Quianna Diaz-Patterson flashes her talent in Hurricanes softball win
CHICOPEE - In virtually every game she's played for the Amherst Regional softball team in the last three years, senior standout Quianna Diaz-Patterson has made at least one "Wow!" play.
"Her hands are so quick," Hurricanes coach Kacey Schmitt said. "I've been watching a lot of the Women's College World Series. They talk about it a lot, 'this girl's quick hands,' and I watch it thinking that Quianna can do that. There aren't many high school coaches that can say that when they are watching Florida and Alabama, both offensively and defensively.
"She's got the raw talent that is so rare and she's got the smarts. She's played a lot of softball and she's worked very hard to get as good as she is and she's used the talent that she was given."
The Hurricanes' shortstop needed just one at-bat to show off her rare athletic abilities in the team's 4-0 win over West Springfield in Western Massachusetts Division 1 semifinals Tuesday at Elms College.
Slapping the ball from the left side of the plate, the leadoff hitter smashed a line drive to the fence in right field. Diaz-Patterson tripped over first base, putting her hands down to keep from falling, got back to her feet and tore around second and third with coach Kacey Schmitt waving her home.
After tripping, "I definitely thought I could get to (third), but she was waving me through and I just tried my hardest to get home as fast as I could," Diaz-Patterson said. "I don't normally do a lot of (headfirst slides), but she was pretty far out and I saw the ball and knew I had to get there as fast as I could."
The relay throw was good, but Diaz-Patterson was too fast, diving in headfirst and getting her hand on the plate just before West Springfield catcher Mindy Acevedo got the tag down.
"I was a little greedy sending her there with no outs, but that's the kind of confidence I have in her speed," Schmitt said. "It had to be a perfect throw, and it actually was, but she made the perfect slide."
With the win, Amherst reached the western Massachusetts final for the fourth time in five years. The Hurricanes have won the title three of those times, including last year.
"It means a lot to the seniors and to the entire team," senior pitcher Emma Mendoker said. "It really shows we've been working hard all season. I'm just so proud of my team that we are at this point again and hopefully we'll go even farther."
No. 1 Amherst (21-1) will play No. 2 Agawam (18-4) for the championship at the UMass Softball Complex on Saturday at 5 p.m. No. 4 West Side (14-8) was denied its third straight trip to the title game.
On Tuesday, a late arrival due to bus issues left the Hurricanes short on warm-up time and feeling some anxiety.
"We were kind of bugged when we got here. We saw that West Springfield was already warming up and almost done warming up, even," Mendoker said. "I was kind of nervous about it. Usually we get tight when we are rushed. Pitching-wise, I hate being rushed, but I figured it out."
The Terriers nearly took advantage in the top of the first when Vicky Hill's leadoff bunt was misplayed for a two-base error. Hill took third on a sacrifice bunt, but Mendoker (16 strikeouts, four hits, no walks) struck out Amanda Butler and Emily Taylor to end the threat.
"When they started bunting, I knew I had to make the spins even harder now and make the pitches spin more, so they miss it," said Mendoker, who has 971 career strikeouts. "I think that challenge, when they bunted, was good for me and my pitching."
Diaz-Patterson's homer settled down the Hurricanes, who added two more runs in the second.
The home run "felt good because starting out was a little iffy and it felt like a lot of the tension went away and we felt better about the game," said Diaz-Patterson, who will play at UMass next season.
Emma Ayres drew a leadoff walk and stole second. She took third on Helene Flittie's sacrifice bunt and scored when No. 9 hitter Athena Donta singled up the middle with two outs.
Donta's hit "was so nice to see because she's been working so hard," Schmitt said.
Diaz-Patterson followed with another blast to deep right. Donta scored on the play, but Diaz-Patterson was thrown out at the plate to end the inning.
"Truth be told, I turned around to see what happened with Athena and by the time I turned back around - because I forget how fast Q is - she had already rounded third and there was no bringing her back," Schmitt said. "I hadn't held her up, so she kept on going, which is what she's supposed to do."
Mendoker, meanwhile, allowed one-out bloop singles in each of the second and third innings, but stranded the runner each time. She found her groove in the fourth and fifth, where she struck out six straight batters.
West Side threatened in the sixth when Hill dropped down a bunt single and Taylor reached on a dropped third strike with two outs, but Alyssa Torres grounded to Flittie on a very close play at first.
Amherst's Simone Frank added a double in the sixth and later scored on a wild pitch for the fourth and final run of the game.
Jim Pignatiello can reached at jpignatiello@gazettenet.com.
