This one was a thing of beauty.

The way the grand old game was meant to be played.

Pitching, defense, small ball, execution. It was without a doubt grand entertainment.

Panther Valley and Marian - who year-after-year in sport-after-sport provide one of the hottest rivalries in the region - put on a terrific display of baseball Wednesday afternoon in a Schuylkill League Division 3 matchup.

There was the “Big Cat” on the mound for the Panthers – Steven Hood.

There was “Mr. Finesse” on the bump for the Colts – Brain Hinkle.

In the end, Hood and his teammates found a way to endure and pull out a thrilling 5-1 decision that took eight innings to decide.

“This is always one of the toughest teams to play … it’s Marian-Panther Valley,” said Panther Valley coach Rich Evanko. “We expected a pitcher’s duel, Hinkle is heck of a pitcher ,,, he’s one of the better pitchers in the league. We knew it was going to be a dogfight.”

Hood departed with one out in the eight, having reached his pitch count limit, but not before striking out a career high 14 batters. The Panther ace was so close to perfection before surrendering the tying run in the home seventh.

But despite Hood’s dominance the game was still tied heading into the seventh thanks to a gutsy effort from Marian’s Hinkle, who was matching Hood goose egg for goose egg.

“Stephen matched Hinkle,” Evanko said. “That’s the thing, you want your pitcher to match their guy. Stephen threw a gem, he felt comfortable… he had it going. It wasn’t ideal baseball weather, but he had a feel for everything.”

Panther Valley finally broke through in the top of the seventh, pushing across the game’s first run thanks to the one-two combination of Drew Kokinda and Brady Breiner, with a little help from Tyler Black.

Kokinda singled to open the top of the inning, Black then laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt, before Breiner smoked a first pitch RBI single to left plating Kokinda. But Hinkle stayed the course and wiggled out of further trouble to keep his team within striking distance.

Down to its final at-bat, Marian answered.

Hood was nothing short of spectacular up until that point. His arsenal of pitches - from a fast-moving heater to a slick curve and a timely changeup - had kept the explosive Colt offense hitless up until that point.

“He’s one of the best pitchers in the entire state,” said Marian manager Tony Radocha about the Panthers’ 6-5 junior.

Despite being mowed down by Hood time and again, Marian dug in for its last chance at bats. Chase Petrilyak belted a hard grounder to third that was misplayed for an error, giving the Colts a lifeline.

“That ball was really smoked,” Evanko said about Petrilyak’s shot.

After Petrilyak got on base, Radocha duplicated the PV strategy from the top of inning - by calling for a bunt. Hinkle laid it down the way it’s taught, advancing the tying run to second.

Mike Gelatko made the strategy pay off as the strapping sophomore used his soft hands to punch a breaking pitch to right, and Petrilyak never broke stride racing home with the tying run. It was the Colts’ first and only hit of the game.

But Hood was junkyard tough. He never wavered, stood tall and quickly regrouped to avoid further trouble and force extra innings.

The Colts were forced to pull Hinkle in the eight after he reached the 100-pitch limit, and the Panthers took advantage of that against freshman Cole DeFrancesco.

The Panthers sent nine men to the plate, getting one RBI each from Breiner and Chase Weaver, and a pair from Mike Pascoethat finally put the dagger into the Colts.

Marian did put a runner on base with one out in the eighth, but Pascoe came on in relief to squelch any thoughts of another late rally by striking out both batters he faced.

“We played with one of the best teams in the state even for seven innings - the only problem was the game went eight,” said Radocha.

WEB GEMS … Both teams came up with some superb play in the field. Marian’s Joey Walko lined a tailing seed to right that Black tracked down to take away a single or possibly even extra bases. Marian’s centerfielder Petrilyak was stellar as well as he chased down three would-be extra-base hits.

BRODY TIME … Breiner was Mr. Clutch at the plate twice for the Panthers hitting out of the 9-hole. He drove in his team’s first run in the seventh, and then added another RBI in the eighth.

HEADS UP ON THE BASES … Panther Valley pinch runner Brennan Kunkel went from first to third on a bunt sacrifice by Hayden Goida in the eighth. It was a heads-up play on the part of the freshman, as it turned up the pressure on the Marian pitcher and defense as he game was still tied 1-1 at that point.

FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME ... Colt assistant John “Pelsie” Petrilyak just loves to make the Marian field one of the best to play on. He takes time off from his job, and makes sure the Marian field is in tip-top-shape, Bravo!

Panther Vy. 000 000 14 – 5 7 1

Marian 000 000 10 – 1 1 1

S. Hood, Pascoe (8) and Orsulak; Hinkle, DeFrancesco (8) and Walko. W – S. Hood L – DeFrancesco.