BUFFALO TWP — In Kristie Radvan’s basement she has a makeshift batting cage.

The sound of the ball tinging off an aluminum bat echoes throughout her house at all hours of the day and evening.

It’s the music of determination and zeal and Radvan, a junior on the Freeport softball team, has a plethora of both.

“I’ll take a hundred swings a night,” Radvan said. “Sometimes I’ll even come home from practice if I didn’t think I did very well and take more swings.”

Radvan has been swinging away since she was in T-ball, playing on a team with boys.

When she switched to softball, she often played up in age.

Her worth ethic and drive developed over time.

“When I was a young kid I was pretty good on natural ability and I didn’t really practice a lot. Not really at all,” Radvan said. “Then I noticed some of the girls gaining on me and I decided that if I wanted to stay ahead of them I needed to work at it.”

That work has paid off.

As a freshman at Freeport, Radvan batted .458 with a home run, 12 RBI and eight doubles.

Last season as a junior, she hit .426 with a pair of homers, 16 RBI and four triples.

She’s off to an equally impressive start this season for the 4-0 Yellowjackets, who are coming off a 5-4 extra-inning win Friday over Mars. Radvan hit a two-run home run in that game — her second already this season.

Those home runs have been extra special for Radvan as they have come at the Freeport Community Park field where she first began playing when she was 8.

The softball field at the high school is no longer in use to make room for the school’s new football field.

“It’s always been a goal of mine to hit a home run at that field,” Radvan said. “The fences there are farther than normal softball fields.”

Radvan’s first home run of the season, a two-run shot in the season opener, traveled 230 feet over the fence in left-center.

She hit another bomb against Mars at the field Friday.

But that home run in the opener wasn’t Radvan’s biggest accomplishment on opening day in the 4-0 win over Leechburg.

Radvan also tossed her first no-hitter and struck out 11 batters.

“It was really great having that many strikeouts,” Radvan said. “I’ve never had that many before.”

Last year Radvan pitched sparingly behind senior Jess Kelley, starting just two games and logging 16 1/3 innings.

This year she is the Yellowjackets’ No. 1 pitcher and has performed as an ace.

Radvan said it is difficult to pick what she enjoys the most: pitching or hitting.

“I like hitting because it’s so uplifting when you get a hit,” Radvan said. “When you go 1-for-3 a lot of people see that like you have failed, but it’s really hard to hit some of these pitchers.

“Pitching — I like feeling in control,” Radvan added. “I like knowing what’s going to happen and controlling the tempo of the game.”

Radvan works slowly in the circle.

“I stare them in the eyes,” she said, laughing.

Radvan has designs on playing at the next level.

She wants to be a physician’s assistant — her mother is a nurse — and has been in contact with Seton Hill University and Wheeling Jesuit University about playing softball at those schools.

Freeport softball coach Sam Ross said Radvan has meant just as much to the Yellowjackets with her demeanor as she has with her play.

“She’s become a team leader,” Ross said. “She’s definitely a leader on the field and leads by example. She always gives 110 percent.

“She could always hit,” Ross added. “She really put the work in to get better as a pitcher. How well she’s doing as a pitcher is a result of her hard work.”