POTTSVILLE - No baseball team has managed to solve Marian in the postseason.

Not North Schuylkill. Not Tamaqua. And not Tri-Valley.There was a looming cloud hovering over James Steidle Field on Memorial Day, but that was the only black cloud that had a chance at cooling off the Colts and their splendid senior pitcher Joe Nahas.Riding the near perfect pitching performance of Nahas, Marian made Tri-Valley its latest victim, socking it to the Bulldogs 7-0. In the process, the Colts reaped more gold, following up their Schuylkill League title by winning the District 11 Class A championship - the first for the program since 2001.Marian had the right stuff on this special day. Nahas was the guy on the spot and the right-hander responded true-to-form as he whiffed 13 batters, walked one and gave up only a single in the top of the fifth to Hunter Herb.Herb's opposite-field single to left broke the bid for a perfect game, but didn't derail Nahas's dominant performance."Nahas was tough," said Tri-Valley manager Bobby Felty Sr. "They're a very good team. You can't make the mistakes like we did today… they're a very quality team, and I wish them the best."Nahas used his overpowering fastball to set the stage for his breaking pitch."I had a big rest coming in and that helped," said Nahas. "I was also throwing more securely on the mound with the early lead we were able to build."The Marian offense had a lot of pop and the Colts were spot-on with their hitting. In all, they banged around losing pitcher Willie Kimmel for 10 hits. Danny Keer was at his best in what may be his finest moment. He slugged away for four hits in four trips and drove in three runs. Dante Salerno had a pair of singles and two RBIs. Robbie Hinkle drilled a run-scoring double, and Aaron DeAngelo had a triple.Marian took a quick punch at the Bulldogs in the first inning to set the tone. After Salerno walked, he came around to score on Hinkle's double down the left field line. There were two outs in the second when DeAngelo delivered his triple. He scored on a Solano single for a 2-0 Colt lead after two innings."(DeAngelo) has really come around," said Marian head coach Tony Radocha. "He has those long arms and when he (extends) them he can make solid contact. You saw it right there with the triple."Momentum was about to break the Bulldogs' back in the fourth inning as the Colts jacked the lead to 4-0 taking advantage of two errors, along with singles from Nahas and Salerno.Marian made it a 5-0 ballgame an inning later, when Snerr singled and scored on Keer's third hit of the day.Marian finally put the last dagger into the Bulldogs with two runs in the home sixth. Again Keer was the man as he drove in DeAngelo, who had reached on an error, and Salerno, who was hit by the pitch."We're better at situational hitting now than we were earlier in the year," said Radocha. "We're putting the ball in play, moving runners along, and getting clutch hits."Heading into the seventh, the only thing remaining was three more outs for Marian and Nahas. And that happened in a fitting manner, as Nahas struck out the side to cap a championship day."Joe was phenomenal on the mound," said Radocha, in his second season as the Colts' head coach. "But this was a complete team effort. I'm so proud of them, you couldn't ask for more."Marian catcher K.J. Snerr also sang the praises of his batterymate."He did exactly what we wanted him to do," said Snerr. "He likes to work fast and when he gets into that rhythm he's a dominating pitcher. His curve can be great at times."Speaking of great, that's something Marian has been this postseason.For sure, all that glitters has been gold so far for the Colts."That's two," smiled Snerr, referring to the league and district titles. "Now let's go and get another gold!"LAST TIME OUT… Marian fell to the Bulldogs during the regular season, 5-3. Nahas did not pitch in that game.HARD WORK … Nahas said he was preparing for this game the day after his team fell to Tri-Valley in the district semis last year. "I started to get ready for this game last year," he explained. "I prepared in the off season with the lifting and workouts."ON THE AGENDA … Marian will not play until next Monday against the District 1 champion. The game will be played somewhere in District 11.DOWN BUT NOT OUT … Home plate umpire Delmar Phillips, of Frackville, took a nasty foul ball off his mask, which stunned the veteran. He was unable to return, and gave way to another veteran, Mark Onushco, who started the game umping first base.Tri-Valley 000 000 0 - 0 1 6Marian 110 212 x - 7 10 0Kimmel and Poletti; Nahas and Snerr. W - Nahas. L - Kimmel.