Hits were hard to come by in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference softball quarterfinal between Bethlehem Catholic and Liberty, but the Golden Hawks had just enough to get by the Hurricanes, 2-0, on May 13 at Liberty.

It was the eighth-seeded Hawks’ third victory over the top-seeded Hurricanes this season.

“There were a lot of things to line up the right way to beat a team three times within a two-month span,” said Becahi coach Kayla Paszek. “It’s a tough thing to do. Your pitchers need to be on, and your hitters need to be on because you can become lax or almost too comfortable with the situation after playing them so many times.”

In the top of the third inning, Becahi’s Sophia Rivera doubled to shallow right field, and Maddie Bixler singled to shallow center. Hailey Pyle’s single to left center was the first RBI of the game.

“It may have been a full count, and I just knew I needed to get the ball in one of the gaps,” Pyle said. “There was a base runner on third and second, and they were there for me, so I needed to get a hit.”

Pyle was the game’s winning pitcher.

“Hailey pitched a phenomenal game,” said Coach Paszek. “I had a very tough time deciding who was going to pitch today. I woke up this morning still uncertain. I went all day today, weighing the facts and stats. Hailey performed very well against them in the first two outings, and I figured, let’s give her a third go and see how well it goes, and she pitched an absolutely phenomenal game.”

Bixler’s solo home run in the fifth inning came at the perfect time, according to Paszek.

“That was my very first ever home run, and I’ve been working very hard for it,” said Bixler. “I think it was a really big-game hit, so I was really pumped to hit that. I felt it right off the bat. She started me outside, and they were both balls, and then I saw one that came right up the middle, so I jumped on it.”

Pyle forced three straight outs in the bottom of the fifth and sixth innings as the Hurricanes were running out of time.

“I was just talking with our assistant coach Tom Kaleycik, and he said if someone were to tell us that we held Hailey Pyle to one hit, and they only scored two runs, we figure we’re winning that game, but we did not hit, and that’s the key. That is the key,” said Liberty coach Sam Carrodo.

“We had four hits, but they were scattered. Win or lose, that was a great game. You hate to lose because it was three times in a row, but what can you do? I knew it was gonna be like this because the first two games were 7-5, and then 3-2 in 10 innings, so I knew it was gonna be close.”

Two of Liberty’s hits came in the bottom of the seventh inning with Ann Marie Stella’s leadoff single and Eloriana Quayle’s base hit up the middle.

“There were two base runners on...I definitely got a little bit nervous, but I pulled it together,” said Pyle. “I struck [Addy Smith] out the bat before, so I wasn’t nervous at all for her, but I had to keep it down in the zone.”

Although Smith was the losing pitcher, Coach Carrodo noted that the EPC MVP’s pitching has been lights-out fantastic.

Outside the visitors dugout, the Hawks were celebrating a victory and a birthday.

“We knew we were the underdog,” said Coach Paszek. “A lot of people predicted we would not win this game today. Today’s my birthday, and I said, ‘We’re not leaving here with a loss on my birthday,’ and I feel like, with the donuts in the dugout and the happy birthdays all day, it gave them a lot of energy, and it’s their city rival. We play Liberty tough every time we play them.”

Becahi will take on Nazareth in an EPC semifinal on May 14, past Press deadlines.

Liberty will prep for the District XI Class 6A playoffs set to begin next week.

“We’ll be fine,” Carrodo said. “The season’s not over. It is not over by a long shot. We have a legitimate shot at winning districts, so we’re gonna go after it hard.”