MIDDLEPORT -To say that Marian's offense has been hot to start the year would be an understatement.

Entering Monday's Schuylkill League contest against rival Mahanoy Area, the Colts were averaging just over 12 runs per game and came in with a team batting average of over .400.After a slow start, the trend continued, as Marian closed strong to dispatch the Golden Bears 12-2 in five innings."We're seeing the ball real well and we're hitting the ball real well," said Marian head coach Jeff Nietz. "I have to give a ton of credit to my coaches for that. The one thing we've been able to do with all of this bad weather we've had this preseason is get a lot of hitting drills in."Normally, pitchers come out of the winter ahead of the batters. But this year, I think all of that extra drill time really helped and the kids are seeing the ball well and they're batting smart; they're not chasing pitches. They're hitting pitches they know they can drive or they can put in play and it's really helping us."That patient approach paid dividends for the Colts (4-1) on this day, as the team erased an early 2-0 deficit in the third inning, drawing even on a Dante Salerno single and Peter Baddick sacrifice fly.Marian wasted little time capitalizing on the momentum, scoring four runs in the fourth and six in the fifth to put the game away.As they have all season, the Colts got contributions from the entire lineup, as all but three starters scored runs.Salerno, Frank Nietz and KJ Snerr all had two hits, while Baddick finished with three RBIs in addition to drawing a walk, one of nine issued by the Golden Bears (0-5) in the contest.While satisfied with the numbers his team has put up, Nietz is even more impressed with the way his team has been able to produce runs this season."I'm extremely pleased," the coach said. "Five games into the season, if you would have told me that we would have close to 60 hits (as a team) and score the way we have, I might shake my head a little bit."But we've played quality teams, and I think the fact that we've been able to do a lot of different things (at the plate) will pay off for us down the line if we're in a close game and we need a bunt or a hit-and-run."Not only were the Colts aggressive at the plate, they also finished with seven stolen bases, routinely putting the Golden Bears fielders on their heels which led to several costly throwing errors.'When you play a team like Marian, you know coming in that they're going to put a ton of pressure on you," said Mahanoy coach Jason Gerber. "They're going to put pressure on you in their running game and in their small-ball game. They're just going to put pressure on you the entire game and they're going to force you into errors and bad plays."They played their game today and they forced us into errors later on in the game."Another reason the Golden Bears were unable to make plays late in the game was due in large part to the pitching performance of Colts' starter Rob Hinkle, who struck out eight and didn't allow a hit in his last two innings of work."I got into a little bit of a hole early," said Hinkle, "but my curve ball was really working well and I just got into a groove after that."And once the offense kicked in, everything really started to click and we were just on a roll then."Mahanoy 101 00 - 2 3 3Marian 002 46 - 12 9 3Davies, Evitts (4) and Fegley; Hinkle and Nietz. WP - Hinkle. LP - Davies.