Freedom’s softball team exploded for six runs in the sixth inning to shut out Northampton, 9-0, on April 4 at Freedom.

“Even though we started off slow, we were still hitting the ball throughout this whole game,” said winning pitcher Namelia Duro, whose 2 RBI double made the score, 7-0. “I think the energy was what brought it. [Northampton pitcher Rylee Gable] threw a lot of outside, and she did have a good changeup. My mentality was just, first pitch I see that’s a strike, I’m going for it.”

Freedom catcher Payton Besecker’s 2-run home run put the Patriots on the board in the third inning.

Freedom scored another run in the fourth inning on a suicide squeeze.

“The first pitch, I took a swing, and it was an outside pitch, but then the second pitch that was coming, Coach told me, ‘It’s up to you. What do you think you can do?’ said Freedom second baseman Aly Laubach. “My job is to get the ball in play, and Maia (D’Amico) was there, and I knew we needed to score her in from third, so I had confidence in our bunting. I saw the corners were back, and I know Maia has a lot of speed, so she was able to get that run in, which was great.”

D’Amico led off with a double to right field, and Hannah Heidemann’s bunt moved D’Amico to third base.

“My job was just to get on base,” D’Amico said. “I knew I had a lot of strong hitters behind me and that they would drive me in. Of course, Aly drove me in with that little bunt, and that was good. It was a full squeeze, so I was breaking on the pitch. It was a great call because it caught them super off guard.”

Northampton’s biggest scoring threat came in the top of the fifth inning when Hailey Makovsky singled to center field, and Josephine Siegfried hit a slow roller towards first base.

Makovsky and Siegfried advanced on Hannah Duerr’s fly ball to center field, but Duro got out of the jam unscathed.

“I’m proud of her because she’s effective keeping the ball down and away,” said Freedom coach Michele Laubach. “We were in a jam there, and we had second and third, and Duerr was up, and you think, do we put her on? She’s 2-for-2 with 2 singles, and she has the potential to put the ball out.”

Said Duro, “Typically, I would’ve been nervous, but in this game, I knew that we were gonna get out of it, and that they weren’t gonna advance,” Duro said. “I was throwing a lot of different movement pitches in and out, and I think that combination helped keep them off balance.”

Besecker ended the Patriots’ sixth-inning scoring spree with a 2 RBI double to center field.

“Kudos to [Northampton’s] pitcher,” said Coach Laubach. “She had several strikeouts, her off-speed pitch is excellent, and I think we just capitalized on some hard-hit balls to the outfield.”