Valley Forge needed something it hasn’t consistently shown this season.
A response.
They got it Tuesday — and it came when the stakes demanded it most.
In a United East first-round play-in game, Valley Forge built an early lead, watched it disappear late, and then answered with its most important inning of the season — a five-run eighth — to secure a 12–8 win on the road over Penn State Berks.
The tone was set early.
After a run in the first, Valley Forge opened things up in the second. Gabriel Murphy delivered the first big swing — a two-run double — as part of a three-run inning that gave the Patriots control at 4–1.
An inning later, Evelyn Asijah added to it, driving a solo home run to left to stretch the lead and give Valley Forge breathing room.
Through five innings, it looked like a clean, controlled performance in a win-or-go-home setting.
They added on again in the sixth, pushing the lead to 7–2.
And then everything changed.
The home side chipped away in the sixth, cutting into the lead with three runs. In the seventh, it turned completely. A two-run triple flipped the scoreboard, and suddenly Valley Forge was trailing 8–7 in a game it had controlled most of the afternoon.
That’s where seasons can end.
Instead, Valley Forge responded.
The eighth inning wasn’t just a rally — it was survival.
Murphy delivered again, lining a two-run single up the middle to put Valley Forge back in front. From there, the lineup kept moving — a run-scoring groundout, a triple down the line, a sacrifice fly.
Five runs. Just like that.
A one-run deficit turned into a four-run lead, and the dugout flipped with it.
Murphy finished at the center of everything — two hits, four RBIs, two runs scored — delivering in the biggest moment of the game.
From there, it was about closing it out.
CJ Fernandez handled that part.
The right-hander locked down the final two innings, allowing just one hit and preventing any chance of another late swing.
It wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t clean all the way through.
But in a play-in game, it doesn’t have to be.
Valley Forge didn’t just build a lead.
They lost it — and took it back when their season depended on it.
Now, they move on.
Valley Forge advances to face second-seeded Penn State Harrisburg in a best-of-three series on the road this weekend. A doubleheader is scheduled for Friday, with a deciding Game 3, if necessary, on Saturday.
And after Tuesday, they’ll carry something with them.
Proof they can answer when it matters.
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