GREAT BEND – If Mike Watt wanted to pick a most outstanding player for his team's championship run in the Class 2-1A state baseball tournament, the veteran Pittsburg St. Mary's Colgan coach would have one tough decision on his hands. 

There was no shortage of candidates for the Panthers, who thrived in all facets en route to a state-record 21st state championship. 

Eighth-seeded Colgan sealed a dominant tournament with a 13-3 run-rule win in six innings over Marion in the title game on Friday night at Great Bend Sports Complex.

The Panthers outscored their opponents 35-8 over the three games, starting with a 12-5 win over top-seeded Little River in the quarterfinal. 

"We made one error the whole three games,” said Watt, who now has 17 titles as Panthers' coach. “That's a team effort. That's not any one individual. When you can play such good defense and don't walk many people, that just gives you an opportunity to win.

"I couldn't pick one person to say, hey, they won this thing for us. It was definitely a team effort all the way around." 

While it was hard to say who turned in the most valuable performance, there was no question who had the gutsiest. 

Though Colgan built an early cushion with six runs over the first two innings in the title game, Panthers' starting pitcher John Potusek started to labor in the bottom of the second inning.  After Marion cut the Colgan lead to 6-3,  Watt briefly considered making a move on the mound. 

But Potusek was rock solid for the rest of the way, holding Marion scoreless for the next four innings to finish out the six-inning complete game. 

“I was pretty close (to making a change). They were hitting him pretty hard,” Watt said. “He threw about 26 pitches (Thursday) so I think it took him a little bit of time to get loose. It took him about two or three innings to really start hitting his spots. He has a great breaking pitch and he found his groove. He loves to be in the spotlight out there."

Potusek scattered seven hits with just one walk while striking out three. 

“I was just thinking, 'I got my defense behind me.' I locked back in and got 'er done," Potusek said. 

“The curve was working there late so I kept throwing it. They were out front. It just kept working when I was filling it up for strikes."

Potusek was involved in a scary moment at the plate in the top of the sixth when he was hit by a pitch in the helmet and cheek. He was initially shaken up, but stayed in the game after being checked out by Colgan's athletic trainer.

“It kind of got my face and helmet at the same time," Potusek said. "I'm just glad I could stay in and finish things up."

Colgan scored twice in the top of the first on a RBI hit from Kysen Bennett and an RBI groundout from Carston Simmons. The Panthers then took control in the second with a four-run frame. Gus Keller doubled in a run and Colgan also had two hit batters, drew a walk and took advantage of an error in second. 

"That definitely took the pressure off me, having those insurance runs. We'd been doing it all state tournament long," Potusek said. "It's just great having everyone hitting the ball, and the defense is incredible. All through the lineup, there's no weakness anywhere."
 
Marion answered back with two runs in the bottom of the second but left the bases loaded. The Warriors (21-3) struggled to create scoring chances the rest of the way. 

Cooper Bailey got the start in the title game for the Warriors, going two innings. Jack Lanning, Ian Ingels and Trever Schafers all threw in relief. 

The Panthers put the game away with three runs in the fifth and three more in the sixth to help force the run rule.

Carter Jacquinot, Cooper Simmons and Bennett each had two-hit games. Colgan finished with 10 hits and drew nine walks.

"There were so many good at-bats where we just fouled pitches off and then put a ball in play and moved a runner, or put a ball in play and scored a runner," Watt said.
 

 
Bennett, a junior, was exceptional on the mound in Colgan's 10-0 semifinal win over Onaga, tossing a two-hit complete-game shutout with 12 strikeouts. 

"I talked to him this morning about his experience. He threw as a freshman out here in a 15-inning game with Valley Center, " Watt said. "And he came out last year against Colony-Crest and threw well; we kind of broke down defensively behind him. That experience he's had is invaluable. 

"Today he looked a seasoned veteran. He didn't have any of that pressure on him that a lot of guys feel."
 

Colgan (15-11) took its lumps in a 3A-heavy CNC League in the regular season and had four losses to out-of-state programs.

"Our league is so competitive and our non-conference schedule is competitive," Watt said. "Sometimes people go, 'Why do you play those schools?' Well, it exposes our weaknesses and shows us what we need to work on, and it exposes the things we do well, too. It really pays off well down the road."

"Coach Watt always says, 'Make sure you learn from your wins and your losses,' " Potusek said. "Even when we lose, we learn what we did good and what we did bad. It shows when we get to state."

Marion had a huge game at the plate in the semifinals, taking a 16-8 win over previously-unbeaten Elkhart. The win avenged a gut-wrenching 3-2 loss for Marion in the 2019 state championship game against the Wildcats. 

"Huge win for our program," Marion coach Roger Schroeder said. "Really sealed a wound up from 2019. None of our guys were on that team, so I don't mean it like there was some scar tissue for our guys, but just for our program. I talked to a couple of alumni guys who were here supporting us. They might have been happier than me after the game just to have some closure with that. I thought we competed well tonight, too, we just didn't have our best.

"I joked that I'm another notch in Mike Watt's belt. He is one of the greatest coaches in the history of our sport in the state of Kansas, if not the greatest. I wish we would've played better, I wish we would've given them a little more competition tonight. It just wasn't our night."
 

Marion will have to replace five seniors -- Ingels, Hayden Mendoza, Brayden Hulett, Mitchell Norris and Nathan Hoffner. 

"This senior class has left their mark and that's something to be extremely proud of," Schroeder said. "It's raw and we're disappointed because when we stepped on the field tonight we expected to win the game, and we put ourselves in position to have a fighting chance until the last couple of innings when it got away from us. We're going to hang a banner on our fence. It's not the one we wanted, but still a very good accomplishment."

The Panthers, who claimed their first state title since 2016, should be equipped to contend for a repeat next year, losing just two seniors -- Jacquinot and Colin Hite. 

Watt has eight players on this year’s team whose fathers also played for the 38-year Panther coach. 

"That's what makes St. Mary's Colgan such a great place -- it's family oriented," Watt said. "It's a tight-knit unit. It really is."

Elkhart rebounded to take third place with a 3-2 win over Onaga. Wildcat senior Kage Ralstin had one of the highlights of the tournament, tossing a no-hitter in a 2-0 first-round win over KC Christian.