Wyatt Cunningham had other ideas.

The Blue Devils starting pitcher threw a complete-game one-hitter with nine strikeouts as Cambridge Springs remained atop the region standings with an 11-0 victory over the Knights on Legion Field at Werner Park.

“He came out and threw a great game,” Cambridge Springs head coach Brad Wheeler said. “For him to come out and help us bounce back like that after a huge loss (Thursday) against a crosstown rival was great.”

Cunningham threw 56 of his 83 pitches for strikes and only twice had to throw from the stretch.

The Blue Devils’ Bryce Kania slides safely into second base with a stolen base as the Knights’ Kael Hunt applies a late tag and teammate Cole Chapman reacts.

“We drew the ace,” Eisenhower head coach Clint Corse said. “He’s a good pitcher.”

In the Eisenhower third inning, Camron Jakubczak reached on an error after a hard ground ball to third base and two batters later, Zane Alexander broke up Cunningham’s no-hitter with a swinging-bunt single toward third. Cunningham escaped the jam with his sixth strikeout of the game and third of the inning.

“Walker has been our steady guy all year,” Wheeler said. “He’s been our workhorse for sure.”

The Knights’ only other base runner in the game came with one out in the bottom of the sixth inning when Alexander walked — Cunningham’s first base on balls of the season. Again the Cambridge Springs right-hander got out of the inning with a ground out to second base and a ground out to third base.

“We came in knowing they were one of the top seeds in our region,” Wheeler said, “and that’s why we threw a top pitcher.”

Eisenhower second baseman Cole Chapman makes a throw to first base during Friday’s Region 3 game against Cambridge Springs at Werner Park.

With his complete game on the line in the seventh, Cunningham induced a comebacker to the mound and a ground out to shortstop before his ninth strikeout ended the game.

The game was within reach for the Knights until the Blue Devils scored seven runs over the final two innings.

“If we’re not doing it in the batter’s box,” Corse said, “it doesn’t really matter what (our) pitcher’s doing.”

Eisenhower’s defense didn’t do starting pitcher Owen Trumbull any favors, committing seven errors, which led to three unearned runs in the game.

“It was rough sledding in the field,” Corse said, “and especially in the batter’s box.”

Knights center fielder Zane Alexander makes a catch.

Cambridge Springs got two runs in the top of the first inning when Brock Cunningham reached on an error to lead off the game and Wyatt Cunningham was hit by a pitch with one out just one pitch after a close would-be strikeout pitch was called a ball. An infield single from Brady Jardina drove in the first run and the second run scored when the throw got away down the right-field line.

“You make an error, you better make them pay for it,” Wheeler said. “We were able to do that today.”

The Blue Devils added their third run in the second inning as Bryce Kania singled and stole second base before scoring on Brock Cunningham’s two-out single.

Trumbull got himself into and out of trouble in the Cambridge Springs half of the third inning when he allowed a single and a pair of walks, but he struck out the Blue Devils’ No. 9 hitter to escape trouble.

Jardina singled and later scored on a two-out error to make it 4-0 in the fifth inning before the Blue Devils scored three runs in the sixth and four more in the seventh to put the game away.

“Their pitcher did a good job keeping us handcuffed for the first four or five innings,” Wheeler said. “There’s no secret we were trying to get his pitch count up. It worked and we finally got to him.”

The Knights, who fell to 5-3 overall and 5-2 in the region, will look to get back on track Monday at Union City.

“It wasn’t our day. The kids played with some heart and they had a good time,” Corse said. “They played with energy, it just didn’t come together for us.”

NOTES: Brock Cunningham, Trenton Wheeler and Kania each had two hits for Cambridge Springs with one of Wheeler’s a double. … Saegertown also has just one loss in the region, but has played just four league games thus far. … The schools’ softball teams were also supposed to play Friday at Werner Park, but the game was canceled when umpires didn’t show up.