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Tamaqua’s eight seniors left their legacy on the Blue Raiders baseball program this season after closing the season on a 14-game winning streak before falling in the District 11 4A Championship last week.

Seniors Cooper Ansbach, Noah Steigerwalt, Matt Vecolitis, Mason Ligenza, Noah Mateyak, Luke Kane, Zach Breiner and Maximus Najarro helped lead Tamaqua to a 21-2 overall record.

“It’s the best record we’ve had in school history and I couldn’t ask for a better team and a better senior year,” said Kane.

The seniors led Tamaqua to a 4-0 win over Tri-Valley to win the Schuylkill League Championship earlier this spring.

In that game, Noah Mateyak shut down the Bulldogs bats for all seven innings, shutting out Tri-Valley on just one hit while striking out seven. Luke Kane and Cooper Ansbach each drove in two runs for the Blue Raiders bats.

“We really held our ground and won again,” said Mateyak. “It was a great team win, we went 1-1 with them in the regular season, and we knew we had to get back at them for this one.”

That led the Blue Raiders to the District 11 4A playoffs where they earned a first round bye, followed by a 4-1 win over Bethlehem Catholic in the semifinals. Tamaqua then matched up with Northwestern Lehigh in the championship and fell by a final score of 11-6.

The point the Blue Raiders reached doesn’t define how the season went as a whole.

Tamaqua began the year winning seven of their eight opening ballgames, including shutout wins over Marian, Pine Grove and Blue Mountain. The Blue Raiders then went on their 14-game winning streak through the second half of the season and shut out Blue Mountain two more times near the end of the regular season.

“The focus all season was to set the tone, get on the board and put the pressure on them early,” said Reading. “I can’t be more proud of these guys after having a target on our backs all season.”

Senior Mason Ligenza will head off to the University of Pitt in the fall where he signed as an outfielder and Luke Kane will take his baseball talents to Bloomsburg University.

Ligenza was a fixture as a part of Tamaqua’s lineup and pitching rotation, leading the Blue Raiders with 11 home runs and went 7-1 on the mound with a 0.25 ERA. Kane was a backstop general for Tamaqua, racking up a team-high 30 hits and 25 RBI’s and hit to the tune of a .395 batting average.

“Pitt’s never been denying of pitching at the next level and obviously the bat and outfield is more of a priority for me,” said Ligenza. “I’m still growing and you never know in a year or two what will happen.”

The seniors were a big part of Tamaqua’s pitching success as Ansbach went 3-1 with a 1.22 ERA, Vecolitis earned a win and slowed down opposing bats to a 1.40 ERA and Mateyak picked up three wins with a 2.43 ERA.

The Blue Raider pitchers combined for eight shutout wins and Tamaqua outscored their opponents, 136-47, and outscored them per game, 6-2.

Besides a nailbiter 3-2 loss to Tri-Valley, Tamaqua would have gone undefeated in league play as they closed their league slate at 11-1.

They also possessed one of the most feared lineups in the league, led by Ligenza’s 11 home runs while Kane went for 30 hits and 25 RBI’s. Cooper Ansbach had 28 hits and went for a .400 batting average.

“We want to hit the ball and put pressure on their pitchers,” said Ansbach. “It’s just part of the game.”

This is the third consecutive winning season for Tamaqua’s baseball program after finishing 4-16 in 2021-22 and going through four straight losing seasons prior to 2022.

Originally Published: June 3, 2025 at 1:39 PM EDT