MARY-D - No matter which way you spin it, the bottom line came down to three things for Marian's baseball team yesterday against archrival Panther Valley.

Pitching, defense, and hitting.The Colts (16-3,10-3 SL) engaged all three aspects in the most timely fashion, en route to a convincing 5-1 Schuylkill League victory over the Panthers. The win gave Marian its second-straight Division 3 championship. The Colts will now meet preseason favorite North Schuylkill (Division 1 champ) in the semifinal round of the Schuylkill League playoffs.Pitching - Joe Nahas was at the top of his game on the mound. He came close to perfection and finally settled on a one-hitter, striking out six and walking four."I felt in control most of the game," said Nahas. "This is a big game, big rivalry and they felt they could beat us. They're a good team all-around."Nahas had a great blend of fastball-curveball. He was in a groove right from the get-go, as he tossed 81 pitches, 47 for strikes. Nahas set the Panthers' lineup down in order through the first seven batters, before issuing a walk to Ronnie Distler.Defense - Marian catcher K.J. Snerr did it again to the Panthers, when he picked off a runner at third in the top of the fourth. It may have been the biggest out of the game for the Colts, who were leading 3-0 at that juncture. Nahas issued two straight walks to start the inning. A wild pitch and a stolen base put the PV runners in scoring position. Then Snerr came up huge."They were getting aggressive on the bases," said Snerr. "So I just decided to throw it down there."There, as in the throw Snerr made, was to third baseman Rob Hinkle. He applied the tag for the second out, before Hudicka delivered Panther Valley's only base hit and run, with a single."He is such a gifted athlete," said Marian manager Tony Radocha of his catcher. "He's the most unique athlete I ever coached … you can't teach that, you can't coach that."Hitting: Well, the Colts finally found their bats and barreled it up and down the lineup. Eight of the Marian hitters collected at least one base knock. Hinkle and Mason Evitts both had two hits; Dante Salerno and Nahas each collected doubles, with Joe Inama, Nick Kubishin and Snerr each with singles. Radocha said his team's hitting has started to surface at the right time."The last couple of games we became patient at the plate," Radocha said. "With the rain last week, we spent a lot of time in the (cage) hitting, tweaking. And it showed the last couple of times we've hit the ball."The Colts put the icing on the cake in the fourth to score the final runs. There was one out when Kubishin was buried in the count (0-2). However, he was nicked by a pitch and Nahas abruptly helped his own cause by bashing a hit to the left-center ally to score the fourth run. Hinkle then added an RBI single to center."They grabbed the momentum, something we never were able to get," Panther Valley skipper Rich Evanko said. "We couldn't get that (one) hit. (Nahas) was in control, he had command of his pitches and his infield made some great plays (behind) him."SWINGS AND MISSES … Micholik struck out one, hit a batter and walked one. He threw 90 pitches, getting 64 strikes in the zone.UP NEXT … Marian is in the league playoffs, and is the top seed right now in the District 11 Class A ratings. Panther Valley has clinched a berth in the AA tournament and is seeded seventh.Panther Vy. 000 100 0 - 1 1 3Marian 012 200 x - 5 10 0Micholik and M. Goida; Nahas and Snerr. W - Nahas. L - Micholik.