POTTSVILLE - Tamaqua senior baseball players are hoping for a double celebration today.

Tonight, they will take the stage in the high school stadium to accept their diplomas.But prior to the graduation ceremony, the Blue Raiders' soon-to-be alums are hoping to put gold medals around their neck.Tamaqua earned that opportunity by disposing of Palmerton, 10-1, on Wednesday at Steidle Field in a District 11 Class 3A semifinal.The Raiders will meet Pine Grove for the district championship today at 1:30 p.m."I'm excited. This is what we have been playing for the past several weeks," said senior Josh Inama, who had a huge evening, going 3-for-4 with two doubles and three runs scored.Tamaqua took a giant leap toward a berth in the final in its first at-bat, scoring five runs. The Raiders used three hits, three walks, and two of the five errors committed in the contest by the Blue Bombers.An error on a ball hit by leadoff hitter Nate Boyer seemed to set the stage. Casey Rother, who also had a terrific night with two doubles and an RBI, drilled the first of his doubles to drive in Boyer. Isiah Kupchinsky followed with a run-producing single, before Zuber walked and Inama singled to load the sacks. Two walks and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Mike Bonetsky capped the inning."We had some kids play a little tight, and Tamaqua took advantage of it," said Palmerton coach Mike Svetik. "That's what good teams do."Being down 5-0 that quickly is tough."Palmerton had a flicker of hope when it rallied for a run in the top of the second after getting a booming double off the bat of Brady Boehler with one out. Boehler eventually scored on an error, but it was the only run the Bombers were able to produce."When we got that one run I thought 'we're going to fight back,'" said Svetik. "But (Thad) Zuber is a great pitcher, and we struggled offensively (against him). He really set things up well with his fastball and the curve."Zuber was at the top of his game throughout the contest, allowing just three hits. Besides the second-inning double to Boehler, Ian Silfies singled in the fifth and Zach Silfies picked up a seventh-inning single."It was great to get this win," said Zuber, who only threw 90 pitches. "My teammates really helped me out in the field and putting up five runs early was nice as well."It's a lot easier to pitch with that type of lead."Tamaqua coach Jeff Reading talked about his decision to pitch Zuber against the Palmerton."Zuber is our best and to get to the championship you've got to win," Reading said. "He did the job and we were able to put runs on the board."After sending 10 batters to the plate in the first inning, Tamaqua added a solo run in the second. The Raiders flirted with the 10-run mercy rule, scoring twice in the fifth and sixth innings.In the fifth, they used an Inama double, two Palmerton errors, an intentional walk to Rother, and a Boyle single to score their runs. In the sixth, Inama had an RBI double, and designated hitter Bernie Gigli added an RBI in a groundout."Our focus was to try and win each inning," said Reading. "We had some pretty good at bats, two-strike hitting, again putting the ball in play. I don't think we had many strikeouts."Now the gold medal is within Tamaqua's grasp.THIRD MEETING ... Today's game will be the third meeting between Tamaqua and Schuylkill League Division 1 rival Pine Grove. The Raiders won both previous meetings. Tamaqua defeated Pine Grove, 7-4, on April 17, and downed the Cardinals, 6-5, on April 28.WEB GEM ... Palmerton's left fielder Ian Silfies came up with a big time snag of a drive off the bat of Bonetsky in the third inning that had extra-base hit written all over it, and could have produced two RBI.WEB GEM II ... Tamaqua turned a twin killing in the top of the third when the Bombers had two runners on with one out. Tamaqua shortstop Boyle started the 6-4-3 inning ending double play.Palmerton 010 000 0 - 1 3 5Tamaqua 510 022 X - 10 8 3Perschy, Z. Silfies (4) and Burnett, Mooney (6); Zuber and Rother. W - Zuber. L - Perschy.