WASHINGTON, Pa. — It was not the type of half-inning you would expect to see in a game billed as a pitcher's duel.

Latrobe tallied five runs in the second inning — all coming with two outs — and its lead was never threatened in a 6-2 victory over Mars in Wednesday's WPIAL Class 5A baseball championship game at Wild Things Park.

All of the runs in the decisive inning were charged to sophomore Will Bednar, who entered the game with an ERA of 0.46.

“We came out swinging against a very tough pitcher,” said Wildcat coach Matt Basciano. “We made some adjustments and took advantage of it.”

Bednar stranded two baserunners in the top of the first after allowing a pair of infield singles. Latrobe's Antonio Noble came to the plate in the second with two outs and a runner on first and he also reached on an infield hit.

Jared Kollar followed with an RBI-single. Tyler Roble's infield base hit scored Noble and Tony Aiello came home on a throwing error, the first of two Mars miscues in the inning.

Four of Latrobe's first six hits did not get out of the infield.

“I decided to start Will on the mound today because of what he's capable of doing,” said Mars coach Andy Bednar. “When you give a good team like Latrobe extra outs, you make it really tough on yourself.”

Connor Mondock made it 4-0 when he scored on an errant throw on a steal attempt and Griffin Clark drove in a fifth run with a double, which ended Will Bednar's outing after 51 pitches.

Junior Frank Craska took the mound and got Mars out of the inning, but the lead the Wildcats had given Kollar was more than enough.

He surrendered both runs to the Planets in the bottom of the second frame. Dylan Rotz drew a leadoff walk and scored on a throwing error and Rowen Fletcher singled home Joe Craska. But Kollar, a Seton Hill University recruit, retired 16 of the final 19 batters he faced, allowing just two hits in that span.

“That's Jared. He seems to get stronger as the game goes on,” said Basciano. “He shows no emotion, good or bad, on the mound.”

Kollar struck out seven and walked two.

“He located all of his pitches well and he threw strikes,” said Frank Craska, who had one of Mars' four hits in the game. “We had a lot of weak contact against him.”

Meanwhile, Craska settled things down for Mars' defense. In his 5 1/3 innings, he allowed four hits and just one run — on Ryan Shawley's run-scoring single in the fifth.

It was the third relief outing of the season for Craska, who is normally a starter. He started Wednesday's game at first base.

“Frank entered the game in a tough situation,” said Andy Bednar. “He battled and did everything he could to keep us in the game.”

Planet left-fielder Brandon Wetherholt denied the Wildcats (20-2) another run when he teamed with catcher Jack Anderson to gun down Noble at the plate following a base hit from Roble in the sixth.

Latrobe earned the program's first-ever WPIAL championship. Ten of the team's 18 players are seniors.

“I am so proud of this group, the heart they showed,” said Basciano. “Most of them have been starters since their sophomore year.”

The Planets (14-7) will begin play in the state playoffs on Monday against the winner of today's District 3 championship game between Daniel Boone (16-4) and Cedar Cliff (18-5).

“You figure out what you're made of when you go through a game like this,” said Andy Bednar. “We have to bounce back from this.”

“Our pitching got us this far and I still think we can make a run,” said Frank Craska.

Latrobe 050 010 0 — 6 12 1

Mars 020 000 0 — 2 4 2

W: Jared Kollar 7 IP (7K, 2BB). L: Will Bednar 1.2 IP (3K, 0BB).

Latrobe (20-2): Jared Kollar 1B RBI, Tyler Roble 2-1B RBI, Zach Kokoska 2-1B 2R, Griffin Clark 2-1B 2B RBI, Ryan Shawley 1B RBI, Dan Stas 1B, Antonio Noble 2-1B R, Ben Shaw R, Tony Aiello R, Connor Mondock R

Mars (14-7): Brandon Wetherholt 3B, Spencer Croskey 1B, Dylan Rotz R, Frank Craska 1B, Joe Craska R, Rowen Fletcher 1B RBI

Monday: Mars vs. District 3 champion, PIAA Class 5A first-round playoff, TBD