DULUTH — It doesn’t take much to get Owen Marsolek’s competitive juices flowing.

After cruising through the opening two innings of Wednesday’s Great Plains divisional championship game against Mankato, Marsolek found himself trailing in a count, 3-0, with two outs in the third frame.

Marsolek’s fourth pitch painted the corner for a strike, but Mankato’s Caleb Koskie had already tossed his bat toward the dugout after a perceived fourth ball.

“He tossed his bat because he thought it was ball four,” Marsolek said. “I knew it was over at that point.”

Marsolek delivered two subsequent strikes and retired Koskie, the son of Twins Hall of Famer Corey Koskie, swinging. It shifted the momentum and propelled Marsolek to six shutouts innings in which he struck out four, walked just two and surren

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