WEXFORD — Scratch out a rally, roll a pair and move on.

So it went for the Knoch baseball team Tuesday at North Allegheny.

The Knights scored two runs in the sixth inning after two were out with nobody on base, then produced a game-ending double play in the seventh to secure a 4-3 WPIAL Class AAA quarterfinal win over Blackhawk. That victory puts Knoch in the semifinals for what is believed to be the first time in program history.

“You can’t play this game tight,” Knoch coach George Bradley said. “When we get down, you tell the guys ... Hey, this isn’t that important. Relax, have fun and play baseball. Maybe it will work out for us, maybe it won’t.”

It did on this day.

A sacrifice fly by Blackhawk’s Nick Zuchelli and two-out, two-run single by Adam Robinson in the fifth wiped out a 2-0 Knoch lead. That one-run advantage looked like it would stand up for the Cougars.

Dante Parente, making only his second start all season, had allowed Knoch just one hit — a RBI single by Jordan Kowalski — through five frames.

“He’s battled shoulder problems all year, so we used Dante in the closer’s role this season,” Blackhawk coach Bob Amalia said. “We started him today because he’s got a good curve ball and Knoch has a tendency to chase that pitch.”

With two outs in the sixth, Kowalski drew a walk. Asa Adams hit a high chopper to third and beat it out on a close play at first.

“That was bang-bang. It could have gone either way and we got the call,” Knoch first baseman-pitcher Alex Stobert admitted.

Stobert made it count.

After a wild pitch moved both runners up, he delivered a two-run single to center to give the Knights (17-2) a 4-3 lead.

“Their pitcher throws a lot of curves and he bounces some of them up there,” Bradley said. “I told Alex to take a pitch or two and maybe one would get away and we’d get both guys in scoring position.

“That’s exactly the way it worked out.”

Knoch pitcher Cole Shinsky was working on a three-hitter when Hunter Alexander began the seventh with an infield single that lunging second baseman Mike McCarty knocked down. That prompted Bradley to insert Stobert on the mound, Shinsky moving to first base.

Shinsky threw 84 pitches in the contest, but had not struck a batter out since the second inning.

“I hated to come out. I wasn’t happy, but I knew it might happen if that first guy got on,” Shinsky said. “I knew Alex could get the job done, though.

“As long as we get the win — that’s the bottom line.”

Stobert walked Mark Engel, who was trying to bunt, then got Zuchelli on a called third strike. No. 9 hitter Nate Piocquidio came to the plate with Robinson lurking on deck.

Piocquidio hit a ground ball to shortstop Chris Law, who started a 6-4-3 double play to end the game.

“When that ball hit my glove, it was the greatest feeling in the world,” Shinsky said.

Bradley admitted he almost went to his closer, Law, on the mound instead of Stobert in the seventh.

“My assistants talked me into going with Alex and going with our best defense in the field,” Bradley said. “They deserve credit for that decision. I was leaning the other way.”

Stobert said Shinsky (7-0) could have finished the game himself.

“He pitched a great game and he had enough left in the tank,” Stobert said. “Still, I knew there was a chance I’d be going in. I have trouble pitching to left-handers and walked that guy.

“But our infield defense is so good. Get a ground ball in that situation, 10 out of 10 times, those guys are going to turn it.”

Stobert will turn around and pitch today’s semifinal game against Montour — a 2-0 winner over Indiana — at West Mifflin.

“We graduated eight starters from a year ago and we played well today,” Amalia said. “A bad inning, a couple of mistakes ... That’s all it takes to lose to a quality team like Knoch.”

Blackhawk committed both of its errors in the fourth inning, allowing the Knights to take their early 2-0 lead.

Blackhawk 000 030 0 — 3 4 2

Knoch 000 202 x — 4 3 1

W: Cole Shinsky 6IP (3K, 2BB). L: Dante Parente 6IP (7K, 2BB).

Blackhawk (12-5): Adam Robinson 1B 2-RBI, Michael Turkoni 1B, Jimmy Nixon 1B, Hunter Alexander 1B, Nick Zuchelli RBI

Knoch (17-2): Jordan Kowalski 1B RBI, Asa Adams 1B, Alex Stobert 1B 2-RBI

Today: WPIAL Class AAA semifinal-Knoch vs. Montour, 2 p.m., West Mifflin