Picture courtesy of Salina Central Athletics

REGIONAL SEMIFINAL:

CENTRAL 10

NEWTON 3

With a historic 24-2 regular season in the books, Salina Central prepared for its path to state.

As the No.1 seed in the 5A West Regional, the Mustangs were confident but knew it would take two complete efforts to accomplish their first postseason goal.

After 8-seed Topeka Seaman advanced past Eisenhower 3-1, Central needed to get past scrappy 16-seed Newton. Having swept the Railers in early May, Central was familiar with its league opponent but acknowledged that they can be unpredictable.

Central senior Bodie Rodriguez made his 9th start of the season in Tuesday’s regional semifinal and pitched true to his 0.60 ERA on the season. However, it took more pitches than usual for Rodriguez who walked a season-high five hitters but only allowed one to score.

The Mustang bats made sure Rodriguez never dealt with too much stress on the mound after an explosive 2nd inning.

Eli Kreighbaum started the scoring with an RBI double scoring Grayton Gross, then Hall drove in Kreighbaum with a single moments later. With tw0 outs, Keaton Smith made it 3-0 with a base hit to score Hall.

The biggest blow of the 2nd inning came off the bat of Oscar Perez who doubled down the left field line scoring two. Parker Graves added one more before the inning ended with Central ahead 6-0.

The Mustangs put up another crooked number in the 6th extending the lead to 10-1.

Newton scored two runs off Chance Hogan in the 7th but ultimately lost, ending its season with a record of 5-21.

Central improved to 25-2 and advanced to the regional final against Seaman.

REGIONAL FINAL:

CENTRAL 2

SEAMAN 0

Grayton Gross got the start in Tuesday’s regional final and guided the Mustangs through a tightly contested battle with the 8-seeded Seaman Vikings.

After striking out the side in the 1st inning, Gross plated the first run for the Mustangs with an RBI single that scored Keaton Smith from second base.

Seaman’s starter Cooper Hayes was impressive after allowing the early run. Central stranded runners on base in three straight innings while Hayes navigated the lineup well.

The Mustangs still led 1-0 entering a tense 7th inning.

A chance for insurance runs quickly came after Parker Graves, Grayton Gross and Eli Kreighbaum hit three singles to start the 7th.

Hayes was then replaced by Beau Jessop. Jessop threw his first two pitches in the dirt and tossed the third to the backstop.

Pinch running for Parker Graves, Abram Perez saw the opportunity to score on the wild pitch and dove across home plate, giving Central a 2-0 lead.

Gross recorded the first two outs of the 7th and was pulled due to pitch count.

Eli Kreighbaum took over and quickly found himself in trouble. Seaman’s Jack Becker and Beau Jessop reached and were the tying runs on second and third base before Kreighbaum got the final out.

A combination of relief and jubilation overcame the Mustangs and their home crowd once Keaton Smith caught the ball in center field, sending Salina Central to state.

The Mustangs earned wins 25 and 26 in the 5A West regionals and will continue their historic season next week at the 5A state quarterfinals.