Forrest’s walk-off grand slam for Upper Perk stuns Spring-Ford
One strike away from defeat, Ashley Forrest had a perfectly reasonable goal.
“I just felt like I had to put a good swing on the ball, had to stay in this game and make it to the championship,” Forrest said.
Forrest, Upper Perkiomen’s catcher, did execute a good swing. But it didn’t keep the Tribe in its Pioneer Athletic Conference semifinal with Spring-Ford.
It shut it down in one skyward smash, Forrest blasting a walk-off grand slam to complete Upper Perkiomen’s 7-4 comeback victory over Spring-Ford on Monday at Boyertown, sending the Indians back to the PAC championship game for the second straight year.
Forrest’s heroics sent Upper Perkiomen into Wednesday’s final (7 p.m. at Boyertown) where it will face Owen J. Roberts, an 11-0 winner over Boyertown in Monday’s other semifinal.
“I started crying. It was emotional. It was a great walk-off,” said winning pitcher Madalyn Dyer.
The euphoria from Dyer, who allowed 10 hits but only one earned run and struck out five, makes sense considering Upper Perk trailed 4-0 entering the fifth inning.
Forrest’s heroics punctuated a four-run bottom of the seventh, which UP entered trailing 4-3. Darby Gasda (2for-4, RBI) reached on an error and Ryan Berg (2-for-4) and Elizabeth Proctor followed with one-out singles to load the bases. Dyer followed with a hard-hit ball to second base but Morgan Lester (2-for-5) fired home for the force out.
Up stepped Forrest, who reached a 2-2 count with two outs and the game in the balance.
“I do get nervous a lot, but I just knew what I had to do,” she said.
One big swing by Forrest equaled another big swing in the game’s result.
The result didn’t appear to be going in Upper Perk’s direction until late, but Dyer and her team kept the faith.
“It’s hard to have the courage and hope but I think if we just dig deep, believe in each other, hard work pays off,” Dyer said. “Ashley came through with an amazing hit.”
Spring-Ford (16-3) was in the ascendancy for most of the game, in good position to reach the PAC title game a year after being upset in the semifinals by Boyertown. The Rams rebounded to win the program’s first PIAA 6A championship a month later.
“We made plays. But that’s why we play 21 outs,” said Spring-Ford coach Shawn Corropolese. “You play every single out because you never know what the outcome is going to be.
“The momentum started to shift in the second half of the game and they capitalized.”
Spring-Ford built its early lead on a string of first-inning UP errors and a Caitlin Ashley two-run home run. The Rams tacked on a fourth on Riley Gancasz’s grounder that scored Ashley in the fourth inning.
Errors were a huge factor Monday: the teams combined for 10, Upper Perkiomen for seven and Spring-Ford three.
It made life difficult on pitchers Dyer and SpringFord pitcher Jess Fliszar, who allowed nine hits but only two of UP’s seven runs were earned. She struck out six and walked two.
Dyer, Upper Perk’s only senior, had to maintain her focus and poise on a tough day for the defenders behind her.
“It was about staying mentally tough,” she said. “I have to trust my defense. We had some errors, but we have to stick together.”
Dyer and Forrest both agreed that Morgan Robinson’s (2-for-3, RBI) would-be double (ruled an error) to left field ignited the rally. Gasda’s RBI single to score Robinson got the Tribe on the board, then Elizabeth Proctor’s deep fly to right field wasn’t caught, bringing in Gasda to cut the deficit to 4-2.
It was a much different meeting than their April 19 regular-season pitcher’s duel, which Upper Perk won 1-0.
Even though they’d won the first meeting, Spring-Ford has been the top team in the PAC over the past half decade.
“We’ve been working hard all year. We beat Spring-Ford and knew we had the ability to do it (again). We just had to believe, and we did it,” Dyer said.
NOTES >> Spring-Ford got twohit games from Kayla Naylor and Ava Bainbridge. The Rams are currently No. 5 in the District 1-6A rankings and will open district play with a home game in the second round on Wednesday, May 24 . ... Upper Perk is No. 2 in the District 1-4A rankings. After the PAC final, the Tribe will open districts with a home game in the tournament semifinals on May 23.