Eight runs plus two shutouts equaled city rivalry victories for Bethlehem Catholic after defeating Freedom 5-0 and Liberty 3-0 last week.

“It feels good,” said Becahi pitcher, Elyse Cuttic. “Both are two really solid teams.”

Cuttic’s ground rule double in the second inning of the Hawks’ game against the Patriots set the stage for three runs in that inning, and Julia Sledz’s single scored the first one. Brooke Rau’s hit to shallow center scored the other two.

In the fourth inning, Becahi’s Bethanne Brandstetter reached first base on an error and stole second on a passed ball, then scored on another passed ball.

“Every run counted because they could come back from that,” Brandstetter said. “At the beginning of the season, we were not really stringing hits together.”

On this day, however, it was the Patriots who had trouble stringing together their hits, or hitting at all, as Cuttic allowed just two, including Arielle Gonzalez’s double and Kylee Schwind’s single, both to left field.

As the Hawks were ahead 4-0 in the fifth inning, Brandstetter’s hit to short right field scored Tasha Miner, who had singled earlier, and that would prove to be the final run of the game.

In Becahi’s game against Liberty, the Hawks took a 2-0 lead in the first inning when Miner’s double scored Jess Indelicato, and Brandstetter’s single scored Courtney Schupp.

“I feel like it was very important to start with the momentum on our side,” said Miner. “I had a 3-0 count, and I knew she was going to have to come in, so I tried to relax and focus on the ball.”

Miner scored Becahi’s third run in the third inning on Sledz’s hit to left field.

“We weren’t comfortable [with three runs], and you always want to get more, but we knew we had Elyse, and we knew our defense could hold it up,” Miner said.

Cuttic felt the same way about the Hawks’ defense.

“I knew I didn’t have a strikeout going into that last inning, but our defense knows the ball’s going to come to them,” she said.

As it turned out, Cuttic did have one strikeout in the seventh, followed by a fly ball, a walk, and a ground out to end the game.

The Hurricanes had one hit, Mikayla Ruppert’s single to the outfield in the bottom of the third inning.