Blue Mountain mentor Mike Rollman knows what to expect when Marla Freiwald is in the circle.

“She’s a grinder,” said Rollman. “We know when we have her in there, she’s going to come at people, right at them.”

Freiwald didn’t disappoint Wednesday as the sophomore tossed five perfect innings for the Eagles in a 12-0 Schuylkill League Division 1 victory over Lehighton.

Freiwald struck out the first nine batters of the game – eight of them swinging – in the mercy rule win.

“She has a great defense behind her, and today, she kind of overpowered some of the batters,” said Rollman. “She did a real great job today of locating her pitches. She was nailing spots from the first pitch, to the end of the game.

“I can’t say enough about her. She puts in that work, and she’s reaping the rewards now.”

The sophomore finished with 11 strikeouts to help Blue Mountain keep its unbeaten start intact (7-0, 3-0).

After hitting three home runs in Monday’s 7-6 win over Jim Thorpe, the Indians (3-3, 2-2) struggled to settle in against Freiwald.

“We worked so hard on trying to get them to swing level, keep their head down and follow through like that,” said Lehighton coach Dave Yob. “But we were swinging under the ball, and the heads are flying, and you’re not going to hit a ball like that.

“We talked about it at practice yesterday. We set up the (pitching) machine to work on the outside pitch, too, to go to right field. I know a lot of times, not just her (Freiwald), but other pitchers try to go away with two strikes. So we just wanted them to go that way with the pitch.”

At the plate, leadoff hitter Anna Laughlin set the tone with a double to left field on the first pitch of the game for the Eagles. Laughlin scored when Freiwald connected for a one-out single to make it 1-0.

Laughlin’s three-run homer in the top of the second inning made it 4-0. The rally started when Autumn Handwerk reached on an error with two outs, and Elle Walasavage followed with a single.

Laughlin finished 3-for-3 with two doubles, a three-run homer and three runs scored.

Lindsay Gibson’s two-run single in a four-run fourth inning pushed Blue Mountain’s lead to 8-0.

Ava Peel was 2-for-3 with a triple and a run scored for the Eagles.

The bottom of the order was also productive for Blue Mountain.

Handwerk, the No. 8 hitter, had a two-run double in a four-run fifth inning, an RBI-single and scored twice, while Walasavage, who hits in the No. 9 spot, had two singles, a sacrifice fly and two runs scored.

Despite the setback, Yob has seen the Indians make tremendous progress this season. He knows there are plenty of positives to take from how they have started, along with motivation to continue getting better.

“We only won three games all of last year,” said Yob. “Right now we’re 3-3, but I’m not satisfied with that. And they shouldn’t be either. We want to keep winning. We have the ability and the talent to qualify for districts. We need them to believe it.”

LOCKED IN

... Freiwald’s first five pitches produced swing-and-miss strikes. She ended the first inning with nine swinging strikes, and one ball that was fouled off.

ROLLING

... In its undefeated start, Blue Mountain has outscored opponents 82-6 through the first seven games. The Eagles have scored 12 or more runs in five of their seven games.

WEB GEM

... Laughlin made a nice play from her shortstop position when she withstood a collision with left-fielder Courtney Grogan, and made a nice grab on a ball that appeared to be dropping into fair territory down the left field line for the second out of the fourth inning.

UP NEXT

... Lehighton hosts Palmerton Saturday at 12 p.m. in a non-league contest. Blue Mountain is idle until next Monday, when it hosts Lourdes Regional in a Division 1 game.

Blue Mtn. 130 44 - 12 12 0

Lehighton 000 00 - 0 0 2

Freiwald and Bergan; Miller, Chavanic (5), Craig (5) and Bergdahl. W - Freiwald. L - Miller. HR: Blue Mountain - Laughlin (2nd, two on).