The Valley Central softball team came out of the offseason swinging.

The Vikings hit three balls hard immediately to start the game off the Wallkill Panthers’ freshman pitcher Emma Hunt. Emilia Brundage hit a two-run home run in the first inning, as the Vikings opened their season with a 13-4 win over the Panthers on April 3 at Wallkill High School.

“It was great energy, and we did amazing,” Brundage said. “We all played really good. It’s a great start, but we’ll definitely do better in the regular season. That was just the beginning.”

The home run was also the start of a long day for Brundage. She also singled and scored in the third inning, but she had a bit of an adventurous fourth inning.

During the Panthers’ four-run third inning, a ball hit by Wallkill’s Elysia Villafane took a bad hop and hit her in the neck. She was down on the dirt for a few minutes before walking off the field. She re-entered the game in the fifth inning.

“I could still feel it hurting, but I feel better,” Brundage said. “I’m glad I had Emma (Moore) to help me out.”

Overall, the Vikings pounded out 13 runs on 14 hits. The Vikings scored in every inning except the second and fourth. Megan Mann had two hits and two RBIs, Brianna Robinson blasted a solo home run in the sixth inning, and Kayla Fenner had three hits, including a triple and three RBIs. Kori Geiselhart had an RBI single in the fifth inning.

“We had the intention of coming out being aggressive at the plate, which I think we absolutely did,” Valley Central coach Katie Farrugia said. “We weren’t taking too many pitches. We had one (bad) inning, and then we got it together. I’m proud of how they came back from that.”

That one bad inning was the bottom of the third. With the Vikings leading 6-0, Wallkill scored four runs, taking advantage of two Valley Central errors to get back in the game.

Kasey Garzione led off the inning with a double off Bella Mayo, who pitched the first three innings for the Vikings, and then scored on a base hit by Grace Rodriguez. Kaylee DeGroat walked and scored on an error, and Charley Callahan also singled in a run. Mia Ferrante drove in the fourth run with a fielder’s choice.

“We ran the bases effectively and we’ve been putting the ball in play,” Wallkill coach Sean Murphy said. “Well, the first three games we’ve been hitting the ball, but (Mayo and Kori Geiselhart) are the two best pitchers we’ve seen so far, but I’m happy with the lineup.”

He was also happy with the pitching. Freshman pitcher Emma Hunt, a recent JV callup, got hit hard to start the game, which included Brundage’s home run, but settled in for a scoreless second inning before getting roughed up for four runs in the third.

DeGroat threw the final four innings, allowing seven runs.

“(Hunt) got the win in the first two games,” Murphy said. “She’ll hang the L on herself. That’s another varsity first, but you never lose if you’re trying to get better every single day.”

Geiselhart came in and threw four scoreless innings to finish the game for the Vikings.

“Bella did great,” Farrugia said. “She kept them off-balance for the most part. We had a few errors in the field, which didn’t help her, but Kori came in and closed it down and kept them way off balance. They both bring two completely different things to the table.”

Both teams finished the week with games on Thursday. The Vikings dropped a 5-4 game to the Tigers and the Panthers fell, 7-0, to the Cornwall Dragons.

“We’re still working hard in practice,” Brundage said. “We’re going to be a good-hitting team.”