That was the quandary that faced Gateway coach Frank Alloway, who admitted to a few sleepless nights mulling over the decision.

Alloway decided to hold his No. 1 in yesterday's soggy South Jersey Group 1 semifinal with Glassboro, and sophomore righthander Chris Patterson made the move pay off.

Patterson pitched six innings and earned the win in a 6-4 victory over Glassboro.

Second-seeded Gateway (16-4) will face the winner of today's Pitman-Pennsville semifinal in Friday's sectional championship.

And the Gators will have ace righthander Dom DePasquale rested and ready.

DePasquale (7-1) had pitched seven innings in Friday's 9-1 win over Gloucester. He was eligible to pitch as many as 10 innings yesterday but was only needed for one when he earned the save with a scoreless seventh inning.

So it all worked out for Gateway.

"It was a tough decision, and I didn't know who I was going to pitch until Monday night," Alloway said.

Many coaches have been burned by saving their ace for a game they never got to after losing the semifinal.

Alloway was aware of that, so he went in with a flexible plan.

"I thought if I could get four innings out of Chris, that would be great," Alloway said. "If you would have told me we would get six, I'd be really happy."

He obviously was happy and for good reason. It all worked because Patterson (4-2) showed the poise of a veteran.

While DePasquale comes at batters with a fastball that places the emphasis on fast, Patterson is one who changes speeds, helped out by a tantalizing curveball.

Nobody was more grateful to pitch only one inning than DePasquale.

"This time of year, any innings you can save is a big deal," said DePasquale, who will attend Widener, where he hopes to play both football and baseball. "Chris just gave us a great effort."

Patterson wasn't overwhelmed when he earned the assignment, although, unlike his coach, he went into the game thinking of finishing what he started.

"I would have liked to have gone all seven, but it was an honor to hand Dom the ball," Patterson said. "I was just trying to do as much as I could."

The Gators were sailing along after DePasquale, who played third base before he pitched, hit a two-run home run in the fifth that extended Gateway's lead to 6-1.

Yet Glassboro (13-7) has been fighting all year, and yesterday was no different. The team that started off this season with a record of 2-3, came back to get within 6-4 on a three-run home run by John Ebert with one out in the sixth inning that Gateway argued looked more like a ground-rule double.

Either way, Alloway stayed with Patterson, who got the final two outs before handing the ball over to the ace.

Glassboro had the tying run at the plate in the seventh before DePasquale ended matters with a strikeout.

Now, while other coaches ponder a difficult decision in deciding on a sectional final starter, Alloway's couldn't be easier.

It's not giving any trade secrets away to say that he plans to go with DePasquale in the South Jersey Group 1 final.

There will be no hesitation or second-guessing that decision.

Patterson made sure of that.