PINE GROVE - It might be cliché, but in sports more often than not it's not how you start, it's how you finish.

Tamaqua senior pitcher Ian Nicholls proved that adage to be true on Monday in the opening round of the PIAA AAA Baseball Playoffs.Nicholls got off to a bit of a shaky start against the No. 2 team from District 12 in Franklin Towne Charter. He walked four batters in the first two innings, while allowing six Coyote baserunners, and two runs in that span. However, the Raider veteran battened down the hatches, giving up just one hit and no runs the rest of the way.Nicholls' pitching along with an impressive team performance from the plate aided the Raiders in picking up a 12-2 victory, advancing them to the quarterfinal round of the AAA state tournament for the second consecutive season.It was evident that Tamaqua coach Jeff Reading wanted to rest its top two pitchers in Bo Rottet and Brett Kosciolek, so Nicholls got the nod. The senior has been a formidable pitcher for the Raiders this season, coming into the game against the Coyotes with a 3-0 record and 2.94 ERA in 31 innings of work. It was also important for Nicholls to bounce back from a rough go against Becahi in the District 11 semis where he gave up three runs and eight hits in a little under three innings."I struggled in the Becahi game and I wanted to come out and throw strikes early," said Nicholls. "I was a little shaky early, I had some trouble finding the strike zone. I started to settle in then, I started bending a little better and following through and I found the zone."Nicholls bounce back start was vital, but the Tamaqua bats were just as important. The Raiders jumped all over FTC pitcher Steve Callahan in the first, scoring five runs, collecting five hits. Brett Kosciolek, who had three hits, including a solo homerun in the third and three total RBIs knocked in two runs in first. Connor Hartung had two RBIs and Adam Bates chipped in with an RBI double to bust the game wide open early."As a team we've been really focusing on being aggressive at the plate. I've been wanting to get more aggressive as well and I was able to do that today," said Kosciolek. "I also think I had a little bit better focus at the plate today too, I was making good contact and every pitch I hit was a good pitch for me."As noted, after FTC answered back in the second with two runs the combined effort of Nicholls and the Raiders' bats were too much for the Coyotes to handle.Tamaqua added a run in the second and the third and then exploded again in the fourth, scoring four runs. Matt Roberts, who has been Tamaqua's power hitter this season (.474, 36 RBIs) came up with two RBIs in the inning and three for the ball game. Tamaqua's nine hitter Matt Minchhoff also added an RBI with a solo shot to right field and Owen Bates added an RBI on a sacrifice fly."We didn't really know anything about them last year, but after playing them in the opening round a year ago we had a good idea of what kind of team we'd be playing today," said Reading. "We didn't want to take anything for granted and they weren't going to come in here and roll over. States is states and they did what they had to do and beat who they had to beat to get here. Our guys were aggressive at the plate and had some success with the bats. Ian also pitched very well and now we're moving on."The Raiders tacked on another run in the sixth, which was enough to extend the lead to 10, ending the ball game.For the Coyotes, they just couldn't get much of anything going after the second inning."We've been a little inconsistent lately and we haven't been able to string together hits like we were earlier in the season," said Franklin Towne Center coach Chris Lauber. "Being a team from the public league in Philadelphia and you leave that little pond that your in, you start playing some competition and some baseball players that seem like they're bred to play baseball. We have more raw talent here, but I think it's a good learning experience for these guys."For the Raiders, second baseman Nate MacDonald also had a solid day at plate, collecting two hits and scoring three runs.Tamaqua will now face Jersey Shore on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the AAA state tournament at Kings College in Wilkes-Barre at 2 p.m.Franklin TC 020 000 - 2 3 1Tamaqua 511 401 - 12 12 1Callahan and Hammerstein; Nicholls and Roberts; HR - Kosciolek (third, none on), Minchhoff (fourth, none on); W - Nicholls L - Callahan.