it 2-0 when she hit a solo home run to right centerfield.

Parshall retired the first nine batters she faced, but in the fourth Yough scored a pair of unearned runs.

After Yough’s Hannah Bach singled to lead off the inning, she stole second and third. Bach scored on a throwing error by catcher Hanna Legazza, which was one of five Belle Vernon errors.

Aubrie Mance, who had reached on an error and stole second, advanced to third on Legazza’s error.

Olivia Miller drove Mance in to tie the score.

It remained 2-2 until the 10th inning, when each team took advantage of the international tiebreaker used in softball that places a runner at second base with no outs to start each half-inning after the ninth.

Yough took a 3-2 lead when Hannah Christner scored on another Legazza throwing error.

Hannah Christner had stolen third base, and it was one of 11 stolen bases by Yough.

The Leopards tied the score at 3-3 in the bottom fo the 10th on Parshall’s RBI single that scored Christner.

Neither team scored in the 11th, but Yough took a 4-3 lead in the 12th when Miller drove in Mance with a sacrifice fly. That set up Belle Vernon’s two-run bottom of the 12th.

Joining Parshall with multiple hits for Belle Vernon was Megan Christner and Church, each with a pair of singles.

Miller was Yough’s lone player with multiple hits. She had three of the Cougars’ six hits. Yough pitcher Kierra Waywood struck out 11 despite suffering her first loss (14-1).

Belle Vernon and Yough share the section crown, and many expect them to be the top two seeds – in some order – in Class AAAA when the playoff pairings are announced later this week.

“I hope so,” Rodriguez said when asked if he expects to see Yough again. “I would think that we would be on opposite sides of the bracket.”