EASTON — Tamaqua’s Thad Zuber didn’t want his team’s season to end.

His performance on Monday assured that it wouldn’t.

The right-handed senior dominated from the start, leading the Blue Raiders to a 2-0 District 11 Class 3A quarterfinal victory over Notre Dame of Green Pond.

“Thad threw a great game today, without a doubt,” said Tamaqua head coach Jeff Reading, whose team entered the playoffs as the seventh seed. “We had a good scouting report, and we told him to throw his game. They crowd the plate, so he worked the inside quite a bit. And then he was able to use his out pitch and get them chasing. They were looking at everything in, and he’d go out and keep them off-balanced with his curve or slider.

“He was getting some one-pitch, two-pitch, and three-pitch outs, and that helped us be able to keep him in there until the end of the game.”

Zuber finished with a two-hitter, allowing singles in the first and seventh innings. He struck out 10 batters and walked four, with three of those free passes coming in the final two innings as he began to tire.

“No, I didn’t want the season to be over,” said Zuber, who retired 11 in a row during one stretch. “I was just trying to do what I could for my team. Every team in the playoffs is starting 0-0, so we just had to come out and get that win today.

“Everything was working today — my fastball, slider, two-seamer and some curveballs — so that was nice.”

Zuber also got it done at the plate, as he helped break a scoreless tie in the top of the sixth inning.

Michael Bonetsky opened the sixth with a single and moved up on a sacrifice bunt by Nate Boyle. Zuber grounded a pitch from Steven Luke into right field to score Bonetsky with the game’s first run.

Zuber, who moved to second on the throw home, was replaced by courtesy runner Adam Rex. He didn’t stay at second long as Casey Rother picked on a first-pitch strike and grounded it through the shortstop hole to make it 2-0.

“There was a man on second and I was trying to go the opposite way,” said Zuber of his RBI hit. “I was able to poke it through. Nate, Casey and I came together before the inning and we said ‘we were going to do something, so let’s do it now.’ It was great to have that happen.”

“We manufactured some runs,” said Reading. “One thing we hadn’t done all year was bunt well. And today we did. We moved guys into scoring position, and that gave us the opportunities to score.”

After Tamaqua (10-10) took advantage of its opportunity, the Crusaders mounted threats in the final two frames.

Zuber walked two in the sixth, but a fly ball off the bat of cleanup hitter Shane Beyer was caught in center by Bonetsky. In the seventh, Notre Dame (14-8) received a two-out hit and a walk to put the tying runs on base. Zuber, however, bore down and got a grounder to end the game.

“They got two runners on there, but when you have someone like Thad out there, you put your faith and confidence in him,” said Reading. “He made a good pitch and got a ground ball for the third out.

“I’m pleased with the way we played. We knew it would be a tough game. We threw our best, and they threw theirs. Records don’t matter anymore. You just go out and play the game.”

ARMS RACE ... Zuber threw 97 pitches, 66 of them for strikes. Of the 27 batters he faced, he threw first-pitch strikes to 19 of them. He didn’t allow a runner past second base, while only three reached second. Luke, the Colonial League’s First Team all-star pitcher, allowed just three hits, with all of them coming in the sixth inning. The senior righty, who retired the first nine batters he faced, walked one and struck out nine. He only threw 87 pitches, with 65 of them strikes.

UP NEXT ... Tamaqua advances to Wednesday’s semifinal round, where it will face sixth-seeded Pine Grove at Pottsville at 7:15 p.m. The Cardinals also defeated a Colonial League team, topping Pen Argyl by a 5-2 score. Three of the remaining four teams in the 3A field are from Schuylkill League’s Division 1.

Tamaqua 000 002 0 - 2 3 0

Notre Dame 000 000 0 - 0 2 2

Zuber and Rother; Luke and Beyer. W - Zuber. L - Luke.