Marian was forced to play an unconventional "away-away" doubleheader on Saturday.

The Colts erased a 6-0 deficit against Schuylkill League rival Weatherly Saturday morning by scoring 16 unanswered runs.Marian then had to immediately travel route 209 to Panther Valley for a non-league game. The Colts made it back-to-back mercy rule victories with an 11-1 win over the Panthers."We had two big games today and we didn't want to let down," said Marian head coach Jeff Nietz. "In the first game we wanted to rest some guys. Weatherly battled and put us in a tough spot but we were able to bounce back and see what we were really made of as a team."Mother nature was once again uncooperative in the second game of the doubleheader, as the two teams played through a downpour for the first two innings, as the game remained scoreless.The Marian bats and the sun both started to shine in the top of the third inning as the Colts put up a five spot on the scoreboard.Colt senior Frank Nietz blasted a home run over the right field fence that scored three runs and gave some life to the Marian offense.The Marian coach said, "Frank was a little upset that he struck out in the first inning so I got in his ear a little bit about it. He hit his first ever career home run and it lit the fire for everyone else that inning. I'm very happy for him."Luke Stawick was extremely efficient for Marian on the mound against the Panthers. Stawick tossed a complete game; scattering six hits and striking out three batters.Nietz said, "Our senior leadership is huge. Frank had a great day at the plate and Luke was tremendous on the mound. The younger kids are feeding off of their strong performances."Stawick had a strong outing on the mound, but the Panthers have also been having trouble manufacturing runs this season"We've been in a long funk this season and haven't been scoring runs," said Panther Valley head coach John Cooper. "We had to play from behind early on and it took the "small ball" approach out of play. It kind of snowballed, as they got the big three-run homer and had a big third inning."Although it wasn't a great day for the Panthers, Cooper saw some encouraging play from his younger talent."I thought Matt Hudicka played a good center field today and had a few good at bats. Darren Goida also came in to pitch late in the game did well. It's been a season-long struggle for our offense but we have to keep swinging and trying to get out of it."Not only is Marian now on a five-game win streak, they also qualify for district playoffs with the victory against Weatherly. The Colts have a big stretch of games coming up this week to close out the regular season.Nietz explained, "We don't want to look pass anybody this week. We need to keep the momentum going this week and play our best. Every game from here on out is preparation for the post season."Marian 005 131 1 - 11 13 1Panthery Vy. 000 100 0 - 1 6 3Stawick and Snerr; Stano, Goida (5) and Buss. W - Stawick. L - Stano. HR: Marian - Nietz (3rd, two on).