Jillian Barron knew there would be little room for error.

Entering Friday's Schuylkill League Division I showdown against first place Pine Grove one game back in the standings, the Tamaqua head coach was well-aware that her team needed to come out ready to play.The Lady Raiders answered the challenge.Tamaqua delivered an inspired performance, topping Pine Grove 7-1 and handing the Lady Cardinals their first blemish in league play this season."It means a great deal," Barron said of the win. "We knew going into this that they were the team to beat - that it was between us and them. To be able to come out and not make it a close game was even better."They just beat Lehighton (14-1 on April 20) and we lost to Lehighton (3-2 in 11 innings on April 12), so there was a lot of talk, a lot of pressure, just stressing to the girls that we had to bring our 'A' game. Today we finally started to play like the team I know we can be, and it was nice to see that."The Lady Raiders (10-2, 5-1) played with fire for seven innings and never let the intensity dip.A catalyst for the team was sophomore Courtney Hoffman, who collected three hits and provided a spark both at the plate and in the field."She's small but mighty," Barron said of Hoffman, who scored the team's first run of the game on an RBI single by Cailyn Joseph in the first inning to tie the game at 1-1."She brings a lot of character to the team. She's definitely a playmaker. She does it defensively and she makes things happen."She got things going today and I couldn't ask for a better time for her to do that."Hoffman, who played a key role in Tamaqua's 13-3 win over Pottsville Wednesday with three bunt singles, broke a 1-1 tie in the second inning when she brought in Jada Schellhammer with a single, and Lynn Kistler scored on a fielding error to give the Lady Raiders a 3-1 advantage - one they would never relinquish."When you get hyped it gets everybody else hyped because you're just making everybody laugh," Hoffman said. "And when everybody is laughing it's just positive and good things happen."We just wanted this win so bad. To get our girls going and hit the way we did was phenomenal."While Hoffman did her part to spark the Lady Raiders' offense, starting pitcher Bailey Pedersen was just as effective stifling the Lady Cardinals (9-2, 5-1) at the plate.The senior worked out of a first inning jam, allowing just one run and striking out Kaitlyn Harner to end the inning and leave the bases loaded before her team picked her up with two runs in the second to take the lead.Tamaqua increased its advantage with three more runs in the third inning when Kaitlyn Stauffenberg cleared the bases with an RBI single for a 6-1 lead, and added an insurance run in the fourth when an RBI single scored Madison Davis to set the final tally."They took it to us in every aspect of the game," said Pine Grove coach Ryan Leffler. "They beat us up, plain and simple. They came to play and we didn't show up."In the first inning we had an opportunity to score some runs and we couldn't get the key hit. They fought back, tied it up and went ahead 3-1. They just outplayed us. We need to come to play everyday."ROLLING ALONG. ... Since the loss to Lehighton, Tamaqua has won six in a row.BY A WIDE MARGIN. ... During their six-game winning streak, the Lady Raiders have outscored their opponents 65-4.HALTED. ... The loss ended a two-game winning streak for the Lady Cardinals, who suffered their first loss 4-3 to Salisbury on April 15.Pine Grove 100 000 0 - 1 6 4Tamaqua 123 100 x - 7 11 2Lehman, Schach (4) and Kopinetz; Pedersen and Zellner. W - Pedersen. L - Lehman.