ORWIGSBURG - Before stepping in for her most important at bat of the season, Elise Horvath was looking for some last-second advice.

But when Horvath trotted down to talk to Chuck Rinaldo in the third base coaching box, she didn't exactly get the words of wisdom she was expecting."Coach said he couldn't talk to me and that I should just get back in the box and hit," said Horvath with a laugh. "So I just tried to think about the things he usually tells me … be patient, level swing, make solid contact."Horvath did exactly that.Her two-run double down the leftfield line capped a huge fifth inning that propelled Pottsville to a 5-3 victory over Tamaqua in the Schuylkill League softball championship game on Wednesday.Rinaldo couldn't confer with Horvath because he had already used his one allotted offensive conference in the inning. When Raider pitcher Bailey Pedersen called time to tie her shoelace, however, Horvath used the break in play to run down the line."I saw her coming toward me, but the umpire had already reminded me that I didn't have any conferences left in the inning," said Rinaldo. "So I just told her to get back to the plate. I also yelled to be patient but I don't even know if she heard that."Obviously, Horvath didn't need to hear it. She had received the same instructions enough to know exactly what was expected."Elise bats seventh in our order, but she is a very capable hitter," said Rinaldo. "That was probably her biggest hit of the year."Horvath said there was no "probably" about it."Definitely my biggest hit. No doubt about it," she said. "I wasn't feeling any pressure in that at bat. But at the same time, it was a huge relief to get the hit."The hit capped a four-run Pottsville rally that wiped out a 3-1 Tamaqua lead. The Tide scored one run on hits by Madison Garland and Michaela Garland and had the tying run on third with two out. A pair of infield errors then knotted the game and put runners on second and third to set the stage for Horvath."One bad inning," said Tamaqua coach Jill Barron. "It was a tough game."Bailey (Pedersen) pitched really well, but they got some cheap hits and we made a couple mistakes."Tamaqua took a two-run lead into the fifth thanks not only to Pedersen's pitching, but her hitting as well.Pedersen drilled a one-out single left center in the second inning that moved Cailyn Joseph to third. Pedersen also provided some alert base running as she moved to second on the throw from the outfield.That proved crucial when Joseph scored on an infield ground out and courtesy runner Kaitlyn Stauffenberg came around to score on a throwing error on the play.Tamaqua made it 3-1 on Pedersen's RBI single in the fourth.But the Raiders couldn't hold off the Crimson Tide."We've been behind before and rallied to win so this was nothing new for us," said Rinaldo. "There was no panic by the players or the coaches."After going down in order in the sixth, Tamaqua needed to replicate its dramatic seventh-inning rally that tied Tri-Valley in the semifinals - a game the Raiders eventually won in 11 innings.Pedersen gave Tamaqua hope with a one-out single, her third hit of the night. But Pottsville pitcher Sara Tobin got a grounder for the next out and second baseman Michaela Garland made a fantastic running catch of a fly ball down the right-field line to end the game.This time, there was no late-inning comeback for Tamaqua. This time, there was no dramatic extra-inning victory. This time, there was no celebration - only tears.One thing there was, however, was pride."I'm so proud of this team and especially our four seniors," said Barron. "No one expected us to be here."This is tough, but we're not finished yet. We can take a lot of positives from these two (league) playoff games that will help us at districts. "Tamaqua 020 100 0 - 3 6 3Pottsville 100 040 x - 5 8 1Pedersen and Sassaman; Tobin and Dusel. W - Tobin. L - Pedersen.