Tamaqua catcher Matt Roberts believes that in baseball, momentum is everything.

So it was no surprise when Roberts saw a chance to get Tamaqua some early runs in the first inning against Pottsville on Monday, that he came through for his team.Roberts crushed a fastball from the Tide's Eli Nabholz, sending it out over the right centerfield fence. It gave the Raiders the momentum they needed to come away with a 4-2 Schuylkill League Division I victory over the Crimson Tide.Bo Rottet got things off to a good start for the Raiders, taking a first pitch fastball from Nabholz and spraying it to the wall. Rottet got a triple out of the hit, which then setup Roberts' huge homer."If you can gain early momentum in a game like this you're most likely going to win the game," said Roberts. "Momentum is everything when you're playing a team like Pottsville. After the count came to 3-2, I knew a fastball was coming and I was able to hit the ball dead center. I knew I got a good piece of it and then when I was rounding first I could tell it was gone."Raiders' junior Brett Kosciolek made his first start of the season with a three inning pitch limit. Kosciolek, who was the 2013 TIMES NEWS Baseball Player of the Year, has been battling some arm troubles, but looks to be back on track to anchor the Tamaqua pitching staff down the stretch. He went three solid innings, giving up zero runs and just two hits. He was also hitting the strike zone, with 25 of his 39 total pitches going for strikes."Our goal was to get three innings out of Brett tonight," said Tamaqua coach Jeff Reading. "We're just trying to gradually bring him along and he came out and pitched very well for us. It was really a great thing to see."Although Tamaqua did get out to an early lead, Pottsville (8-8, 7-2 SL) did have some chances on the evening. They collected six hits during a three inning stretch between the fourth, fifth, and sixth, but could only muster two runs.Pottsville also threatened in the seventh, but Rottet fanned Travis Blankenhorn with two on and nobody out. Blankenhorn, who is verbally committed play baseball at the University of Kentucky, has been on an absolute tear this season and earlier in the game (fourth inning) had hit a solo home run to get Pottsville on the board. After Blankenhorn's strikeout, Rottet got Pottsville cleanup hitter Mike Kuperavage to hit into a 6-4-3 double play, giving the Raiders the "W.""We just had too many missed opportunities tonight," said Pottsville coach Mike Welsh. "Hats off to Tamaqua, they're a very solid baseball team and they made the plays they needed to in order to win the game."Tamaqua (12-3, 8-1 SL) got its other two runs in the third and sixth innings. A couple of Crimson Tide errors helped Rottet score in the third and then an RBI single by Adam Bates scored Kosciolek in the sixth.The Raiders now sit atop the Schuylkill League Division I standings with an 8-1 record. Pottsville is at 7-2 and Pine Grove is right there as well with a 7-3 record.Although, the Raiders are in good position to qualify for the league playoffs they still have a rough road ahead with games against North Schuylkill, Blue Mountain, and Pine Grove."We're taking this whole thing one day and one game at a time," said Reading. "This is a great win, but it's one win. We have three games this weeks against three good teams and they're all going to be tough."Tamaqua 201 001 0 - 4 6 2Pottsville 000 110 0 - 2 8 4Kosciolek, Hartung (4), Rottet (5) and Roberts; Nabholz, Blankenhorn (7), and Hinchcliffe; W - Hartung L - Nabholz