Entering his first season as the head baseball coach at Marian, Tony Radocha couldn't wait to see his team get on the field.

A productive offseason of throwing, hitting and fielding drills coupled with an impressive turnout for 2015 had Radocha eager to see what his squad could do.But a cruel winter that led to unplayable field conditions delayed the Colts' debut on a seemingly regular basis, forcing the coach - and players - to wait just a little bit more.Thursday's Schuylkill League Division III contest against Panther Valley finally offered Radocha a first glimpse of the capabilities of his new club.Marian got a dominant performance from starting pitcher Joe Nahas and several timely hits to down the Panthers, 6-0, in the season opener for both schools."Just to be able to start the season off with a victory, in the Schuylkill League, and in Division III, really puts an emphasis on all the hard work that we've done and makes it worthwhile," Radocha said. "It's a good start."A good start is exactly what Nahas gave the Colts (1-0, 1-0) on the mound, pitching six solid innings. The junior allowed only two hits and one walk while striking out nine.While pitching is often ahead of hitting early on in both softball and baseball, Radocha is hoping Nahas' showing was just a preview of what's to come."Pitching and defense wins games," Radocha noted. "To have somebody like that where you can toss the ball to them every five days and get that kind of performance helps your entire game plan."Joe (Nahas) has been putting the work in the entire offseason and it showed today."The Marian offense also gave Nahas plenty of support early on, scoring five runs in the first three innings."It gave me a lot more confidence pitching with the lead," said Nahas.And the Colts were able to manufacture those runs in a variety of ways.Leadoff man Dante Salerno got into scoring position by stealing second, later coming around to score on a KJ Snerr single to give Marian a 1-0 lead after the first inning.Robbie Hinkle, the No. 9 hitter, ripped a two-out single to score Mason Evitts for a 2-0 advantage after the second frame before the Colts blew it open in the third.A Nahas walk to start the inning was almost undone when Snerr nearly got caught in a rundown between first and second. But Nahas was able to distract the Panther Valley (0-1, 0-1) infielders by sprinting to third, allowing Snerr to advance to second while Nahas slid in safely just 90 feet from home.Designated hitter Daniel Keer took advantage of the opportunity, scoring Nahas and Snerr with a one-out single. Teague Schmidt brought in Keer with a single to give Marian a 5-0 advantage.The Panthers had a chance to claw back in the fourth when they loaded the bases with one out. But Nahas settled in and struck out Anthony Vavra and Blasko to end the inning."We showed some life loading the bases," said Panther Valley head coach John Cooper. "But we just needed that big hit somewhere down the line."Matt Hudicka came on in relief in the fourth inning, allowing only one hit and one run in the sixth on a ball misplayed in the outfield.With Hudicka and starter Darren Goida finding their comfort zone on the mound as the game progressed, Cooper acknowledged it's the offense, which produced only three hits, that needs to find a spark."We're going to stress a little bit more of an aggressive approach offensively," he said. "We have to put runs on the board. When you hold a team to five runs, you should be in the game, and we never were."Panther Vy. 000 000 0 - 0 3 1Marian 113 001 x - 6 9 1Goida, Hudicka (4) and Hutt; Nahas, Kubishin (7) and Snerr. W - Nahas. L - Goida.