Plymouth senior pitcher Meghan Patterson had rival Canton and Salem's number during Saturday's Division 1 District softball tournament at Salem.

And that number was zero.

Backed by an air-tight and nearly error-free defensive effort from her teammates, the strong-armed right-hander tossed a pair of shutouts to lead the Wildcats to their first District title since 2005.

Plymouth ousted Canton, 5-0, in a semifinal contest before out-dueling Rock freshman hurler Brianna Lee, 1-0, in the championship game.

Salem advanced to the title game by edging Livonia Stevenson, 2-0.

The Wildcats will take a 20-14 record into Saturday's 10 a.m. Regional semifinal showdown against Western Lakes Activities Association Western Division rival Northville at Birmingham Seaholm High School.

A victory would move coach Val Canfield's squad into the 2:30 p.m. final against the winner of Seaholm and White Lake Lakeland.

"We hadn't played since Tuesday, so I was rested and it felt like I was throwing pretty hard," said Patterson. "I threw a lot of curves and I had a lot of faith in my defense. They were picking up everything hit to them and they made plays all day long."

Patterson said the victory over the Chiefs was especially gratifying considering she had lost twice to them earlier in the year.

"We waited for a good time to beat them - when it mattered the most," she said.

Patterson yielded just three hits and a pair of walks. Both of her strikeouts came at a key juncture - in the second inning when the Rocks put runners on first and second via singles from Emily Pitcole and Kelli Janiczek.

Plymouth junior second baseman Beth Heldmeyer accounted for seven of the Rocks' 21 outs. Her most spectacular effort came with two outs in the fourth when she speared a sharply hit liner off the bat of Lee.

Plymouth senior pitcher Meghan

Patterson threw a pair of

shutouts during Saturday's

Division 1 District softball

tournament at Salem.

(ANDY RUBENSTEIN)