Central, which has outscored opponents 65-5 in its five playoff games, improved to 29-7 on the season by run-ruling Salina in five innings.
Head coach Kevin Rodden was happy with the way his team played while winning all three of its games at the regional tournament.
"I was pleased overall. I felt like we hit the ball pretty well and had some timely hitting all the way through the line-up," said Rodden. "Even the bottom of the line-up got on the base and that's something we've been doing that all year. The bottom has kind of set the stage for the top of the order. I think our leadoff guy (Jose Olazagasti) is leading our team in RBIs and that says a lot about the bottom of the line-up and the way they get on base."
In Friday's championship game, Luis DeJesus hurled the Tigers to the win. The sophomore needed just 59 pitches to shut out Salina. He struck out three batters and walked one while going the full five innings on the mound.
Javier Santos and A.J. Gonzalez both hit home runs to spark the Tigers offensively and Kyler Ekberg batted 2-for-2.
Ekberg drove in the game's first run to score DeJesus for a 1-0 lead in the second inning. Dalton Campbell and J Johnson added RBIs in the third inning as Central went up 4-0.
Santos added a two-run homer in the fourth inning before the Tigers scored four times in the fifth to seal the win. Olazagasti drove in one run before Gonzalez smashed a three-run homer to bring the run rule into effect.
Rodden said a tough regular season schedule has been paying dividends in the playoffs.
"Every year we load up and the strength of schedule we play gets us ready for those guys in our class," said Rodden. "We play up in class and try to get the best teams we can play day-in and day-out. I think that prepares us because we see good pitching all the time."
CENTRAL 12, FAIRLAND 0
The Tigers picked up a regional winners bracket victory on Thursday night as Olazagasti cracked a pair of home runs and Santos tossed a three-hitter against Fairland.
Olazagasti, a sophomore shortstop, hit a two-run shot in the fifth inning and added another two-run blast in the sixth as Central pulled away. The Tigers also got a solo home run from Brenden Gentry and a two-run homer from Joey Veguilla.
Santos was the winning pitcher, limiting Fairland to three hits in five innings while striking out five batters.
CENTRAL 10, SALINA 3
The Tigers opened regional play on Thursday afternoon with a win over tournament host Salina.
Olazagasti drove in three runs to lead Central at the plate, while pitchers Joey Veguilla and Ryan Dodd combined for a four-hitter. Veguilla was the winner, striking out eight batters and allowi
