A third meeting with Easton forced Freedom coach Nick D'Amico to consider all his pitching options.

He could not turn away from No. 1 starter Nick Mazzella despite the Red Rovers' familiarity with the senior left-hander.

Ninth-seeded Easton managed plenty of solid at-bats against Mazzella. His pitching and the Patriots' defense won out in the important spots Monday as No. 8 Freedom collected an 8-3 win in a District 11 Class 4A first-round baseball game.

Mazzella carried a shutout into the seventh inning before Easton pushed across three runs. Standing in the Freedom dugout, D'Amico kept reminding Mazzella those runs were of no concern. Recording the final few outs was the only objective.

Mazzella did, finishing his complete-game effort with a strikeout and a groundout. The rubber-game win Freedom and Easton split two regular-season meetings earned the Patriots (14-7 overall) a date with top seed Parkland in Wednesday's district quarterfinals.

D'Amico admitted he initially hesitated at having Mazzella face the Red Rovers (12-9) for a third time. He then recalled that Mazzella threw a great game in the teams' first meeting and was victimized by shoddy defense in the second meeting.

"I felt confidence in him," D'Amico said. "I knew he was going to do the job. He's our No. 1 pitcher for a reason."

On a blustery afternoon, Mazzella pitched his way into and out of trouble time after time. He escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first and stranded nine Easton runners through the first five innings. His lone 1-2-3 frame came in the sixth.

The first two pitchers Easton used did not match Mazzella's execution.

Matt Fitch started for the Red Rovers but couldn't complete three innings. Mazzella knocked Fitch out of the game with a two-run single in the third. That hit came after Fitch moved within one strike of wriggling out of a first-and-third, no-out jam.

Originally posted here:

Freedom baseball team downs Easton in District 11 4A opener