SCHUYLKILL HAVEN - Prior to Monday's game against Tamaqua, North Schuylkill starting pitcher Christie Hutira disclosed that she wasn't feeling her best.

Any aches and pains would certainly have been understandable, considering the fact that the Spartans have leaned on their junior hurler throughout the season, with Hutira routinely pitching on consecutive days and with little rest.But with a spot in the Schuylkill League playoffs on the line, North Schuylkill needed its ace to come up big one more time.Did she ever.Hutira saved her best performance of the season for the program's biggest game in nearly a decade, tossing a perfect game in the Spartans' 3-0 win over the Raiders in the Schuylkill League softball wildcard tiebreaker."I had a knot in my shoulder and their (Tamaqua's) trainer got it out," Hutira said afterwards. "I was tight when I was warming up, but I was able to work it out and then I was good; nice and loose."Hutira showed no ill effects of her pregame treatment, recording six strikeouts in the contest and starting three of the first four innings with a punch out."That's crazy," North Schuylkill coach Dominick Grasso said of Hutira's performance. "But she's worked hard all season, and she's done it all year."It's just great. And for her to be able to do that (in this game) is just unbelievable."Hutira's dominance was even more critical on an afternoon where the Spartans (15-6, 10-3) recorded just seven hits and held a one run lead heading into the fifth inning.But North Schuylkill was able to manufacture two more runs in the fifth. The Spartans took advantage of a Tamaqua throwing error, Nadya Spotts' sacrifice bunt and Rachel Circoski's RBI single, which pushed the advantage to 3-0."We played together as a team and got runs when we needed them," said Grasso. "Tamaqua's been playing great and they've been coming back at the end. That's what we were worried about, getting that second run."But we were able to get that third run and everything panned out."Brianna Schlauch, who finished 2-for-3, got the Spartans on the board in the first with an RBI single that scored Tiffany Lapotsky.Aside from the runs allowed in the first and the fifth, Tamaqua's (12-9, 9-4) Bailey Pedersen was nearly as effective as Hutira. The sophomore struck out six and had three innings where she allowed only one baserunner."We played pretty well defensively, and I don't think they had a solid hit off of her," said Tamaqua coach Jillian Barron. "They were just Texas Leaguers that kill you."The Raiders will get a chance to atone for the loss once the District 11 AA playoffs start next week, something Barron is looking forward to."I think the experience they gained today is really going to help them there," she said. "They're a very young team, and this is the first time Tamaqua has made it this far in a very long time."And I think after they (North Schuylkill) scored that first run we got a little gun-shy and fell back a little bit."Being tentative won't be an option for North Schuylkill, as the Spartans will now prepare to take on Division II champion Williams Valley (20-0, 14-0) in tomorrow's Schuylkill League semifinal."I think we can definitely beat them," said Hutira. "But we just have to think that as a team. If we play like we did today, we can do it."Tamaqua 000 000 0 - 0 0 1No. Schuylkill 100 020 x - 3 7 0Pedersen and Sassaman; Hutira and Peleschak. WP - Hutira. LP - Pedersen.