PINE GROVE - What a difference a year makes.

Last season, Marian ended king of the hill on the baseball diamond after the Colts pulled off a pair of stunning wins in the 2016 Schuylkill Baseball League playoffs at Stump Stadium to claim the title.First, they rocked North Schuylkill's ego, and then they stopped Tamaqua in the championship matchup.Now, with hardly any starters back from a season ago, Marian coach Tony Radocha's game of checkmate couldn't surround the King with enough Rooks, Castles and soldiers Monday evening against Blue Mountain.The Division 1 champion Eagles found the bottom half of their order to be extremely productive in an 8-3 victory in this Spotts Insurance Group Schuylkill League Baseball semifinal game. The victory lifts Blue Mountain into Wednesday's 7 p.m. title game against Schuylkill Haven, who upended Pottsville 5-4."We had all the respect for (Marian), but we just didn't know what to expect," said Blue Mountain skipper Tom Kramer. "We don't get to see them (during) the (regular) season, and it's easy to sit (in the stands) and look at a team and say this or that. But you actually don't really know what they're like until you are on that field."The Eagles received a nifty three-hit pitching performance from 6-foot-5 right-hander Brett Caulfield, one of only a handful of seniors. Caulfield went six innings, giving up just a second-inning double to Jarod Paisley, a third-inning single to Danny Keer, and a seventh-inning single to freshman Aaron Mason."They're a quality baseball team," said Radocha. "They've got great pitching, and they hit the ball. They took advantage of the pitches; they took advantage (of) what we couldn't. They made the plays; they hit the ball very well."Blue Mountain's bottom of the order racked up five of their combined eight hits, led by Ben Kramer, who singled twice and scored twice. The Eagles struck for seven of their runs in the first three innings, including a four-run rally in the top of the second."We tell our bottom of the order you should pay us to let you play," chuckled Kramer. "They hit the ball today; they were the difference for us."Blue Mountain manufactured a first-inning run using a walk, a bunt sacrifice and a Vinny Bobbin single (one of his two hits) to produce a 1-0 lead. Marian (11-8), the league's Division 3 champs, got stung in the second when it watched the Eagles (16-4) score four times, collecting four hits. Kramer singled, and one out later, Justin Hammer doubled down the right field line to make it a 2-0 score. A walk, and a fielder's choice made it 3-0. There were two outs when Danny Greenawalt lofted a shallow fly just behind third base, and when shortstop Adam Salazar tried making the long run up the foul line, the ball was touched in fair territory, dropping in for a two-run single. Before the inning ended, Bobbin knocked in another run for a 5-0 lead.The Colts, however, answered with their best rally of the night. Max Nolter and Paisley laced back-to-back singles before Gabe Bauer picked up an RBI on a ground out, and a pair of wild pitches allowed the second run to score.After that short-lived rally, Marian ran out of steam and could only watch the Eagles stay at arms-length. The Colts did fill the bases with no outs in the bottom of the seventh, but they just couldn't pull the trigger on a comeback."They seemed to get all the timely hits, but we just couldn't get one there," said Radocha of his team's final at-bats.KEER GOT THE NOD ... Radocha gave his No. 1 pitcher Keer the nod to open the series and he went four innings, tossing 95 pitches (57 for strikes). Paisley finished the final three frames with 55 pitches - 30 strikes. Caulfield's numbers had him throwing 96, 63 in the strike zone.FROM THE RADIO BOOTH ... Dave "Whitey" Williams and John Cooper teamed up for the radio listening audience on WMGH-105.5 FM. Both will be back at it on Wednesday in the title fray.HATS OFF TO BUFF ... In the other semifinal game, Haven's Scott Buffington won his 600th game. The 40-year coach has a record of 600-248.Blue Mtn. 142 000 1 - 8 8 2Marian 020 000 1 - 3 4 1Caulfield, Grace (7) and Bobbin; Keer, Paisley (5) and Nolter. W - Caulfield. L - Keer.