It’s been a long layoff for Freedom softball, but that had no bearing on what the Patriots accomplished last Monday in their 10-1 victory over Parkland at Freedom.

“I don’t think anyone knew what to expect today because of all the restrictions, and we’ve battled through some injuries and have some starters out,” said Freedom head coach Michele Laubach. “But what we saw today, and what we could accomplish this first game, it’s very exciting to see how far this team can go.”

Freedom shortstop Julia Heineman hit a solo home run, the Patriots’ first homer of the season, in the fourth inning, and the Pates led the Trojans 3-0.

“I felt it. I heard it. And it was kind of good. It was really exciting, especially because it was my first game since last year, so it was really cool,” Heineman said. “We knew they were going to be the team to beat and that we had to prove ourselves.”

As the Pates were stacking up runs around the Trojans, Parkland shortstop Jenna Piatkewicz was able to homer in the top of the fifth inning.

“We knew it was going to be a competitive game because my sophomore year, we lost 1-0 in 10 innings,” said Freedom pitcher Jennifer Slanovec. “We all have a will to play, but we don’t have a guaranteed game tomorrow with COVID.”

The Patriots made the most out of their home opener, and in the bottom of the fifth, Brenna Ortwein had a base hit past the shortstop, and Matison Pirapavel reached first on an error after Piatkewicz ducked the hit. Freedom runners advanced on passed balls and Natalie Stannard hit a sacrifice to center.

In the top of the sixth inning, Parkland center fielder Leeanna Zagrodnik doubled, second baseman Cassidy Sweeney was hit by a pitch, and Coach Laubach made a trip to the circle.

Said Slanovec, “We talked about our first and third plays we were going to do, and how we were going to go about getting an out or keeping the runners where they were.”

Slanovec was able to hold off the Trojans, retiring the next three batters.

Freedom scored three more runs in the sixth after Gabby Glick doubled to right field and Ortwein hit a high fly ball to short right that fell. Pirapavel’s hit to left popped out of Morgan Stay’s glove, and Hailey Snisky reached first base on an error.

The Patriots are scheduled to host Emmaus this Wednesday and travel to Liberty on Thursday. Liberty has been on a sports suspension since last week when COVID-19 cases at the high school became too high, postponing this week’s Tuesday game against Freedom.