Warren Central made the four-hour trek north to Saltillo with state championship dreams still dancing in its head. Those were repeatedly doused with a stream of strikes that left their bats cold and hopes doused.

Wilson Rodriguez finished with 11 strikeouts and didn’t allow a hit until the sixth inning as Saltillo beat Warren Central 7-0 on Wednesday to complete a sweep of their MHSAA Class 6A baseball semifinal series.

Saltillo (24-5) won the North State championship and advanced to face George County (24-10) in the Class 6A finals next week at Trustmark Park in Pearl. George County, the defending Class 6A champion, swept Pearl River Central to win the South State title.

Warren Central finished its season with a 20-11 record. After losing in the state finals in 2024 it got to the semifinal round of the playoffs in back-to-back years for the first time in school history.

“The seniors this year have been a part of three district championships in a row and that hadn’t happened since ‘01. We haven’t won 20 games since ‘19. We haven’t been back-to-back in North State,” Warren Central coach Randy Broome said. “I hate it for the seniors that we couldn’t get them back to our place, for sure, but tip your hat to Saltillo.”

A lack of timely hitting by the Vikings contributed to a 6-4 loss in Game 1 on Monday, and then they didn’t hit at all in Game 2.

Rodriguez allowed two walks in the first two innings, but neither runner got past first base. He then retired 11 consecutive batters until Ryan Steed led off the sixth inning with a single for Warren Central’s first hit.

Maddox Lynch also singled later in the inning to put runners at first and third and give the Vikings their first scoring threat. Rodriguez got cleanup batter Trace Hood to line out to left field to end it, then struck out the side in the seventh to close out the game and series.

“Their kid threw a gem. We talked about all year that we weren’t going to see anything we hadn’t seen, and we really didn’t as far as velo or stuff. He just had our number tonight,” Broome said. “A couple balls we hit hard were right at some folks and we threw some good pitches that they hit that fell. It’s one of those deals. You’ve got to fight, you’ve got to scrap, you’ve got to claw, but at the end of the day it’s not meant to be.”

Saltillo took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when Baylor Roberts scored on a double steal, then added another run in the second on an RBI single by Ethan Arriola. An RBI double by Easton Reynolds in the fourth inning made it 3-0, and the Tigers really blew it open with four runs in the fifth.

Three singles were sandwiched around and error, with Levin Darsey plating a run with one of them and Jack Adams scoring on a wild pitch. Roberts hit an RBI single and Jacob Gore got another with two outs to make it 7-0.

Roberts finished 2-for-3 with one RBI and two runs scored, while Reynolds and Arriola each had two hits and an RBI.

Warren Central entered the series having won 17 of 18 games. It bowed out of the playoffs with its first losing streak since dropping five in a row in late February and early March.

“Through that streak and that run we were on, we were catching some breaks but we were giving ourselves chances and getting knocks when we needed it. It’s frustrating, but in reality it’s the game of baseball,” Broome said. “Unfortunately, when you get down to four teams left in 6A in the state two of them have got to go home and two of them have to advance. Unfortunately we were the ones that’ve gotta go home this time around. Great year, great run. We just fell a little short.”