Bethlehem Catholic and Freedom’s softball teams fought in a 2 3/4 hour battle of the bats with a 29 degree wind chill last Tuesday when the Golden Hawks edged out the Patriots, 15-13, at Becahi.

“Two good hitting teams that came around at different times, and we happened to have the bat last,” said Becahi coach Rich Mazza. “That’s a heck of a team. They’re a very good, well-coached team.”

Freedom designated player Kaitlin McDevitt kicked off the hitting spree for the Patriots with a two-out RBI double to left field, putting the Pates on the board in the first inning.

Becahi outfielder/second baseman Jordan Merklin started the Hawks’ offense with a line drive to center field.

“They had a different defense set up for me, and they had the shortstop in, so I took that as a chance to power slap it through the infield to get things started,” Merklin said.

But the Pates’ six-run second inning on a Becahi error, a bunt single by Natalie Stannard, doubles by Madelin Cooper and Julia Heineman, and base hits by Madison Glick, Kathryn Miller, and Julia Griffith put the Hawks on their heels.

The scoring gap was short-lived, however, as Becahi clawed back to take an 8-7 lead in the bottom of the second inning.

Brooklyn Miller smacked a double to right field, and Angelina Iovino’s home run to dead center put the Hawks on the board.

The Hawks continued to score runs with two outs on a double by Leah Chladny, a Freedom error, and a towering home run by Hailey Pyle, her first of two on Tuesday.

“My first one, I knew right off the bat that it was a home run,” Pyle said. “My second one, I didn’t think was going over but I was really, really happy.”

Pyle pitched in relief of Emma Bond in the third inning; Griffith in relief of Glick in the second.

“I was really, really excited,” said Pyle, who made her pitching debut as a Hawk after pitching for Liberty last year. “My drop curve and my rise ball were working today.”

Becahi scored two more runs in the third inning, but Freedom answered with base hits in the fourth from Heineman and Glick, a double by Mia Van Fleet, and a McDevitt home run to tie the game, 11-11.

Griffith held Becahi scoreless in the bottom of the fourth, and Coach Mazza had a serious talk with his Hawks.

“We were taking too many pitches,” Mazza said. “The umpire has his strike zone, it’s been established, and we have to go over there and swing, and if it’s close, you’ve got to hit it. That’s all there is to it, and we weren’t doing that.”

Freedom then regained its lead on RBIs by Glick and Miller in the fifth, but the Hawks brought it back to a tie on Miller’s sacrifice fly.

Becahi scored its winning runs in the sixth inning, the first on Merklin’s RBI double, and the second on Chladny’s sacrifice fly.

“As soon as Leah hit that, I was ready to tag up because in deep right, I knew I could at least advance to third. And then I took off and Coach Mazza said to keep going, so I listened to him and was able to score,” Merklin said. “It was back and forth, so I just wanted to secure the game and get the win. Last year, Freedom was our rival, so this was definitely a big win.”