By Eric Lusk
Sports Editor
elusk@elkintribune.com

EAST BEND — Starmount’s Jana Matthews had some strong words of encouragement for Ashlee Handy right before the pair came to bat in the eighth inning against Forbush on Thursday night.

“She was like, ‘You are going to hit this ball. I know you are going to hit it,’” Handy recalled.

The sophomore clean-up hitter heeded her senior captain’s admonishments, lacing a liner deep into the left-centerfield gap.

Matthews, who had been plunked by a pitch right before Handy’s plate appearance, raced home from first base, scoring what would be the winning run in the 3-2 Mountain Valley 2A Conference tournament championship victory.

Handy had been 0-for-3 against Forbush pitcher Jessica Dzeskewicz until that point, striking out twice. She also had misfired on a couple of chances to drive Matthews home the night before against Wilkes Central in a 3-1 semifinal triumph.

But everything fell into place with first place on the line in extra innings Thursday.

“It was just an inside pitch,” Handy said. “I love them. I was like, ‘This is my pitch.‘ After I hit it, I was like, ‘Yes, we are going to win.’”

Sure enough, the Rams held on during Forbush’s at-bats in the bottom of the eighth, breaking the season series deadlock between the fierce rivals, dethroning the long-time MVAC tournament champions and grabbing a No. 1 seed for the state playoffs in the process.

“This was our night to prove that the tides have now turned in Yadkin County, that we are now the team to beat,” Rams coach Heather Courts said after all of the trophy and awards celebrations. “I’ve been telling them that all year. They just had to come out and prove it tonight.

“The first time we came out against Forbush (a 3-2 loss in 10 innings on April 17), we didn’t come out and give our best. We made a couple of errors and gave them a couple of runs.

“But tonight, we finally proved it. I told them we got a little bit of respect last Thursday (beating Forbush at home 7-3). Then I think they earned a whole lot after this.”

For the third game in a row against the Falcons, Starmount erupted late to overcome a two-run deficit.

Forbush seemed in good shape Thursday, taking a 2-0 lead into the sixth inning.

Starmount’s Carla Cave led off the frame with a single, but Chelsea Varner popped out trying to move Cave into scoring position.

That brought Matthews — one of the Rams’ all-time home run leaders — to the plate. On a 2-0 count, Matthews added another long ball to her resume, parking one over the fence in dead center.

It was her first long ball at Forbush in a stellar four-year career, though Falcons coach Burl Love didn’t want her swinging at anything on that at-bat.

“I’m telling my catcher to set up a foot and a half outside and just throw fastballs out there too far away for her to touch,” Love said. “It just didn’t go there. They got it too far in, and Jana hit it out of the park right up the middle. Good job. That’s just a good piece of hitting right there. That’s all you can say.”

It seemed the most logical strategy to give Matthews a free pass to first when she came back up in the top of the eighth inning.

Dzeskewicz had just fanned both Cave and Varner with magical off-speed throws. There was no one else on base and the game was still tied 2-2. Wasting no time, the Falcons hit Matthews with the first pitch of the at-bat.

That set the stage for Handy’s heroics.

“I was pumped up because last night (Wednesday), Wilkes Central was doing the same thing,” Courts said. “They’d put Jana on, and I kept telling Ashlee — and I told her again tonight — make them pay for it. Because she is as good a hitter as Jana, and finally she got her chance tonight.”

Love said the pitch that Handy drove almost to the fence also wasn’t quite where it should have been.

“We missed on a couple of pitches there, and in a tight game like that with good hitters, it will cost you the game,” he said. “That’s what happened.”

Forbush had seven hits on its side of the ledger, but couldn’t string together a big rally to put the game away.

Dzeskewicz, Paige Hauser and Maggie Shore all got aboard with singles in the bottom of the second inning. Then Starmount pitcher Courtney Groce walked Taylor Smith with two outs to make the game 1-0.

The next batter, Ciera Cockerham, hit a hard liner along the third base line, but Nichole Hutchens gobbled it up and made the putout to end the inning.

Jessica Hinkle smoked a liner up the third base line in the third inning for the Falcons, then Leslie Long followed with a single to left. But Groce, Hutchens and the Rams worked out of that jam without giving up a score.

Hutchens tagged out a runner between third and home for the final out.

Forbush had a base-runner in the fourth when Smith got aboard. But the senior was tagged out by Varner trying to steal second.

Haley Pardue drove in a run in the fifth inning for the Falcons, hitting a two-out RBI single that bounced off Hutchens’ glove and then squirted past Varner at short. But the next batter flied out to end the frame, leaving things within reach for the Rams.

Then Starmount’s bats, which had been pretty quiet until that point except for Hutchens (3-for-4), came alive.

“They stayed up,” Courts said of her team. “Getting down 2-0 in a championship ball game, that’s tough. To come back the way we did, that took the life out of them, that’s for sure.”

Groce, a freshman, got her second career win against the perennial powerhouse Falcons. She’s now 16-1 on the season (with the lone loss coming against Forbush). Groce struck out five with three walks.

Dzeskewicz struck out eight for the Falcons — many with well-timed change-ups. She allowed six hits, with one walk and one hit batter.

“Everybody did their job tonight,” Matthews said after the game, admitting that at first she thought her home run ball was a harmless pop-up. “We all did everything we could for this game.”

Matthews collected a bevy of awards after the game, being named all-conference, tournament MVP and conference Player of the Year.

Handy, Cave, Hutchens and Groce joined their lone senior teammate on the all-tournament team. Smith, Cockerham and Long made the all-tournament list from Forbush.

Starmount’s all-conference contingent include Matthews, Groce, Handy, Hutchens and Varner, with Brittany White and Jessica White as honorable mention.

Forbush had five all-conference selections (Cockerham, Dzeskewicz, Hinkle, Long and Smith) as well as one honorable mention pick (Haley Pardue).

Courts, whose Rams will take a 22-2 record into next week’s state playoffs, was voted coach of the year. She has been with the program for a decade, compiling her best season record this spring by far.

“I’m just proud of them for stepping up and showing everybody just how good they are,” she said.

Look for state playoff brackets to appear on the N.C. High School Athletic Association’s Web site (www.nchsaa.org) over the weekend. Both Starmount and Forbush will play at home Tuesday. The Rams will have the chance to stay at home for several rounds if they can keep their winning streak — currently at 10 games — alive.

• • •

The Rams and Falcons advanced to the championship of the MVAC tournament with semifinal victories Wednesday.

Top-seeded Forbush drilled North Surry 7-0, while No. 2 Starmount beat Wilkes Central 3-1.

The Falcons cruised using a 10-hit attack. Jessica Hinkle (2-for-3 with two runs) and Leslie Long (2-for-4, three RBIs, one run) led the way. Jessica Dzeskewicz earned the pitching win.

Starmount won its 21st game of the season by scrapping past Wilkes Central. The Eagles scored first in the top of the second inning after an error on the Rams.

Starmount tied the game 1-1 in the fourth on an RBI single from Nichole Hutchens that scored Chelsea Varner. Carla Cave had an RBI hit to score a run in the bottom of the fifth then later came home on a passed ball for the final margin.

Courtney Groce picked up the win, improving to 15-1 on the season. Her one loss was to Forbush in April, by one run in a 10-inning contest.

Starmount 3, Forbush 2

MVAC Tournament Championship

Thursday • at East Bend

Starmount 000 002 01 — 3 6 2

Forbush 010 010 00 — 2 7 0

WP: Courtney Groce (16-1). LP: Jessica Dzeskewicz

HR: Jana Matthews (S). 2B: Ashlee Handy (S).