ROBINSON TWP — It takes some pitchers a couple of innings to find their edge.

Hopewell’s lineup found Dylan Rotz sharp as a tack right from the start.

Mars’ junior limited the Vikings to just two hits in a complete game as the Planets posted a 3-0 win in a WPIAL Class AAA baseball quarterfinal Thursday afternoon at the Burkett Complex.

Rotz totaled six strikeouts, including the first two batters of the game.

“I threw my fastball a lot and tried to mix in my change-up and curveball,” Rotz said. “Getting that first-pitch strike on batters is very important for me. I rely on the other guys to give me energy. It was an awesome atmosphere.”

The Planets (14-5) will face Chartiers Valley, a 2-1 victor over Laurel Highlands, in the semifinals at a date, time and site to be determined.

Rotz allowed a single to Tim Sabo in the top of the second inning and a double to Chris Skelton in the third. Both were stranded at third base.

“We executed our game plan early on,” said Hopewell coach Mike Shuleski. “We got guys on and moved them into scoring position, but sometimes, you can square a ball up and it just doesn’t find a gap. That’s baseball.”

Rotz continued to impress Mars coach Andy Bednar.

“Coming into the season, I was looking at Dylan as a second or third starter for us, but he has been outstanding for us all year long,” he said. “He threw only 80 pitches today and I’d say 75 percent of them were strikes.”

The third and final baserunner Rotz allowed was a two-out walk to Anthony Bonavita in the fourth.

“He attacked our hitters the whole game,” said Shuleski. “And he used the whole strike zone. A lot of our strikeouts, it’s not like we were swinging at bad pitches. They were in the zone, we just couldn’t get to them.”

Hopewell sophomore pitcher Joe Rock was matching zeros on the scoreboard with Rotz through four innings. In the bottom of the fifth, however, he left the door open for Mars and the Planets broke through.

Eli Brooks led off with a single before Isaiah Johnson put down a perfect sacrifice bunt that turned into an infield single.

Brandon Wetherholt was instructed to advance the runners with a bunt of his own. Rock fielded the ball and tried to force out Brooks at third base, but the throw was late and glanced off the glove of third baseman Skelton and bounced into foul territory, allowing Brooks to score the game’s first run.

Things went from bad to worse for the Vikings. Zarek Simkovich reached on a fielding error to load the bases before Jack Anderson smacked a two-run double to left field for a 3-0 lead.

“We laid down a couple of bunts that Hopewell wasn’t able to handle and we took advantage,” said Bednar. “The hit by Jack was big.”

“Earlier in the game, he (Rock) was using his off-speed stuff to get out in front of us,” said Anderson. “But he started to leave his change-up up in the zone, like with the pitch I hit.”

Rock suffered no further damage in the inning, forcing the Planets to strand runners at second and third. But with the way Rotz was breezing through the Viking lineup, a 3-0 lead was more than enough.

Michalski reached on an infield single to start the bottom of the sixth and Rock was relieved by Griffin Curry.

Mars had gone 17 seasons without winning a playoff game. The Planets are now one win from playing for a WPIAL championship.

“This is such a talented squad,” said Rotz. “One through nine, we can all hit and field. It’s outstanding.”

Hopewell 000 000 0 — 0 2 2 Mars 000 030 x — 3 8 0

W: Dylan Rotz 7 IP (6K, 1BB). L: Joe Rock 5+ IP (1K, 0BB).

Hopewell (15-7): Tim Sabo 1B, Chris Skelton 2B

Mars (14-5): Brandon Wetherholt R, Jack Anderson 2B 2RBI, Dave Anderson 2-1B, Anthony Michalski 2-1B, Eli Brooks 2-1B R, Isaiah Johnson 1B R Next: Mars vs. Chartiers Valley, WPIAL Class AAA semifinal, TBD