The Marion Indians began the 2013 baseball season with five straight losses, but my-oh-my take a look at them now.

The Indians swept Vinton-Shellsburg, 3-2 in nine innings and 5-2, to move to the top of the Wamac Conference in their division Wednesday night.

“We clinched at least a tie with Benton for the championship of the Western Division,” said Marion Coach Steve Fish. “These kids have been through a lot and they have worked hard for this kind of success.”

Marion worked overtime to win the first game. The Indians (17-12, 15-9) had eight hits, walked nine times and were helped by six errors by Vinton-Shellsburg.

Alex Charipar drove in Logan Fuller with a single in the ninth inning for the victory.

“I went up there looking for a fastball and got one on the first pitch and drove it to left,” said Charipar. “It kind of bothered me that they walked (Trev) Biery twice in the game to pitch to me.

"I was trying to move the runners and I hit it pretty well. We just couldn’t seem to string anything together.”

Nick Connolly started the opener for Marion and went four innings, giving up two runs on only one hit. Levi Lochner relieved in the fifth inning and finished the game for the win, striking out six while yielding two hits.

“I expected to pitch,” said Lochner, who has thrown two no-hitters this season. “Maybe not that many innings, but a sweep was really important so I was ready.”

Fuller collected two hits and Christian Stekl had an RBI single in the fifth inning to tie the game, 2-2.

Biery and Caleb Stekl had a pair of hits to lead the Indians in the nightcap. Fuller and Caleb Stekl had three hits in the twinbill.

“It was a bit frustrating to get intentionally walked twice in the first game,” said Biery. “We had a bit of an advantage because they weren’t throwing many curveballs for strikes so we could sit on fastballs.”

“I only saw two curveballs all night,” said Caleb Stekl. “I caught 16 innings and it didn’t seem to affect my hitting. I just kept making good contact.”

Quinn Cannoy went the distance in the second game, giving up five hits with five strikeouts and delivering a key two-run double in the second inning to give the Indians the early lead.

“The win in game one gave us the momentum we needed for game two,” said Cannoy. "I texted Coach on Sunday that if he needed to use me Monday and Wednesday this week that I could go.”

No one anticipated that game-two starter Gage Kray would hurt his shoulder diving for a ball down the third base line in the first game to eliminate his start on the mound in game two, but the good news was that Cannoy was ready.

“I think that Kray is going to be OK. We just didn’t want to take any chances,” said Fish. “All three of our pitchers threw great tonight and we really needed it.

“This is a great group of kids. We have come a long way. We still have some baserunning and bunting details to work out, but we are a long way from where we were when the season started.”

GAME 1

VINTON-SHELLSBURG (2): Sagan, cf, 4 0 0 1, Pearson, 2b, 4 0 0 0, Ferguson, lf, 3 1 0 0, Ervin, c, 3 0 1 0, Henderson, cr, 0 0 0 0, Moen, p, 4 0 0 0, Griffith, rf, 4 0 1 1, Dinderman, 3b, 4 0 0 0, Williams, 1b, 2 1 1 0, Overton, ss, 2 0 0 0. Totals 30 2 3 2.

MARION (3): Fuller, 2b, 3 2 2 0, Ch.Stekl, ss, 2 0 1 1, Biery, 1b, 3 0 0 0, Charipar, cf, 4 0 1 1, Kray, 3b, 2 0 1 0, Lochner, p, 2 0 0 0, Hardman, rf, 3 0 1 0, Ca.Stekl, c, 1 0 1 0, Larsen cr, 0 0 0 0, Kuhn, dh/3b, 4 0 0 0, Connolly, p, 0 0 0 0, Cannoy, lf, 2 1 1 0. Totals 26 3 8 2.

Vinton-Shellsburg   001 100 000 - 2 3 6
Marion                    001 010 001 - 3 8 4

Moen and Ervin. Connolly, Lochner(5) and Ca.Stekl. W - Lochner. L - Moen. SB - Ferguson 2, Ervin, Griffith, Ch.Stekl.

GAME 2

VINTON-SHELLSBURG (2): Sagan, cf, 2 0 1 1, Pearson, 2b, 2 0 1 0, Ferguson, lf, 3 0 0 0, Ervin, p, 3 0 0 0, Davis, p, 0 0 0 0, Moen, 1b, 3 0 0 0, Griffith, rf, 3 0 1 0, Dinderman, 3b, 2 1 1 0, Williams, 1b, 2 1 1 0, Henderson, c, 2 0 0 1. Totals 22 2 5 2.

MARION (3): Fuller, 2b, 4 0 1 2, Ch.Stekl, ss, 4 1 1 0, Biery, 1b, 2 0 2 1, Charipar, cf, 3 0 0 0, Ca.Stekl, c, 3 0 2 0, Larsen cr, 0 2 0 0, Hardman, rf, 1 1 0 0, Kuhn, 3b, 2 1 1 0, Connolly lf, 3 0 0 0, Cannoy, p, 3 0 1 2, Carstensen, cr, 0 0 0 0.  Totals 25 5 8 5.

Vinton-Shellsburg  000 010 1 - 2 5 2
Marion                   020 012 x - 5 8 0

Ervin, Davis (6) and Henderson. Cannoy and Ca.Stekl. W - Cannoy. L - Ervin. 2B - Williams, Ch.Stekl, Cannoy. SB - Kuhn.