Gavin Miller was not pleased with his last outing.

The Knoch right-handed pitcher lasted just two innings in a no decision against Pine-Richland April 2 in frigid, below-freezing conditions at Pullman Park.

The Knights went on to lose that game.

“I couldn’t feel my fingers,” Miller said. “I couldn’t grip the ball.”

Things were a bit different this time around.

On a warm day, Miller was masterful, scattering four hits and striking out eight in a complete-game 3-0 shutout of Valley Wednesday at Pullman Park.

“He pitched a whale of a good game, didn’t he?” said Knoch coach George Bradley.

It took Miller a mere 92 pitches to cruise through his seven innings. He dodged a bullet in the third when Valley ran itself out of a potential run.

With runners on first and second with two outs, Bill Clark hit a sharp single up the middle. Ian Kelly, who was at second after leading off the inning with a hit, rounded third and raced toward the plate, but stopped 45 feet down the line and retreated to third. Dom Guzzi, who was at first, rounded second on the base hit and was nearly at the third-base bag before he realized Kelly had backtracked.

Knoch first baseman Caleb Thorn took the cutoff throw and alertly ran toward Guzzi, who was caught between second and third, and threw him out at the third base bag just before Kelly crossed the plate.

“I knew my defense would make the plays behind me,” Miller said. “They were great.”

Knoch played an error-free game behind Miller. Third baseman Taylor Sharer made a diving catch on a shot down the third base line to end the game.

“Taylor made a great play,” Miller said.

Miller’s strategy was to challenge the Valley hitters with his fastball to set up his changeup and curveball.

All three pitches were working for him.

“He mixed it up real well,” Bradley said. “His changeup, he got a lot of guys out with that pitch. He’s a battler.”

Of Miller’s eight strikeouts, five came on called third strikes.

“I feel great because last week I didn’t have a good outing,” Miller said. “I came out today and threw strikes and got the win.”

Knoch managed just five hits against Valley starter Luke Felack, but made the most of them.

Chase Voltz got three of those hits, including an opposite-field RBI single in the bottom of the sixth inning that gave the Knights a 3-0 lead.

Voltz scored the first run of the game when he singled, moved to second on a walk, to third on a wild pitch and scored on another wild pitch.

Sharer added an RBI double in the second to help Knoch (3-3, 2-0) stay unbeaten in the section.

“The key is we’re throwing strikes,” Bradley said. “The three games that we lost, we walked guys. We’ve talked a lot about it: bust the zone and throw strikes.”

Valley 000 000 0 — 0 4 1

Knoch 110 001 x — 3 5 0

W: Gavin Miller 7IP (8K, 2BB). L: Luke Felack 4.2IP (4K, 5BB).

Valley (2-3, 0-2): Dan Farinelli 1B, Bill Clark 1B, Jordan Frame 1B, Ian Kelly 1B

Knoch (3-3, 2-0): Chase Voltz 3-1B RBI, Taylor Sharer 2B RBI, Hunter Balliet 1B

Friday: Knoch at Kittanning