ASHLAND - One big inning and one huge performance.

That’s what it took to give Pottsville Nativity it first District 11 baseball championship in school history.

The big inning was the third, and the huge performance was delivered by Nolan Ferhat.

That combination carried the Hilltoppers to a 5-2 victory over Marian on Saturday at North Schuylkill High School in the Class1A title game.

Ferhat did it all for Nativity. On the mound, he fired a complete-game three-hitter while striking out seven. At the plate, he went 3-for-4 with two triples, and delivered the game’s biggest hit - a two-run triple that tied the game in the third inning and led to a five-run explosion.

“Nolan is our guy,” said first-year Nativity head coach Ben Kreiger. “He’s our No. 1 pitcher, he’s our No. 1 centerfielder, he’s our No. 1 hitter.

“Today he really stepped up in a big moment.”

With the win, Nativity advances to the PIAA Tournament where it will face District 1 champion Faith Christian on Monday. The loss ends the Colts’ season and prevents them making it back-to-back district titles.

“We didn’t play bad, but we didn’t play well enough to win a district championship,” said Marian coach Tony Radocha. “Give Nativity credit. They made a few more plays than we did today.”

The Colts looked sharp early, scoring runs in each of their first two at-bats.

In the first, starting pitcher Brian Hinkle ripped a one-out triple into left-center field and scored on Michael Gelatko’s towering sacrifice fly to deep left field. In the second, Dylan Zullo reached on an error and eventually scored on a Cole DeFrancisco single.

But Ferhat was nearly perfect after that, allowing just one hit and three baserunners the rest of the way.

“Nolan (Ferhat) did a really nice job of keeping us off balance with his slider, and preventing us from getting a lot of good swings,” said Radocha. “He’s a unicorn on the mound in that he uses his breaking ball - and he has a really good one - to set up his fastball. For most pitchers, it’s the other way around.”

While the Colts were building their early lead, Hinkle was making things look easy on the mound, allowing just one baserunner and striking out four through the first two innings.

But that changed in the Nativity third.

A single by Josh Kimber and a infield error put the first two batters on base. Ferhat followed with a triple to the fence in left-center to tie the game. A couple of seeing-eye singles gave Nativity the lead before Brandon Smith capped the outburst with a two-run double to deep right.

“Hands down, Hinkle was the best pitcher we faced during the regular season,” said Kreiger. “So we knew we would have to capitalize on any chances we got. That’s what we did in the third inning.”

Hinkle blanked Nativity the rest of the way, but the damage had been done.

“Getting their eight and nine hitters on to start the inning was obviously big for them,” Radocha said. “We had an error, they had a couple of bouncers that found open space, and then they hit a couple of hard balls with runners on base. That’s what it usually takes to put together a big inning, and that’s what they did.”

Marian’s only threat after the Hilltoppers grabbed the lead came in the fourth when Ferhat issued his only two walks of the game. But he bounced back to get an infield pop out to end the inning.

“It’s always tough when a season comes to an end, but if you make the playoffs, your season is going to end with a loss unless you win a state championship,” said Radocha. “I’m proud of our kids. It was a really nice season.

“A couple of years ago we only had 16 kids in the entire program. This year, we had 35 kids and played a full JV schedule. Today, we started three freshman and a sophomore. So the future is bright.”

THE FIRST ... Nativity had played in seven District 11 title games without a win before ending that streak on Saturday.

HITTERS ... For Nativity (11-11), Ferhat and Nolan Kokitus both had three hits. For Marian (12-9), Hinkle, DeFrancisco and Lachlan Segedy had the only hits.

FINAL GAMES ... It was the final high school game for Colt seniors Hinkle, Segedy, Zullo, Brandon Klitsch and Bruce Hopeck.

Nativity 005 000 0 - 5 10 2

Marian 110 000 0 - 2 3 1

Ferhat and Grabowski. Hinkle and Segedy. W - Ferhat. L - Hinkle.