The Blue Eagles missed all of last year with an injury.
Nazareth's Paige Hahn missed all of last year with a torn ACL and meniscus.
The junior third baseman is glad to be back on the field and helping the Blue Eagles to their 4-0 start this season.
"Last year I was injured so coming back this year and having a really great team and working really hard has been really great. I hope we keep the momentum going because it should be a really good season," Hahn said.
Hahn gave Nazareth momentum on Saturday afternoon with a two-out, two-run double in the bottom of the third inning to give the Blue Eagles a 2-0 lead over Freedom.
Nazareth went on to clinch a 5-1 victory to open Eastern Pennsylvania Conference play with a 3-0 record.
"I think there were two outs. We had two runners in scoring position so I knew it would be really big because it was still 0-0. I knew it would be really big just to get them in. At least trying to place the ball so at least one run could score. Getting two in was nice," Hahn said of the big double.
"She stayed back on her back foot and she had the line drive into the gap," Nazareth coach Tony Cocca said.
"We missed her last year. She's a power hitter," Cocca added.
Hahn said she is feeling healthy right now after last year's serious knee injury.
"Feeling really good. I have a really good team to back me up," Hahn said.
After Freedom cut the Blue Eagles' lead to 2-1 in the top of the fourth inning, Nazareth answered back with two more runs in the bottom of the frame.
Sophomore second baseman Daphney Adams and senior shortstop Jalina Edwards had back-to-back RBI singles in the fourth. Junior first baseman Jenna Hann and senior left fielder Kennedy Miller each had singles and junior center fielder Sky Esterly added a walk in the fourth inning for the Blue Eagles.
Adams went 3-for-4 with an RBI for Nazareth.
Edwards had two hits and a pair of RBIs for the Blue Eagles. Hann had two hits and Esterly reached base twice for Nazareth.
Sophomore pitcher Samantha Gorkos struck out nine and didn't walk a batter in seven innings to earn the victory.
Patriots third baseman Makenzie Smith went 2-for-3 with an RBI single. Second baseman Juliana Presto added two hits for Freedom.
"It took us a while to get going today. Sam, I think kept us in the game. Then we got some timely hits," Cocca said. "Freedom's not a bad team. I don't think they have a win yet, but Nora (Borger) is a good coach. Freedom's going to be reckoned with later. I'm just happy that we got this and being 4-0 right at this time."
Nazareth hosts Pleasant Valley on Monday, has a road game against Central Catholic on Tuesday and travels to East Stroudsburg South on Thursday.
With the great start, the Blue Eagles hope this season could turn into something special.
"All we can do is play who is on our schedule. Whoever shows up, we'll go out and play. I don't think my girls will back down from anybody," Cocca said.
"I think it's a really good sign," Gorkos said of the strong start. "I think if we keep the same mentality we've been throughout the beginning of the season, we should be ending really strong this year."
"We can go far. I think we can go really far this season. I think we have a very good team," Adams said.
"I think we have enough power in all aspects. We're all working together really hard to try to make it work," Hahn said.
Josh Folck may be reached at jfolck@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoshFolck. Find Lehigh Valley high school sports on Facebook.