The Whitehall Zephyrs ran the gamut when it came to hits in their 13-1 victory over Freedom last Thursday at Freedom.

Combine that with what Whitehall coach Jeff Vivian called pitcher Lennon Dreisbach’s changeup “devastating,” and the Zephs got it done in six innings.

“My changeup works for me because it keeps the batters off balance. My drop curve, I throw a lot. That’s my go-to pitch. It gets a lot of batters ahead of the ball. It’s an easy out half the time because of the movement,” Dreisbach said.

Kassandra Aquino’s RBI single put the Zephyrs on the board in the first inning. Aquino went on to hit an RBI double in the third inning, and a Freedom error advanced her to third base. Aquino’s sacrifice fly in the fourth put the Zephyrs ahead 6-0, and her sixth inning home run put the game out of reach for the Patriots.

“Everyone’s having a big hitting day today, so I decided to take part in that,” Aquino said with a big smile. “My pitch is down low. As a tall athlete, I like to drive my hands and extend through that. I had a good feeling about this game today, and we wanted to come out and show people we’re a young team, but we can still get it done.”

Whitehall third baseman Kate Yadush led off the third inning with a solo home run to center field, followed by a two-run homer in the sixth.

“Our energy’s really up lately, and it feels good to have the team behind your back and pushing you forward,” Yadush said. “Getting those runs up early is important in the game.”

Freedom got its first base runner in the fourth inning on a walk by Madison Glick but didn’t score until the fifth on Brianna Cole’s home run to right center. Natalie Stannard then hit a two-out single, and Maia D’Amico walked, but both were left stranded.

Julia Heineman’s double play shut down the Zephyrs in the fifth inning when the Patriot shortstop threw out a Whitehall base runner after making an infield catch.

Whitehall’s last at bats culminated in a double by Aubrey Steiner, a triple by Isabella Muth, and a home run by Sienna Meli.

“I told the girls this was a complete team performance...one of the most impressive hitting displays I’ve seen. We talk a lot about being strong through the ball, and they started to adopt that motto, and they put that plan into action today,” said Coach Vivian. “Sienna came off the bench a lot this year. Her pitch selection and ability to think through the count is very good. Kate probably has the best plate approach of anybody on the team, and you can see it starting to rub off on some of the other girls. Lennon can break it down and go pitch-by-pitch. Today, she was on. She was throwing her strikes, she was locating her changeup. It causes other teams to have to adjust, rethink their at bats, and that allows her to spot her fastball like she did today.”

Also for the Zephyrs, Madison Lasko had two singles and Emma Bonshak had a double in Whitehall’s win.