One of the beauties of high school softball is that a team doesn't have to wait long to have a shot at bouncing back following a tough loss.

On Monday, Tamaqua came up a run short on the road against a talented Pottsville club.On Tuesday, the Raiders faced North Schuylkill, a team they trailed by one game in the Schuylkill League wild card chase.Two runs in the top of the first inning was all Tamaqua needed as it fended off the Spartans, 2-1Tamaqua's Taylor Fritz stepped up to the plate with a runner on first base and two outs in the top of the first inning. Fritz was behind in the count and impressively fouled off almost a dozen pitches.Instead of choking up on the bat and protecting the plate, Fritz destroyed a fastball that would have cleared any left field fence in the Schuylkill League, scoring both Raider runs in the contest.Tamaqua head coach Jillian Barron was encouraged by the at bat and was very happy for Fritz."She had an excellent at bat in the first inning," said Barron. "Taylor was getting down on herself, but we've been preaching confidence all year. Monday she hit one off the top of the fence against Pottsville, and I was happy she was finally able to hit one over the fence today."North Schuylkill threatened in the bottom of the third inning when it scored its lone run. The Raiders' Bailey Pedersen pitched out of further trouble, however, and contained the Spartans the rest of the day.Pedersen scattered five hits over seven innings while striking out three and walking none."She's carrying the team and pitching very well," Barron said about Pedersen. "Here and there she struggled hitting her spots but she threw a good game. She's also fielding her position well as she's seen a lot of defensive action around the mound."North Schuylkill's ace Christie Hutira tossed a great game on the mound as well as she yielded just two runs in the first inning and struck out six in a complete game."Our bats are quiet now and it's not a good time of the year to say that," said North Schuylkill head coach Dominick Grasso. "We need to get hot again and hopefully within our next two games at Pine Grove we will. This is a close knit team with good chemistry and I expect us to be competitive in these games this week."Barron and the Tamaqua staff are very encouraged with the recent play of their squad."We lost to Pottsville yesterday late in the game which was a tough one for us," said Barron. "We were so excited for that game. I couldn't be more proud of how we bounced back after that loss and played today. We knew it was a big game and we played very well."The victory means that the Raiders are now tied for the Schuylkill league wild card spot with North Schuylkill. Pine Grove is in the mix as well, and both the Raiders and Spartans will match up with Pine Grove this week during a crucial stretch of games."I was putting a lot of pressure on them earlier in the year because I know their potential," said Barron. "I told them to play fearlessly and with confidence and they certainly have done that the last two games."Tamaqua 200 000 0 - 2 5 0N Schuylkill 001 000 0 - 1 5 1Pedersen and Sassaman; Hutira and Peleschack. W - Pedersen. L - Hutira. HR - Tamaqua: Fritz (first inning, one on).