If there were any doubts as to whether Peyton Harrod’s throwing arm was back to full strength, it was erased Monday in the KingCo 4A semifinals.

The Skyline senior, who was making just his second start of the season after tearing a ligament in his throwing arm in November, led the Spartans to a 3-1 victory over rival Issaquah at Woodinville High School.

“That was unbelievable,” Skyline coach Chris Tamminen said. “That was a pretty darn good pitching performance against a very good hitting team. To be honest with you, they might be the best hitting team there is in our league.”

Harrod allowed just two hits over a complete seven innings, displaying a lively fastball and an accurate curveball.

“I was just thinking I’ve got to keep them off-balance,” Harrod said.

He faced only two batters over the minimum, throwing just 70 total pitches with six strikeouts and no walks. The Spartan defense swallowed up everything hit into play, recording 13 ground-ball outs and two fly outs.

“Our defense, we just played catch,” Tamminen said. “Stuff that we talked about three months ago, playing catch, being fundamentally sound — offensively and defensively — we’ve done that in the first two games of this tournament.”

Skyline struck first at the plate in the top of the second inning. Sean Penberthy led the inning off with a double into the left-centerfield gap. A successful sacrifice bunt from Jim Sinatro moved Penberthy to third. Issaquah starter Shane Yarnell struck the next batter out, but followed with a crucial mistake. After not getting a strike-three call and allowing a walk to Aaron Caditz, Yarnell was frustrated.

“Our pitcher was disappointed that the ump didn’t make a call, then swiped at the ball and misses it,” Eagle’s head coach Rob Reese said.

The ball got away from Yarnell, allowing an alert Penberthy to cross home plate untouched for a 1-0 lead.

Issaquah countered at the plate in the bottom of the fourth inning. With two outs, Spencer Rogers took a first-pitch fastball over the right centerfield fence to tie the game 1-1. The 340-foot shot was the first of the season for Rogers, who leads the league with a .493 batting average.

“He’s the best hitter in the league, so I threw a good pitch, he made a good hit, there’s nothing you can do about it,” Harrod said.

Skyline responded in the top of the sixth inning. Nate Litka and Penberthy led the inning off with singles and Sinatro followed with an RBI single to left. Anthony DeMatteo added an RBI single in the top of the seventh.

The victory improved the Spartans’ record to 11-10 overall. Fourth-seeded Skyline will face top-seeded Redmond (17-5) at 7 p.m., Thursday at Woodinville High School. The winner takes the KingCo 4A title and an automatic berth to state. The loser hosts the No. 2 team from the Greater St. Helens League on Saturday.

The Spartans were one of just two teams to enter the KingCo tournament with a losing record. Tamminen feels if his team can follow the same formula they’ve used the first two games, a KingCo title is within reach.

“The thing we’re doing right now is we’re not pressing,” he said. “We’re not trying to make the spectacular play, we’re just trying to make the good play. We’re trying to do those things that are fundamentally sound.”

Issaquah faces Lake Washington at 7 p.m., tonight at Woodinville in a loser-out game. The winner advances to face the winner of Inglemoor-Bothell at 4 p.m., Thursday for the third-fourth place, loser-out game. The winner of that contest will travel to face the No. 1 team from the GSHL for a state berth.

“We’ve got a chance tomorrow, so we’ll see what happens,” Reese said.