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By Scott Huff
WEST NORRITON – The first time is always special.
Norristown senior Stephen Parker had never hit a homerun before. As in never – not Little League – never.Stephen Parker waited until the bottom of the seventh inning to launch the first homerun of his career – a solo shot with one out – to provide the Eagles to a thrilling 9-8 SOL American Conference victory over visiting Upper Dublin.
“I knew it felt good coming off the bat, but I had never hit a homerun before and really didn’t know it was out,” said Parker. “I watched the outfielder turn and run, and I was sprinting past first base before the ball was over the fence.
“I was so upset with what happened in the top of the inning that I didn’t even realize that I was up in the bottom of the inning,” added Parker. “I’m glad I got to hit.”
What happened in the top of the seventh inning was the culmination of an Upper Dublin comeback that saw the Cardinals erase an 8-1 Norristown lead.
Rob Swartz opened the inning with a walk – issued by Parker – and moved the second on a single by Jake Kohler. Two outs later, Casey Hammond walked to load the bases – and the tying blow of the game came off the bat of Jack Eichenlaub who delivered a game-tying two-run double.
“Jack had a heck of a day,” said Upper Dublin coach Ed Wall. “I was proud of the way that he stepped up hitting out of the number nine hole.”Eichenlaub was a perfect 2-for-2 that included a homerun to plate the first Cardinal run in the third inning.
“The last time I hit a homerun was in middle school and I had to run around the bases for that one because there was no fence,” said Eichenlaub. “It was nice to hit one over the fence and take my time getting around the bases.”
The seventh inning heroics by Parker didn’t appear to be in the mix after the Eagles soared to the early lead.
Norristown scored seven runs in the second inning to take the huge lead. Big hits in the inning included an RBI single by Ian Hammer, a two-run double by Matt Martello, and a two-run double by Parker.
“It just goes to show you that you can never have enough runs,” said Norristown coach Sean Cornog – who coached the game due to the one-game suspension of head coach Jim Teeter. “They came back, and it was nice to see that our kids came back as well.”
Norristown added what appeared to be an insignificant run in the bottom of the fifth inning to take an 8-1 lead. Dave Lovecchio opened the inning with a double, moved to third on a single by Parker, and scored on an infield single by Luke Stem.
And then Upper Dublin roared back with four runs in the top of the sixth inning to slice the lead to 8-5.Packard Lavin drove home a run with an infield out, Hammond singled home a run, and Tyler Gregg drove home a pair of runs with a single.
“We won a good game yesterday against Wissahickon,” said Wall in reference to a 3-2 victory. “We came into this game feeling a little too good about ourselves.
“We went through the motions the first few innings,” added Wall. “And Norristown sure woke us up.”
Upper Dublin completed the comeback with the three run rally off Parker in the top of seventh inning – and Parker got his chance for redemption with his bat in the bottom of the seventh inning.
“You couldn’t write a script any better than that,” said Cornog. “It was a great way to end the game.”
The first time is always special – sometimes it can be extra special.
Upper Dublin 0 0 1 0 0 4 3 - 8
Norristown 0 7 0 0 1 0 1 - 9
Upper Dublin: Tyler Gregg 3 0 1 2; Corey Meyer 3 0 1 0; Derek Gianetti 3 0 0 0; Zach Messenger 1 0 0 0; Robbie Swartz 3 2 1 0; Jake Kohler 1 2 1 0; Tim Troyer 3 1 1 0; Packard Lavin 3 0 0 2; Casey Hammond 3 2 2 1; Jack Eichenlaub 2 1 2 3. Totals 25 8 8 8.
Norristown: Ian Hammer 4 1 1 1; Matt Martello 4 1 1 2; Dave Lovecchio 4 1 1 0; Steve Parker 4 1 3 3; Matt Ortiz 2 1 0 0; Luke Stem 3 1 2 1; Roddy Vaughn 2 1 1 1; Ryan Moore 1 0 0 0; Brandon Bell 2 1 0 0; CJ Douglass 2 1 0 1. Totals 28 9 9 9.
2B- {UD} – Eichenlaub. {N} – Lovecchio, Martello, Parker. HR – {UD} Eichenlaub. {N} – Parker.
Inn R ER BB K
Upper Dublin:
Gianetti 1.2 7 7 2 3
Hammond (L) 4.2 2 2 0 5
Norristown:
Vaughn 4.0 1 1 4 3
Moore 1.1 4 4 4 0
Campion 0.2 0 0 0 0
Parker (W) 1.0 3 3 0 2
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