Gallagher pitches Upper Dublin to win over Upper Moreland

UPPER DUBLIN >> Erin Gallagher’s day in the pitching circle didn’t get off to a great start.

The Upper Dublin senior couldn’t find the strike zone to begin the first inning, walked a few batters and found herself trailing by a few runs after a miscue at the plate. But Gallagher kept battling, found the zone and did what a senior should over the next six innings.

Behind a gutsy effort from the right-handed, some sterling defense and a few timely hits, Upper Dublin rallied to top visiting Upper Moreland 3-2 Friday afternoon.

“It’s been a while since I’d pitched in a game, so I was a little nervous and it was a little rocky at first,” Gallagher said. “Once they started hitting the ball and we were making plays, I was more confident in what I was doing and it started to all come together.”

Gallagher isn’t a pitcher by trade but she started every game for Upper Dublin (5-7, 5-5 SOL American) in the circle last year. While her workload hasn’t been as demanding this season, Cardinals coach Heather Boyer still likes the senior’s grit but loves Gallagher’s willingness to do whatever is required.

While the righty walked six Golden Bears over the first three innings, she didn’t allow any free passes over the final four innings and limited Upper Moreland (7-4, 5-4) to just four total hits with half that number coming in the seventh inning. The Bears got a lot swings on balls, but the Upper Dublin defense was really good behind Gallagher, making a number of good plays to take away hits.

“Korynn Bischoff in left has had a stellar performance the last three games now,” Boyer said. “Sarah Sharp tracks the ball beautifully in center field and Taylor (Avery) had a tough grab on a ball trailing away from her. Every player in the infield had a big play when we needed it.”

Bischoff made four terrific grabs in left field, all coming against two of Upper Moreland’s best hitters in Chloe Tice and Jocelyn Baumeister while Sharp had a share of nice catches including the game ender. First baseman Brianna Parker had the web gem of the day for the Cardinals though, hustling down a foul pop-up and making a diving catch against the fence in front of the Bears’ bench in the sixth inning.

Upper Moreland plated both its runs in the first inning, scoring on a passed ball and ensuing error at home plate but couldn’t come up with anything else the rest of the day. The Bears had some chances but coach Scott Ludlow said Upper Dublin’s defense deserved credit for preventing anything else from crossing home.

“They played clean today, their outfield took a couple hits from us, the one mistake they made we scored a couple runs,” Ludlow said. “The one mistake we made, it’s the inning where they scored three runs which put us behind. They had some good at-bats against Jenna (Sadowski), three singles up the middle and a couple two-strike hits, that’s just good softball.”

Sadowski threw well for Upper Moreland, striking out seven and not walking any while allowing just four hits. Unfortunately for the Bears, three of those four hits came in a clump in the fourth inning which was all UD needed.

By the time Upper Dublin had scored, Gallagher had settled in. The senior said once she cut down on the walks she got into a groove and relied on her screwball and changeup when she needed to make a big pitch.

“She was, I guess you’d call it ‘effectively wild,’ she was out of the zone a little bit but was able to get herself back in the zone when she had to,” Ludlow said. “She pitched a really nice game against us and kept us relatively off-balance.”

Gallagher also had a hit in the UD fourth inning, which turned out to be the winning run when courtesy runner Lindsay Gilbert scored on Jayme Rubenstein’s go-ahead two-run single. Rubenstein’s hit came with two strikes in the count.

“Jayme had a really good at-bat and gets a two-strike hit right up the middle, that’s the definition of clutch,” Boyer said. “It was a big spot to be in and ended up being an important spot to be in. I was proud to see her do that.”

The Bears didn’t go quietly in the seventh inning. After Gallagher retired the first two batters, Brianna Hughes and Gianna Fiorenza singled to put the tying and go-ahead runs on base. Gallagher masked any nerves well and got a fly ball to Sharp in center field.

“I got a little nervous, but I knew my defense would be there to back me up which helped a lot,” Gallagher said. “I just wanted to show them more confidence and being able to come back from losses or errors and being able to play your best game when your team needs you to.”

Upper Dublin hasn’t had the season it hoped for but Gallagher said a win like Friday’s should be one that gives the team confidence to finish strong. The Cardinals’ biggest game left is a date with SOL American leader Hatboro-Horsham but they still have a handful of chances to put together a strong finish.

Gallagher provided a good example of how to do it on Friday.

 “Erin is the kind of kid that every coach wants on their team,” Boyer said. “She’s willing to do anything and everything. We needed somebody to step up and take the team on their back today and she did that. It’s exactly what you’d expect a senior to do.”

UPPER DUBLIN 3, UPPER MORELAND 2
UPPER MORELAND 200 000 0 – 0 4 2
UPPER DUBLIN 000 300 x – 3 4 2
3B: UD – Sarah Sharp. Multiple hits: UM – Brianna Hughes 2-4.