Never give up and never give in is the number one mantra that has guided the Forrest Lady Rockets under head coach Becky Cheatham and assistants Dick Cheatham and Ricky Stinnett in building the perennial Class A softball powerhouse in Chapel Hill.

On Thursday night, it was never more evident as Forrest rose from ashes to defeat Cascade 14-13 in the last District 9-A regular season matchup at the Field of Dreams in Chapel Hill between the longtime foes.

In the TSSAA 2013-2016 realignment plan, Cascade will move up a classification to District 12-AA next season.

"There are no words for this," said Becky Cheatham. "The one thing we have always been able to say is we are not going to give up and not going to give in. That has been the history of our team and when the going gets tough, the tough get going. I felt like if we kept hanging in, hanging in, I had the confidence we would get it done."

Early on, it was all Cascade, who did everything right in building a commanding 7-0 lead after two innings.

The Lady Champions signaled they had come to play early on, putting up four runs in the first inning, thanks to a two-run double by Heather "Dirty Girty" Hart, followed by a line drive two-run homerun by Summer Carter.

In the top of the second, Forrest looked like the Keystone Cops, committing five infield errors as Cascade scored three unearned runs to go up 7-0.

Carter had little trouble in the circle in the third inning and in the bottom of the frame, Cascade threatened to make the contest into a potential run-rule loss for Forrest.

With the bases loaded and no outs, Katie Warrick came to circle in relief of starter Sara Jordan, and for the first time in the game, the Lady Rockets said enough is enough as Warrick retired the next three Cascade batters in order to squelch the threat.

"Katie gave us a chance for the comeback," said Cheatham. "She did an outstanding job in relief tonight."

Warrick spoke with her bat too, drilling a one-out, three-run moonshot over the centerfield fence in the bottom of the third.

Forrest added another run on Cascade's second error of the inning to make it 7-4, but the Lady Rockets gave one right back on a two-out infield miscue in the top of the fourth.

Carter escaped a two-on, one-out jam in the bottom of the fourth and for the second time in the game, Cascade pulled away.

A Courtnie Carter two-run double, a Summer Carter RBI, and three Forrest errors put Cascade in front 13-4 and they had the potential run-rule base runner on third with no outs.

"Me and Ricky talked about that and we couldn't ever remember having a nine-run deficit many times, let alone being run-ruled here," said Cheatham. "We were trying to do everything we could, not to let that happen."

Warrick did not let it happen, rearing back to strike out the next batter for the first out.

Sara Jordan came up with a sparkling defensive play with a flip to home plate for a force out, before the inning ended on a comebacker to the circle.

Jordan came up huge in the bottom of the inning, drilling a two-strike pitch off the fence that scored two runs, making it a 13-6 contest.

In the top of the sixth, Cascade went down 1-2-3 for the first time in the game, setting up the epic comeback.

Kaitlin Toombs knocked a single to right field to start the seven-run rally that sent 11 Forrest batters to the plate, and it was Toombs who capped it off, drilling a game tying, two-out, two-run double over the left fielder's head.

"Wow! That was outstanding, she (Toombs) called timeout to talk to me and she needed a minute to think and I gave her a few words of wisdom I won't repeat," said Cheatham. "It's amazing, I am just so happy for her, she has struggled, we have been on her, she has worked hard, and it is just so great for her."

Jordan powered another RBI double in the game-tying inning, one hopping the ball off the fence, while Savannah Brothers and Warrick also added RBIs to go along with two errors for the stunned Cascade squad, who went to the bench in a tie ballgame at 13.

"I had to take a timeout I was so nervous," said Toombs after the game. "It was amazing, when I hit it, honestly, I thought she was going to catch it, but I kept running. I am so proud of everybody, Jessica (Harmon) especially, but everybody, we came together as a team."

A leadoff single by Summer Carter, followed by an infield error on Forrest gave the Lady Champs some hope and after a strikeout by Warrick, a passed ball put the go-ahead run at the third base.

Warrick whiffed the next Lady Champs' batter and then induced a ground ball back to the circle, retiring the side.

Kelsey Darnell reached on an error to begin the bottom of the seventh and Warrick followed with a base on balls.

Carter got a strikeout for the first out before Darnell tagged up and went to third on a fly ball by Jordan to right.

Jessica Harmon came up, slapped a ground ball to third, and raced to the bag as the throw was off the mark in the dirt, allowing Darnell to come home with the winning run, capping off one of the most remarkable comebacks in Forrest softball history.

The come from behind win marked the 36th straight win for the Lady Rockets over their Wartrace foes since 2002.

Tonight's game versus Davidson Academy has been re-scheduled for April 10 at Forrest.

The Lady Rockets (3-0, 2-0) travel to Panama City Beach over spring break for a pair of doubleheaders, beginning with South Walton on Tuesday and versus Trinity Christian Academy from Jacksonville, Florida on Wednesday.