PUNXSUTAWNEY — Even when he wasn't on the mound, Phillip Dull wreaked havoc with Karns City's chances of advancing to the state baseball playoffs.

Dull, Chestnut Ridge's junior leadoff hitter, stole three bases and scored a pair of runs in the first three innings of Thursday's Class AAA subregional playoff game against the Gremlins.

He also held KC to a single run on two hits while striking out 11 in his 5 2/3 innings of work, leading the Lions to a 4-1 victory at Rich Kuntz Memorial Field.

“I played pro ball myself and can tell you that Phil is going to be a prospect next year,” said Lion coach Joe Perez. “He's our leader.”

Dull tallied eight of his strikeouts in the first three innings. He started to show some wear in the fifth, but with runners at first and second and one out, got Stephen O'Donnell to ground into a 4-3 double play and the Lions held onto their 4-0 edge.

In the bottom of the sixth, Nolan Riley drew a leadoff walk and Tyler Yough reached on an error. Dull retired the next two batters before he was pulled in favor of Ty Diehl, who issued back-to-back walks, the second one to Jacob Weckerly, with the bases loaded. That forced in Riley with Karns City's first and only run of the game.

The Gremlins did not go quietly in their last at-bat. Colton Hutchison singled to start the seventh. Following a fielder's choice, Riley drilled a double to the fence in right field, but did not notice that O'Donnell was held up at third base. By the time the former realized it, he had already rounded second and was tagged out before he could get back to the bag.

Riley's double was the only extra-base hit of the game by either team.

“He hit the ball so hard, I think he assumed that the runner ahead of him was going to score,” said Karns City coach Dave McElroy. “He was just trying to make a play.”

Yough then grounded out to end the game.

Dull broke the ice in the first inning. After being hit by a pitch from Gremlin starting pitcher Eric Dodd, he stole second base and scored on Brodie Harbaugh's base hit.

The solid play that had led to Karns City's 9-game winning streak entering the contest proved elusive in the third inning. Three errors helped the Lions (13-7) plate three runs.

The first miscue allowed Dull to reach base. He then stole second and third and scored on Diehl's groundout. Cody Lohr reached on an errant throw and, following a base hit from Victor Faupel-Persons, scored on another miscue. Justin McCoy drove in a fourth run with a base hit.

“We booted some balls around today and that is uncharacteristic of us,” said McElroy. “Over the last month, we've had timely hitting, we've moved runners over and have played good defense.”

Dodd, who struck out six and walked two in a complete game, shut out the Lions the rest of the way. But due mostly to Dull's effort on the mound, the 4-run cushion was more than enough.

He struck out the side in the first and third inning and would have retired 10 straight batters had it not been for a fielding error in the bottom of the fourth.

“He has a fastball that reaches the high-80s, low-90s,” said Perez. “That's hard for guys to catch up to.”

“He threw well,” McElroy said of Dull, “but he didn't do anything that we weren't prepared for. We just didn't have the confidence deeper in the count to put the ball in play.”

The Gremlins (15-6) began the season 2-4 before hitting their stride.

“I coached baseball at Karns City back in the late 90s, early 2000s,” McElroy said, “but this was my first season back. There was some getting to know each other between me and the players, but once we got going, we played really well. Our last loss before today was in late April. I'm proud of the kids.”

Chestnut Ridge 103 000 0 — 4 6 3

Karns City 000 001 0 — 1 4 4

W: Phillip Dull 5.2 IP (11K, 3BB). L: Eric Dodd 7 IP (6K, 2BB). S: Ty Diehl 1.1 IP (1K, 2BB).

Chestnut Ridge (13-7): Phillip Dull 2R, Ty Diehl RBI, Brodie Harbaugh 1B RBI, Cody Lohr R, Victor Faupel-Persons 1B R, Justin McCoy 2-1B RBI, Mason McVicker 1B, Shawn Brady 1B

Karns City (15-6): Nolan Riley 2B R, Markus Lantz 1B, Jacob Weckerly 1B RBI, Colton Hutchison 1B