The East Penn Conference Softball Tournament began Monday with a 9-2 victory for Freedom over Northampton, advancing the Patriots to the semifinal against Bethlehem Catholic this Wednesday at Pates Park.

“It’s very exciting,” said Freedom shortstop Cozette Smith. “I don’t think we’ve ever played this well before, and we have a lot of confidence we can get very far, but as we say, take one game at a time.”

Smith had an RBI double in the third inning that appeared to land right in front of the center field fence, and she later scored when Alexis Szaro reached first base on an error.

“Initially, I thought it was going out of here, but I just kept running,” Smith said. “It felt really good to contribute to the runs for our team.”

Smith also took one for the team in the sixth inning when she and Northampton’s Hallie Muffley, on her way to third base, had an infield collision in which both players were momentarily flattened.

“It just caught me off guard. I wasn’t ready for it,” said Smith. “At first I bobbled the ball, and then when I was ready to make the play ...”

The sixth inning was also when the Konkrete Kids scored their first run. Diedre Person drove in Brandi Davidson with a base hit over Freedom pitcher Shayla Peterson’s head.

“I knew I had to hit the ball no matter what,” said Person. “I think lineup changes make it hard to string our hits together. It was kind of hard to keep our hopes up, but we got some runs, and that’s what matters.”

The Konkrete Kids also experienced defensive trouble, accumulating four errors, two in the first inning.

“That’s what the Achilles’ heel was, and our pitch selection was sporadic,” said Northampton coach Kevin Mann.

The K-Kids did score another run in the seventh inning when Maura Moser, who had a triple, scored on Reily Piotrowski’s sacrifice fly.

Northampton relief pitcher, Kaitlyn Perl, entered the game in the fourth inning, giving up two runs, but had 1-2-3 innings in the fifth and sixth.

“She was a little nervous, but I said stay within yourself and have confidence in your ability to throw your pitches,” Coach Mann said.

Freedom pitcher, Shayla Peterson, pitched three strikeouts in the first inning, and had two doubles and a base hit.

“It’s always good to start the first inning that way,” said Peterson. “It sets the tone, and that’s when I knew I had my A game. It’s not only my job to be a pitcher, but a hitter, and have all the mechanics.”

Szaro and Brenda Reninga also had a double apiece for the Patriots.

“Definitely, [Wednesday] is going to be a big game,” Peterson said.

***

Also on Monday, Becahi defeated Nazareth 9-1.

The Hawks got off to a quick start scoring three runs in each of the first two innings as the team was led by Elyse Cuttic both on the mound and at the plate.

On the mound, Cuttic went the distance striking out six and allowing just one run to the Eagles along with just two hits.

At the plate, Cuttic belted a home run and drove in four runs as part of a perfect 4-for-4 day. Courtney Shupp went 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs in the victory.

The wins by both Freedom and Becahi now set up a semifinal showdown for Wednesday afternoon at Pates Park in Allentown beginning at 4 p.m.

In the other bracket, Whitehall and Parkland both emerged victorious and will face off in the other semifinal, which is a 6 p.m. start at Pates Park on Wednesday.

The EPC finals will take place at Pates on Thursday at 7 p.m. before the District 11 Tournament gets under way next week.