Upper Merion rallies to beat Norristown in extra innings

EAST NORRITON >> Upper Merion needed to boost its District 1-5A playoff chances Tuesday evening and did just that. 

The Vikings rallied from a two-run deficit to tie Norristown in the top of the fifth inning before winning, 9-7, in eight innings at Stanbridge Street Park. 

Upper Merion entered the game No. 13 in the rankings. The top 12 teams qualify for playoffs.

“(The win) gets us closer to districts,” Upper Merion pitcher Ava DiDonato said. “It’s a really big win for us. I’m really excited for (Wednesday against Upper Perk).”

Vanessa Hutchinson led off the top of the fifth inning for the Vikings (7-8) with a triple and scored on JoEllen Johnson’s double. DiDonato grounded out to score Johnson to tie the game, 5-5.

After scoreless sixth and seventh innings, Upper Merion took advantage of a couple Norristown (4-12) errors in the top of the eighth. Reese Doan lead off with a walk, advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored the go-ahead run when Emma Ricci grounded into an error. After a pitching change, Rebecca Shuler and Johnson reached with walks before Maren DeStefano hit a fly ball that went off an outfielder’s glove. All three runners scored to make it a 9-5 game.

“Most girls don’t pull (Norristown pitcher) Ryan (Morse),” Norristown coach Jacob Echevarria said. “(DeStefano) actually pulled her and it surprised us and it drops in, hits off the tip of her glove, and the girls were running on it. It clears the bases.”

Camryn Holmes and Isabella Pastella hit RBI singles in the bottom of the eighth to make it 9-7, but DiDonato tallied a strikeout to end the game.

“They fought til the end,” Echevarria said. “They came up (in the bottom of the eighth) and battled til the end. That’s all you can ask from them.”

DiDonato took the circle in the bottom of the fourth inning with a 5-3 deficit. She threw four scoreless innings before allowing two runs in the eighth. She struck out seven batters to no walks and allowed four hits. 

“I felt like my pitches were all working,” DiDonato, who relied on her curveball and outside fastball, said, “and if I stayed calm on the mound then my pitches would be calm and then I’d throw strikes. I needed to have confidence.”

“Ava’s been our No. 1 all year long,” Upper Merion coach Jim Godby said. “She’s had a tremendous year. She pitched five innings (Monday) night late in the cold. We didn’t want to use her. Colette Egan was our JV pitcher, we brought her up to start the game and she did a good job, got as many innings as we can out of her and then bring Ava in. Hopefully she’ll have enough gas for (Wednesday) night.”

Norristown did most of its damage in the bottom of the third inning. Morse and Katie Morcarsky each hit two-run inside-the-park home runs to turn a 3-1 deficit into a 5-3 lead. 

“That was awesome,” Echevarria said. “We had one (home run) all season. To have two in one inning, it’s special. It was a special night for the seniors, just making sure they had a great time playing.”

Morse gave the Eagles a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first with an RBI double to score Alana Echevarria. 

Upper Merion came back with three runs in the top of the second. Cady Legerton hit a two-run triple before scoring on a wild pitch.

Egan started for the Vikings and allowed five runs on five hits in three innings. She struck out three batters to two walks.

Gianna Pino-Ramsaur took the loss for Norristown, allowing seven runs in seven innings. She struck out one batter to five walks and allowed five hits. Morse came on in relief and allowed two runs on zero hits with two strikeouts and two walks.

Upper Merion 9, Norristown 7
Upper Merion 030 020 04 – 9
Norristown 104 000 02 – 7
WP: Ava DiDonato 5 IP 7 K 0 BB 4 H 2 R
LP: Gianna Pino-Ramsaur 7 IP 1 K 5 BB 5 H 7 R
2B: UM: JoEllen Johnson. N: Alana Echevarria, Ryan Morse.
3B: UM: Cady Legerton, Vanessa Hutchinson.
HR: N: Ryan Morse, Katie Morcasky.