MARS — Through three innings, the Mars baseball team's offense remained quiet.

The Planets made up for it in the bottom of the fourth.

Trailing Knoch 1-0, Mars plated nine runs on seven hits in the frame and went on to win the Section 4-AAA clash 11-5 at Marburger Field Monday afternoon.

During their big inning, the Planets chased Knoch starter Nathan Junk from the game.

Junk had allowed one baserunner in each of the first three innings and stranded them all.

“(Junk) is a good pitcher and he can keep them in any game,” said Mars coach Brian Hobaugh. “I was just hoping we could string a few hits together, but was getting a little nervous because we were halfway through the game.”

The Planets' bats then set out to put Hobaugh's mind at ease.

Ryan Wotus led off the fourth with a single, Matt Eperesi was hit by a pitch and C.J. Weigand reached on an infield base hit to load the bases.

Tyler Dean, Mars' starting and eventual winning pitcher, helped his own cause with an RBI-groundout that scored Wotus to tie the game at one.

Junk then threw a wild pitch that allowed Eperesi to score. Kevin Giallanardo followed with a double to bring home Weigand for a 3-1 lead.

The scoring spree rattled the Knights, who went on to commit two errors in the inning, as the Planets scored six more runs (all unearned).

Nick Comport and Ryan O'Connor were credited with run-scoring doubles and Eperesi, in his second at-bat of the inning, drove in a run with a single.

Junk was relieved by Mark Keck after Comport's two-base hit. Junk was charged with six runs (three earned) on five hits and ended up shouldering the loss.

“Through three innings, things were going well for us,” said Knoch coach George Bradley. “We made some big errors in the fourth and you just can't do that against a good team like Mars.”

The Planets forced Junk and Keck to throw a combined 53 pitches in the fourth inning alone.

The flip side to Mars' fourth-inning outburst was the amount of time Dean spent on the bench.

When the right-hander took the mound in the top of the fifth, he had lost his rhythm.

Dean retired one of the five batters he faced in the frame before Comport came on to get the final two outs with the bases loaded.

“After the long break, it was starting to get cool and he started to tighten up,” Hobaugh said of Dean. “His release point and timing were both off.”

Dean's performance was still good enough for the win — two runs (one earned) on five hits with eight strikeouts and a pair of walks in 4 1/3 innings.

The Planets (5-0, 4-0) scored two more runs in the fifth inning.

The Knights closed the scoring with three runs in the top of the sixth off Mars reliever Nick Bushee.

Kevin Shebek pitched the final 1 2/3 innings for the Planets.

The Knights broke the ice with a run in the second inning when Drew Holben singled and scored on Nate Sarnese's double.

Knoch 010 013 0 — 5 6 4Mars 000 920 x — 11 10 1W: Tyler Dean 4Z\cIP (8K, 2BB).

L: Nathan Junk 3X\cIP (1K, 2BB).

Knoch (2-7, 2-3): Mark Keck 1B RBI, Justin Grossman RBI, Nathan Junk 1B RBI, Drew Holben 1B R, Nate Sarnese 1B 2B R RBI, Mac Megahan 2B 2R, Jon Campbell R RBI

Mars (5-0, 4-0): Blake Friday 2R, Nick Comport 1B 2B R RBI, Ryan O'Connor 1B 2B 2R RBI, Ryan Wotus 2-1B 2R RBI, Matt Eperesi 1B 2R RBI, C.J. Weigand 1B R, Tyler Dean 1B RBI, Kevin Giallanardo 2B RBI, Aaron Lozzi R

Today: Valley at Mars

Wednesday: Knoch at Hampton