Twelve!

That’s how many errors were committed by Tamaqua and Panther Valley in their season baseball opener Monday.

Three of PV’s six errors came at the worst possible time — in the bottom of the seventh of a tie game.

Those errors allowed Tamaqua to score the winning run in a 6-5 home victory.

Maybe it was the nippy air, or the water-logged infield, or maybe just opening game jitters that accounted for so many miscues.

The Panthers led 5-3 after five innings and Tamaqua head coach Jeff Reading admitted errors were a big reason for the deficit.

“What did us in for awhile was making blunders on the field,” Reading said. “It’s the first game and there are things we want to work on and get better at.”

Panther Valley coach Rich Evanko said, “There were way too many errors on our part. Tamaqua’s a great team and you just can’t give them that many errors.”

What the mistakes did was overshadow some pretty awesome baseball.

In the bottom of the first, Tamaqua’s Brayden Knoblauch smashed a two-run homer over the high right field fence that gave the Raiders a 2-0 lead.

Both starting pitchers had very impressive starts.

Tamaqua’s Tate Ligenza struck out two batters in the first inning with just 12 pitches for the inning.

The Panther’s Mason Goida, who went the distance on the mound, struck out all three batters he faced in the second inning. He had a total of six strikeouts, gave up only five hits and walked just one batter.

“I know what I’m going to get from Mason,” Evanko said. “He’s a four-year starter and I know exactly what he’s going to give me. He’s a gamer. He came out, he threw pitches and we got ahead.”

Even in the last inning, Evanko said Goida did what he needed to do. It’s just that the errors were just enough to let Tamaqua’s Nick Breiner cross the plate with the winning run.

The Raiders took a 2-0 lead on Knoblauch’s first inning home run.

PV got its first run in the top of the third when Chuck Byers walked then rounded the bags thanks to a pair of back-to-back Tamaqua errors.

An RBI single by Ligenza allowed Michael Bonetsky to come home for the Tams.

In the top of the fourth, the Panthers exploded for four funs. Two were RBIs from a Chuck Byers single.

Base hits by Knoblauch and Cody Hamm coupled with an error let Tamaqua knot the score at 5-5 in the bottom of the sixth.

“It was a tough game,” Evanko said.

Obviously Reading was happy his team won.

“It’s always great to start the season off with a win,” he said. “It puts a smile on your face at the end of the day.”

A TRIO OF PITCHERS ... Tamaqua utilized three pitchers during the game. Tate Ligenza was the starter, He gave up two Panther runs and allowed three hits before Gavin Richards replaced him in the fourth. Richards allowed just two hits, but PV scored four runs off him. He was relieved by Nate Boyle in the sixth. Boyle faced five batters and gave up one run. Reading said he took Richards out so he can pitch in a Tamaqua’s game today.

EXTRA HITS ... Knoblauch and Hamm had two hits each for Tamaqua. Ligenza had a single. For PV, Aaron Miller was the only batter with two hits.

Panther Vy. 001 400 0 - 5 6 6

Tamaqua 201 002 1 - 6 6 6

Goida and Taras; Ligenza, Richards (4), Boyle (6) and Minehan. W - Boyle. L - Goida. HR: Tamaqua - Knoblauch (1st, one on).