Nathan Junk was given a long leash Wednesday at Pullman Park — and he used all of it.

Knoch's junior right-hander threw 131 pitches and stranded 12 Ambridge baserunners — eight in scoring position — in an 8-3, complete-game victory.

The win kept the Knights from losing a second straight section contest.

"We've got a couple of pitchers on this team who we know will battle all the way through and Nathan's one of them," Knoch coach Curt Schnur said. "He didn't have his best stuff today, but he fought back and got some key outs on 3-0 and 3-1 pitches.

"That's better than handing out a free pass anytime."

The Knights staked Junk to a 7-1 lead in the first three innings.

Two-out RBI singles by Robert Zanella and Junk erased a 1-0 deficit in the bottom of the first. Mac Megahan's run-scoring single highlighted a three-run Knoch second. John DeWalt doubled home a run and later scored himself in the third.

Junk did the rest, pitching in and out of trouble all day. He never enjoyed a 1-2-3 inning and Ambridge left nine runners on base in the final four frames.

"You work with what you've got," Junk said. "This wasn't one of my better games, but all I wanted to do was throw strikes.

"If they hit it, they hit it. The defense takes care of that when that happens."

Every player in Knoch's lineup reached base and eight had hits. Eight players scored a run and five collected RBI.

"We've been hitting the ball consistently most of the year," Schnur said. "We could have used a couple more timely hits today, but we scored enough."

The Knights scored at least five runs for the seventh consecutive game. Wednesday's win pulled Knoch (9-5, 6-2) into a second-place tie with Hampton in the section.

Hampton beat the Knights 7-6 on Tuesday.

"This was a big game for us because we let that Hampton game slip away the day before. It was important to bounce back," Schnur said.

Ambridge (3-10, 2-6) lost for the seventh time in eight games.

Bridgers coach Scott McGee expected a better fate Wednesday.

"We scored seven runs against Junk (11-7 loss) when we faced him at our place," McGee said. "I really thought we would get to him today.

"My hat's off to that kid, though. He made some clutch pitches when he had to and he got ahead of our hitters more often than not," he added.

Ambridge 100 000 2 — 3 9 4Knoch 232 001 x — 8 11 2W: Nathan Junk 7 IP (6K, 5BB).

L: John Sherrock 6 IP (2K, 3BB).

Ambridge (3-10, 2-6): Tyler Krokonko 1B, Zach Nichi 2-1B, Jesse Grundza 2B RBI, Mark Meder 1B, Steve Antolic RBI, John Sherrock RBI, Devon Locher 3-1B, Joe Baschor 1B

Knoch (9-5, 6-2): Mac Megahan 1B RBI, Andrew Wirtz 2B 1B, Dale Gallo 2B 2-RBI, Robert Zanella 1B RBI, Nathan Junk 2-1B RBI, John DeWalt 2B RBI, Zane Voltz 2-1B, Marcus Cashell 2B

Friday: Knoch at New Castle