Karns City pitcher Matt Yough gave up two hits to the first two Curwensville batters he faced.

And then nothing until the sixth inning.

Yough set down 13 in a row at one point and provided himself with all the offense he needed with a two-run double as the Gremlins downed the Golden Tide 5-1 in the District 9 Class AA baseball semifinal at Kelly Automotive Park Thursday afternoon.

“The first inning always seems to be my worst,” Yough said, smiling. “But once I get out of that first inning unscathed, I get stronger and stronger as the game goes along.”

Yough did escape a bases-loaded jam in the top of the first and did get tougher as the game progressed. His only three strikeouts came in the sixth and seventh innings as the right-hander showed why he is one of the aces on the Gremlins’ staff.

“Matt was amazing today,” said Karns City coach Randy Collins. “He worked with domination today. He’s a good pressure pitcher for us and he’s been doing it all year. That’s who we wanted on the mound.

“Tyler Kepple could have done the same job for us today,” Collins added. “Matt Yough just happened to be out there today and he did exactly what we expected.”

Curwensville pitcher Kyle Johns was just as masterful early, facing the minimum through the first three innings — thanks in large part to some base-running gaffs by the Gremlins — but ran into trouble in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Nate Weckerly opened the inning with a walk and Tyler Kepple followed with a bunt single. A double-steal set the stage for Yough’s double up the right-center gap for a 2-0 lead.

Zach Moore singled Yough home to give Karns City a comfortable 3-0 advantage.

“That was our second time through the lineup,” Collins said. “It took us three innings to get through the first time, so, yeah, he was very good. He was hitting his spots and doing a great job. We were chasing some bad pitches.”

Karns City (13-2) added two more runs in the fifth inning to chase Johns.

Moore delivered the big blow with a RBI double that one-hopped the left-field fence and then scored on a wild pitch.

Moore was 3-for-3 with a double and two RBI for the Gremlins.

Curwensville (10-10) scored its only run in the top of the sixth inning on a RBI single by Tyler Mays that scored Tanner Elensky.

Mays and Elensky each had two singles — the only hits allowed by Yough, who struck out three of the final four hitters he faced for the complete-game victory.

“My fastball was really working today,” Yough said. “I was hanging my curveball a little bit today, so I have to work through that. But as long as I was spotting my fastball, I was alright.

“Those last three outs are my favorite outs to get,” Yough added.

The Karns City win sets up a showdown with rival Moniteau for the district title Wednesday at a site and time to be determined.

The Warriors beat the Gremlins in the only meeting between the two schools this season. The second meeting was rained out and not rescheduled.

“One good thing, a lot of our starters are going to state for track (this weekend),” Collins said. “So, they do have some distractions.”

Yough said keeping from getting too fired up in the days leading up to the game may be a problem.

“It’s hard,” Yough said. “It’s really hard. You want to beat them so bad, you just have to calm down and play your game and hopefully, come out on top in the end. It’s always a fun time playing them. They’re our rivals, but it’s always a fun game. It’s always a good game no matter what.”

Curwensville 000 002 0 — 1 4 3

Karns City 000 320 x — 5 7 0

W: Matt Yough 7IP (3K, 1BB). L: Kyle Johns 4.2IP (5K, 3BB).

Curwensville (10-10): Tanner Elensky 2-1B, Tyler Mays 2-1B RBI

Karns City (13-2): Tyler Kepple 1B, Yough 2B 2-RBI, Zach Moore 2-1B 2B 2-RBI, Evan Stitt 1B, Tyler Dunn 1B

Wednesday: Karns City vs. Moniteau in District 9 Class AA championship game, site and time TBD