Marion High School pitcher David Kuhn had an ERA that was higher than his GPA last year, so he dedicated himself to baseball this winter, took lessons from a college coach and matured on the mound this season.

The results have been dramatic.

Kuhn has tossed two no-hitters this season, and although he was not in peak form Wednesday night he pitched a complete game as Marion clipped Maquoketa, 7-5, in the nightcap of a Wamac Conference twinbill at Marion.

Quinn Cannoy pitched a strong game in a 2-1 victory in the opener as Marion swept the doubleheader, raising its records to 14-10 overall and 11-7 in league contests.

Kuhn, a junior, has a 5-1 record and 2.21 ERA this season. That compares favorably to last year's numbers, when he was 1-4 with a 6.15 ERA.

"It's confidence," said Marion Coach Steve Fish. "He's grown up a little bit. He doesn't put everything on his back. He trusts his defense.

"Sometimes he over-thinks things," said Fish, "but he's done a nice job for us."

Kuhn is definitely a thinker, with a 4.0 GPA and a 30 on the ACT college entrance exam. He's taken pitching and hitting lessons from Cornell Coach Seth Wing in addition to his work with the Marion coaches.

"Just working on mechanics," he said. "Trying to get the velocity up, but not even the velocity so much. Just hitting the zone, because that was my big problem last year.

"I walked a lot of guys. My strikeout-to-walk ratio was not good. But this year I have a little more command on the ball. That helps out a lot."

Kuhn, a right-hander, had 25 strikeouts and 23 walks in 27.1 innings last season. This year he's collected 51 strikeouts in 38 innings, with only 13 walks.

He struck out 10 batters and walked only one Wednesday against Maquoketa (14-11).

Kuhn and the Indians were cruising with a 7-0 lead on a one-hitter after four innings, but things got a little choppy after that. Maquoketa rallied for three runs in the fifth inning and added single tallies in the sixth and seventh, but Kuhn battled through some tough luck and finished the game with his 10th strikeout.

John Carstenson had a two-run double for Marion in the second game. Gage Kray and Bobby Vanderlind had two hits.

Cannoy was nicked for an unearned run in the first inning of the opener, but he shrugged it off and did not allow a runner to reach third base the rest of the game. Cannoy raised his record to 4-2 and lowered his ERA to 1.41.

Marion scored twice in the bottom of the first inning of the opener for a 2-1 lead on a sacrifice fly by Cannoy and an RBI single by Carstenson. Nobody scored again the rest of the night and Cannoy finished with a four-hitter.

Game 1

Maquoketa     100 000 0 - 1 4 2
Marion          200 000 x - 2 2 2
W - Cannoy.  L - Gilmore.

Game 2

Maquoketa     000 031 1 - 5 9 3
Marion          303 100 x - 7 11 1

W - Kuhn. L - Strathman.