Miya Williams’ screwball, four first-inning runs, and tough defense lifted the Liberty Hurricanes over city rival Freedom, 7-3, last Wednesday at Liberty.

“I feel fantastic because that’s a really good ballclub we just beat, very well-coached. I kept telling the girls we have to stay on top of this because if they get any momentum, they can ride this game right out and beat us,” said Liberty coach Sam Carrodo, “so we tried to stay focused as much as humanly possible with all the emotions a Freedom-Liberty game carries.”

The Hurricanes jumped out to an early 4-0 lead on a double by Molly Devers and base hits by Williams, Kritzie Diaz-Rivera, and Ariana Castillo.

“They believed in themselves, and I think the emotion from the game started when we shut them down in the first and jumped on them for four runs in the first inning,” Carrodo said. “That gave us the confidence to say, oh my gosh, we don’t have to play catch-up in this game. We can build on what we’re doing. And it gave our pitcher confidence because she had four runs to work with to play our game.”

While the Patriots hit the ball well, the Hurricanes’ defense made the plays, namely, Devers in center field and Castillo at shortstop.

“I’m extremely proud of the effort we put in,” said Carrodo. “Our outfield is extremely fast.”

The Hurricanes added three more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, all with two outs, on Castillo’s line drive double to left field and Madison Noll’s base hit to center.

“I was super motivated to get a hit, and I was very optimistic when I went up to bat and tried to stay positive. I was looking for anything in the strike zone so I could score my teammates,” said Castillo. “I feel absolutely amazing, especially with struggling with hitting in the beginning of the season, it feels good to get a lot of hits now, game-winning hits.”

In the sixth inning, the Patriots started to do what Coach Carrodo predicted: rally for hits and runs, scoring three on a three-run homer by Kathryn Miller. Then, the Pates loaded the bases, but Devers’ catch in center field ended the inning.

“I was trying to focus on mechanics and pitch strikes. Screwball worked the most,” said Williams. “I was concerned [they would catch up]. It feels really good, but I had a lot of backup.”

Carrodo had the utmost confidence in his pitcher.

“This was three games in a row for us, but she’s just a little fireplug. She doesn’t quit. She doesn’t let it get to her. She stays in that stoic demeanor, and it helps her,” he said. “We have the potential. We’ve been in every single game except the Beca game.”

The Hurricanes know they have the potential too.

Said Castillo, “We consider Beca and Freedom our town rivals and after losing to Beca we thought we needed to beat our other crosstown rival, to prove a point, that we are good and we have potential and we can beat these good teams.”