The Tamaqua baseball team has won in every way possible this season.

The Raiders have won from dominant pitching and they've won from good hitting from their standout players. However, as of late it's been the lesser known of the Raider bunch that has come through with the big hits in the big moments.In their game against Becahi, it was Tamaqua's eight and nine hitters in freshman Daylon Barron and sophomore Matt Minchhoff that sparked the Raiders' win. This time around, it was sophomore designated hitter Owen Bates and junior pinch hitter Jake Humes that provided much of the offense for Tamaqua.The two combined for four RBIs, helping Tamaqua (18-6) defeat Blue Mountain 7-1 for its second consecutive District 11 Class AAA Championship."We've faced tough opponents all year long and we knew what Blue Mountain was capable of," said Tamaqua coach Jeff Reading. "But I told the guys that we just need to do what we do. We've been playing good baseball throughout the year and once again these guys showed their resiliency today and came through with the win."The Raiders wasted no time getting on the board in the first inning.Tamaqua catcher Matt Roberts, who has been destroying the ball this season, batting .471 with 33 RBIs put the Raiders in scoring position, crushing a ball to the right field gap for a triple. A sharply hit ball by cleanup hitter Brett Kosciolek gave the Blue Mountain (15-8) short stop some issues allowing Kosciolek to safely reach first. The error also allowed for courtesy runner Harold Moll to score, giving Tamaqua a 1-0 lead.Kosciolek got the start on the hill, and held the Blue Eagles scoreless for the first two innings, but it was easy to tell he was shaking off some rust. The 6-8 junior only had 14 innings of work coming into the game because of shoulder and elbow soreness, but has gradually been rehabbing throughout the season.In the third, Blue Mountain answered when Koscibatters of the inning. Then the Eagles' Sean Greenawalt lined a single into left field, scoring leadoff hitter Shane Grapsy to tie the game. The Eagles eventually had a man on second and third in the inning with nobody out, but Kosciolek got out of the jam.Enter Owen Bates, who came through with the big hit for Tamaqua in the bottom of the third. After two infield singles and a sacrifice fly by junior Nate MacDonald gave the Raiders a 2-1 lead, Bates then extended the lead to 4-1, hitting a two-RBI single through the middle of the infield."I went up to the plate with a mindset to just be patient and not try to guess at all," said Bates. "I knew I had runners in scoring position, so if I could sit and wait on a pitch and drive it up the middle that I could get us some runs. That's what I was able to do and I'm just fortunate this season that the people in front of me have been able to get on base, giving me opportunities to drive them in."Tamaqua's ace Bo Rottet came on to relieve Kosciolek after 3.1 innings of work. Rottet was simply spectacular from the mound, striking out seven in 3.2 innings. In Rottet's last outing against Becahi he had a wicked curveball that was catching the outside of the plate. Thursday was no different, except it looked like Rottet could put his curve anywhere he wanted. He allowed just two Blue Mountain hits and had seven strikeouts. Kosciolek and Rottet combined have surrendered just one run in their last 24 innings."I am proud of the way Brett (Kosciolek) and Bo (Rottet) went out and pitched today," said Reading. "We felt good about Brett today, we knew we could get 70-80 pitches from him and he battle hard for us. Bo then came in and did a fantastic job. Anytime you can hold a team that talented to one run, you have to be proud of your pitchers and your defense."The Raiders added three more runs in the sixth to break the game open with Humes coming through with a two run single. Besides the Raiders performance on the mound, the story of the game was simple. Tamaqua made the most out of its opportunities and Blue Mountain didn't."We had opportunities early on and we worked really hard to get runners in scoring position, but we just didn't cash in," said Blue Mountain coach Tom Kramer. "On the flip side of that, Tamaqua did take advantage of its opportunities and that was pretty much the deal out there today."Tamaqua will now go on to face District 12 runner-up Franklin Towne Charter at Stump Stadium in Pine Grove on Monday at 4 p.m. in the opening round of the PIAA Class AAA Tournament.Blue Mountain 001 000 0 - 1 5 4Tamaqua 103 003 x - 7 8 0Greenwalt and Harding; Kosciolek, Rottet (4), and Roberts; W - Rottet L - Greenawalt.