HAMPTON — Amanda Fischer was in close-out mode.

Knoch's junior pitcher had a 4-2 lead on Greensburg Salem as she walked off the field after the top of the sixth inning Monday in a WPIAL Class 4A softball semifinal at Hampton Community Park.

“Just the way the game was going, I figured it had to be my day,” Fischer said. “I had to have a good game.”

She did.

But Fischer never had to return to the pitcher's circle to close out the win in the seventh. Knoch's bats took care of that in the sixth, scoring eight runs without making an out in putting away a 12-2, six-inning victory.

“We always seem to have a breakout inning and I was wondering when it was gonna come ... if it was gonna come,” Knoch coach Gary Coe said.

It came in the form of an avalanche.

Marrisa Melius walked to begin the Knights' sixth. Liv Vissari and Sophie Brandon — the eighth and ninth hitters in the lineup — tried laying down sacrifice bunts and wound up with bunt singles.

A run scored on an errant throw by the pitcher on Brandon's bunt. Monica Gourley plated a run with a single. Quinn Hughes doubled in a run, a second scoring on an outfield error. Bailey Brickenrode reached on an infield single and Erin Luffy walked, loading the bases.

Fischer drilled a two-run single to center. Brynnae Coe followed with a run-scoring single to left.

Greensburg Salem coach Rachel Brannigan intentionally walked Melius to load the bases. When Vissari drew a walk, Fischer crossed the plate and ended the game via the 10-run rule.

“Just one of those innings that snowballed,” Brannigan said. “Those bunts were perfect and they hit some balls hard.

“That is a very good team. We fought them hard today, but they got us.”

Knoch (17-1) won its 13th straight game — outscoring the opposition 131-15 during that streak. The Knights will face Elizabeth Forward — a 5-1 winner over Indiana — in the semifinals Wednesday at a site and time to be determined.

Monday marked Knoch's first game in 12 days. The second-seeded Knights received a first-round bye. Greensburg Salem was the 11th-seed.

“We usually hit the ball better than we did today,” Gourley said. “We had a few hits early and had some chances. But everything came together late.

“It wasn't the long layoff that hurt us. That felt pretty good, actually. We had been playing three games a week for a while.”

An RBI single by Luffy and RBI grounder by Fischer gave the Knights a 2-0 lead in the first. Melius tripled to right to plate a run in the third.

But the Golden Lions (7-12) stayed close. Tiffany Bruzda and Nikki Mellinger delivered back-to-back doubles to score a run in the fourth. Brandon's RBI grounder restored Knoch's three-run lead in the fifth, but Bruzda singled and scored in the sixth.

Knoch had the bases loaded and one out in the second, but Brickenrode lined one back to the pitcher for a double play.

Fischer scattered six hits, struck out eight and did not walk a batter.

“The 12-day break was good for me,” Fischer said. “My arm felt more loose today than it has in a long time.”

Coe said control is his pitcher's best asset.

“She can throw 60 (miles per hour) and when someone throws that hard, they usually walk some people,” the coach said. “I don't know if Amanda's walked 10 batters all season.”

Every player in Knoch's lineup hit safely. Hughes had a double and two singles, Brynnae Coe three singles to lead the Knights' 17-hit attack. Fischer had three RBI.

Gbg.-Salem 000 101 x — 2 6 2

Knoch 201 108 x — 12 17 1

W: Amanda Fischer 6IP (8K, 0BB). L: Rena Caruso 5IP (1K, 5BB).

Greensburg Salem (7-12): Tiffany Bruzda 2B 1B 2-R, Nikki Mellingher 2-2B RBI, Mattie White 1B, Angela Kobuck 1B

Knoch (17-1): Monica Gourley 2-1B RBI, Quinn Hughes 2B 2-1B RBI, Bailey Brickenrode 2-1B 2-R, Erin Luffy 1B RBI, Amanda Fischer 1B 3-RBI, Brynnae Coe 3-1B RBI, Marrisa Melius 3B RBI, Liv Vissari 2-1B RBI 2-R, Sophie Brandon 2-1B RBI

Wednesday: WPIAL 4A semifinals-Knoch vs. Elizabeth Forward, site and time TBD