ORWIGSBURG - Tamaqua's Cailyn Joseph started one rally and finished off another.

In a game that featured multiple big plays and clutch performances by both teams, no one came up bigger or was more clutch than Joseph.Thanks in large part to her performance, Tamaqua defeated Tri-Valley 6-5 in 11 innings on Monday in the Schuylkill League softball semifinals at Blue Mountain High School.Joseph's single to start a seventh-inning rally that tied the game and her two-run single in the 11th that brought home what proved to be the winning run were both crucial to the Raiders' victory.But Joseph said she wasn't overwhelmed with either situation and her coach said she wasn't surprised by either result."It was a crazy game," said Joseph. "But I never feel pressure. I just try to relax and stay calm at the plate. I have a lot of confidence in myself and my teammates."I never had a doubt in my mind that we would find a way to win. It seems like we had these kind of games all year and we've got the clutch hits when we needed them."According to Tamaqua coach Jill Barron, no one has delivered those types of hits more often than Joseph."Cailyn has saved us with key hits in a number of games this season," said Barron. "She is someone I have a lot of confidence in when the game is on the line."The game was on the line for both teams several times in the late innings.Tri-Valley took a 3-1 lead into the seventh, but the Raiders rallied. Joseph started the inning with a solid single up the middle and Carly Sassaman followed with a bloop hit to left center. After a wild pitch put runners on second and third, Bailey Pedersen singled to score Joseph and courtesy runner Madison Matsago."I told the girls when they came off the field (after the sixth inning) that it was now or never," said Barron. "I believed in them and they delivered."Pedersen then made sure the score stayed that way as the Tamaqua pitcher allowed just one base runner over the seventh, eighth and ninth innings.Until the game went to the international tie-breaker rule in the 10th inning (the inning starts with a runner on second base), Pedersen had blanked the potent Tri-Valley offense in eight of the first nine innings."Bailey did a fantastic job," said Barron. "I thought she got stronger as the game went on. She did a good job of keeping the ball inside, especially against their big hitters."Both teams took advantage of the bonus base runner in the 10th as Bailey Hartung scored the Raiders' run on an error. Tri-Valley answered when Taryn Wilson delivered a two-out single to bring home Wendy Header.In the 11th, Joseph's hit knocked in Fritz, who had singled, and Dietrich to make it 6-4.An RBI single by Kat Sherry brought the Bulldogs (19-2) to within a run in the bottom of the frame, but Tamaqua catcher Sassaman threw out Sherry trying to steal for the second out. An infield ground out then ended it."We didn't play Tri-Valley softball today," said Bulldog coach Marty Shade. "Give Tamaqua credit, they outplayed us. But we had plenty of chances and didn't take advantage of them. We seemed a step slow all day."The victory sends Tamaqua (17-5) into Wednesday's league final against Pottsville, a 5-1 winner over Marian. The game will be at Blue Mountain at 7 p.m."Our girls showed a lot of heart and a lot of determination," said Barron. "We had a good practice on Saturday after we lost a tough tie-breaker game to Pottsville on Friday."We put that behind us and did a great job of bouncing back against a very good Tri-Valley team."Joseph, Sassaman, Lynn Kistler and Courtney Hoffman all had two hits for Tamaqua.Tamaqua 000 001 200 12 - 6 10 4Tri-Valley 000 003 000 11 - 5 9 3Pedersen and Sassaman; Wilson and Troutman. W-Pedersen. L-Wilson.