Tams take lead

HAZLE TOWNSHIP - Charlie Kistler couldn't have asked for a much better performance from his Tamaqua Blue team to start off the District 18 9-10 year old championship series last night against Valley West.

Everything seemed to fall into place as the South Division champions used all aspects of the game to post a 13-1 victory to take game one of a best-of-three series.

It was a situation that Kistler was more than glad to be in once the final out was recorded.

"The first game is always a must-win situation," Kistler said. "We obviously knew that. Did we expect to get out of here with Thaddeus (Zuber) still available for Saturday - absolutely not. But, when it got to be 13-0, we changed out our pitchers to see who could throw hard. Wassel threw hard enough to finish things off.

"The first game is very huge indeed. Now, we have to win one out of two here. They have to beat us twice. That's a real big hill to climb to beat some team twice at this point in the season."

The two teams will meet again on Saturday afternoon at 2 o'clock.

From the very first pitch Thad Zuber threw in the opening inning to the very last pitch Zeke Wassel tossed, the Tamaqua Blue dynamic duo provided some solid pitching from the mound and made it impossible for Valley West to take a lead.

Zuber may have only struck out two batters, but he surrendered just a third-inning single to lead-off hitter George Palermo. While Wassel relieved him in the fourth, Zuber was quick to mise the supporting cast behind him, which made a one-hitter all worthwhile.

"I can trust all of them," said Zuber. "They're good kids. They're all great players. That's why they're All-Stars, obviously. I can just go out there and throw strikes, and if they hit the ball, I know my defense will get the out."

While Zuber credited his teammates for the effort, Kistler has the utmost faith in his right-hander.

"When you get Thaddeus on the mound, you pretty much know what you're going to get," Kistler said. "You're going to get fastballs - inside, outside and low. We call him 'ice' for a reason. You put that kid on the mound he just don't get shook up. They were yelling at him over there trying to shake him up a little bit. But, he doesn't get shook up.

"Around our whole infield and outfield, we are just sound as well."

It was the efforts of each and every Tamaqua Blue player that stepped into the batter's box that provided the necessary firepower to run away with the win.

While the pitching was in a zone, Tamaqua took full advantage of its team strength to be the ones taking a huge step in the right direction towards a District 18 championship.

"The best part of our game is our hitting," said Zuber, who finished with a single, double, four runs scored and two RBIs. "It obviously showed tonight as we scored 13 runs in a game against an undefeated team. That's pretty good for us.

"So, each game I pitch, I know I can trust them (my offense) as well. They'll hit it. I know I can do my part and I know they'll do their's. I'm just happy we have a good offense."

Tamaqua Blue jumped on Valley West pitching right from the get-go and never gave up till the 10-run rule ended the game in the fourth.

Casey Rother keyed a prolific opening inning with a two-run single.

The very next inning, Rother had another chance to steal the show with a two-run single, which finished off a four-run second.

In the third, it was Wassel, who used his bat rather than his arm to show his all-around baseball skills. Wassel drilled a three-run double to key a four-run third inning.

In the fourth, it was Zuber, who pretty much clinched the pitching victory for himself with a two-run single, and put the end to one fine day for him and his teammates.

Rother paced Tamaqua Blue with a 3-for-4 performance (three singles, run scored, five RBIs). Teammate Wassel followed with a single, double, three runs scored and four RBIs.

Tamaqua Blue 244 3 - 13 11 1

Valley West 000 1 - 1 1 4

Zuber, Wassel (4) and Inama; Holt, Antolick (2), Larock (3) and Wolk, Zola (4). W - Zuber. L - Holt.