Zach Junk was stunned when he was told he was going in to the pitch the ninth inning of the WPIAL Class AAA-Quad AAAA All-Star Game.

“I wasn’t even up and throwing,” Junk said. “Coach told me I would pitch the 10th if they needed me.”

As it turns out, that was a misnomer; The game would have stopped after the ninth inning in the event of a tie score.

Junk, a Knoch senior, made sure the Class AAA team held on to its slim lead over Quad-A.

No tie here.

Junk worked a perfect bottom of the ninth inning at Kelly Automotive Park for Class AAA to preserve a 4-3 win over Quad-A Sunday afternoon.

“Coach told me to keep it down and away, that they weren’t hitting it there and that’s what I did,” Junk said. “They gave me the ball and I was glad to have it.”

Junk got a ground out to shortstop, a called third strike on a biting slider and then got WPIAL triple-crown winner and Quad-A Player of the Year, J.J. Matijevic of Norwin, to ground out sharply to second to complete the clean inning.

Junk pitched sparingly at Kelly Automotive Park this season despite the Butler field being Knoch’s home.

Most of his outings were on the road.

When he did get the chance Sunday, he didn’t waste it with command of all three of his pitches.

Class AAA took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning as Jake Benack of Thomas Jefferson led off with a double and later scored on a RBI single by Ben Vey of Hampton.

That lead held up until the bottom of the fifth when Quad-A got a two-run triple by Ryan Sciullo of Kiski Area. Sciullo, though, over-slid third on the wet turf and was tagged out.

Class AAA struck back quickly with three runs in the top of the seventh, the key blow a two-run single by Dylan Pietantoni, who was named the game’s MVP.

“I got to take home some toys,” Pientantoni said, holding his trophy with a smile.

Mars senior Keith Gannon had a single and a stolen base in the win for Class AA.

Caleb Thorn of Knoch also played for Class AAA.

Quad-A closed the gap to 4-3 with an unearned run in the bottom of the eight, but Junk closed it out for Class AAA in the ninth.

For Junk, he was just happy to be selected to play in the game.

“It’s a great honor,” Junk said. “I played against them most of my high school career and now I got the chance to play with them. It was definitely different, but awesome.”

There was little drama in the Class A-Class AA game.

Class AA used a six-run eighth to blow the game open and cruised to an 8-1 win.

Matt Swartz of Freeport got a RBI the hard way when he was hit in the top of the helmet with a pitch with the bases loaded in the big eighth inning for Class AA.

“It hit me, but I really didn’t feel it,” Swartz said, laughing. “I didn’t really do anything, but an RBI is and RBI.”

Noah Shannon, another Freeport senior, also played for Class AA.

He was robbed of a hit in the second inning when Brandon Coddington of Serra Catholic made a diving stop at short of his sharp ground ball up the middle, stood and made a strong throw to first to nip Shannon by a step.

Shannon was just giddy about the opportunity to close out his high school career in an all-star game.

“It’s been a pleasure to play in high school and this is a great accomplishment to end it,” Shannon said. “I’m definitely grateful and humbled by it.”

Class AA 010 100 060 — 8 8 1

Class A 000 000 010 — 1 3 4

W: Nolan Lamont 2IP (1K, 0BB). L: Josh Luko 3IP (3K, 1BB).

Class AA: David Boehme 2B, Ernie Burkes 1B, Lamont 1B, Todd Coleman 1B, Matt Wilke 2B, Chuckie Scales 1B 2-SB, R.J. Stewart 1B, Matt Swartz RBI, Matt Hoesch 1B RBI

Class A: Ron Baron 1B, Dom Conte 1B, Tim Frayzier 1B RBI

Class AAA 100 000 300 — 4 6 3

Quad-A 000 002 010 — 3 4 1

W: Josh Lapiana 2IP (2K, 0BB). L: Tyler Saundry 1IP (0K, 2BB). SV: Zach Junk 1IP (1K, 0BB)

Class AAA: Jake Benack 2B, Ben Vey 1B RBI, Parker Lynn 1B, Keith Cannon 1B, Zack Staschick 1B, Dylan Pietrantoni 1B 2-RBI, Tyler Godwin RBI

Quad-A: Daane Berezo 1B, Mitch Machi 1B, Ryan Sciullo 3B 2-RBI, Nick Stotler 1B