When Weatherly’s Amanda Colecio slammed a solo home run in the top of the first, it looked like a grand start for the Wreckers against Marian.

As much as Weatherly was hoping for it to be a sign, an omen, it turned out to be just a little bit of a tease.

Marian had too much to offer, too much at the plate, and solid pitching from Lyndsey Reinoehl as it eventually rolled to a five-inning 13-3 victory on Wednesday.

The win was key to keeping the Fillies (4-2, 3-0) neck-and-neck with rival Mahanoy Area in the Schuylkill Softball League Division III chase. Both are undefeated and are scheduled to play Friday if the forecasted rains hold off.

No matter what, Marian wasn’t going to overlook the Wreckers (1-3, 1-3).

The Fillies dug their heels in immediately in their first at-bats, erasing the 1-0 deficit by scoring three times. They then exploded for four more runs in the second and doomed Weatherly’s fate with s six-run home fifth, ending the game on the 10-run rule.

“We’re hitting much better this year,” said second-year Marian skipper Kyle Faust. “That’s because we put a lot of emphasis in the offseason and preseason to make sure our approach was better than last season.”

Obviously that showed up with 12 hits in the victory.

Emily Shaud, Athena Matenkoski, Mia Nemeth, Rio Malarkey and Reinoehl each singled in the first rally. In the second inning, Marian had but one single by Nemeth, but took advantage of two walks and two errors to skirt in front 7-1.

Although the Wreckers were still hanging in the balance, and cut the deficit to 7-3 with a pair of runs in the fourth, but the outmanned club had to do a lot of improvising, in the words of their manager Will Bartel.

“We had a lot of kids sick, one player left for a trip, so we were a little undermanned,” said Bartel. “But hey, they’re a heck of a team. Reinoehl is a tough pitcher, but I thought we held our own all things considered.”

In addition to the home run from Colecio, Ali Bloom and Hailey Wagner each singled for Weatherly. In the Weatherly fourth, it loaded the bases using a pair of walks and an error which set the tables for Bloom, who singled through the box for an RBI with one away. However, Reinoehl never gave in as a strike out and a flyout killed off the threat.

“The only mistake Lyndsey made was the hanging change up to a good hitter (Colecio),” said Faust. “We responded well, came back and did what we had to win.”

The Fillies sent 12 batters to the plate in the fifth inning. There were four singles in the rally, one each from Macey Alansky, Shaud, Reinoehl and Matenkoski, coupled with three walks and a hit batter.

Weatherly didn’t go silently in its last at-bat. After a leadoff walk to Alex Colecio, Reinoehl got two strikeouts, before Wagner poked a single to center, but Marian first baseman Malarkey snared a line drive for the final out of the game.

BY THE NUMBERS… Winning pitcher Reinoehl finished with eight strikeouts and two walks. She also had a pair of hits on the offensive side and was on base all four times, also drawing two walks. Matenkoski drove in three runs and Nemeth two.

COUNTING PITCHES… Losing pitcher Amanda Wilkson steadied herself after a pair of long innings in which she threw 56 pitches. Reinoehl was on target with 37 through the first three innings, struggled with a 35-pitch fourth and 20 in the last.

Weatherly 100 20 – 3 3 2

Marian 340 6 – 13 12 1

Wilkson and Miller; Reinoehl and Shaud. W – Reinoehl. L – Wilkinson. HR: Weatherly - Am. Colecio (1st, none on).