WASHINGTON, Pa. — The bottom of the fourth inning was by no means a back-breaker at the time for Knoch’s baseball team.

It put the Knights in a two-run hole, but three innings remained in Wednesday’s WPIAL Class 4A consolation game against Laurel Highlands.

But Knoch never was able to pull even with the Mustangs and its season ended with a 4-3 loss at Ross Memorial Park.

Trailing 4-2 in the top of the seventh, the Knights rallied, beginning with a lead-off base hit from pinch hitter Jacob Wagner.

After Laurel Highlands pitcher Joe Chambers struck out Luke DiSanti and Angelo DeLeonardis, Brady Wozniak delivered an RBI-single to cut the deficit to one run.

That brought to the plate Eli Sutton, Knoch’s catcher who entered the game hitting near .500. Chambers struck him out, his 12th strikeout of the day, to end the game.

“Their guy (Sutton) is a great hitter,” said Mustangs coach Brad Yohman. “It was a great hitter facing a great pitcher and Joe was able to win that matchup.”

The victory sends Laurel Highlands to the state playoffs for just the third time in program history.

Hits were at a premium — both teams combined for just 10 the entire game — but the Mustangs tallied the decisive ones in the fourth frame.

They entered their half of the inning down 2-0 and had been frustrated by DeLeonardis, Knoch’s starting pitcher who had stranded three combined base runners in the first two innings before working a 1-2-3 third frame.

But he began the fourth by hitting Alex McClain with a pitch and walking Braeden O’Brian.

With one out, Chambers helped his own cause by singling in a run. CJ Gesk followed with a hit to load the bases.

Devan Krivosky then hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game at two and DeLeonardis was chased from the mound after giving up a run-scoring single to Ty Sankovich.

Jacob Stallsmith took over on the mound and got out of the inning, but not before Gesk scored on a double-steal.

“One bad inning,” remarked Knoch coach Bill Stoops of the loss. “But we stood there and looked at too many pitches.”

It was a sentiment Stoops also expressed after his team’s 3-1 loss to West Mifflin in a semifinal last week.

The top of the third inning Wednesday was the bright spot for Knoch’s bats. They plated two runs on three hits against Chambers and they did it all with two outs.

Dathan Gillis started things with a single ahead of a walk to DeLeonardis. Wozniak and Sutton followed with RBI-singles before Chambers struck out Isaac Roddy to end the threat.

Over the next three innings, Chambers allowed and stranded three base runners, including an infield single to DeLeonardis with two outs in the fifth.

“I can’t say enough about Joe Chambers,” Yohman said. “He’s our ace, that’s no secret. Knoch hit some good pitches in the third, but when we got that four-spot in the fourth, we liked our chances with Joe on the mound.”

Stallsmith kept the Mustangs (15-7) from extending their lead, setting them down in order in the fifth and sixth.

Knoch finishes the season with a record of 13-9.

“Nobody except us thought we could get this far,” said Stoops. “It was a great season and we have a good nucleus coming back next year.”

Knoch 002 000 1 — 3 6 2

Laurel Highlands 000 400 x — 4 4 0

W: Joe Chambers 7 IP (12K, 3BB). L: Angelo DeLeonardis 3.2 IP (3K, 2BB).

Knoch: Brady Wozniak 2-1B 2RBI, Eli Sutton 1B RBI, Angelo DeLeonardis 1B R, Dathan Gillis 1B R, Jacob Wagner 1B R

Laurel Highlands: Ty Sankovich 2-1B RBI, Joe Chambers 1B RBI, CJ Gesk 1B R