The Explorers, who overcame deficits of 2-0 and 5-3, prevailed in the second game when Ryan Otis drove in pinch-runner Marcus Sistrun with a fly to left field.
"Going into the bottom of the inning, with the score tied, we liked our chances," La Salle coach Joe Parisi said.
On Monday, at Spring-Ford High in Royersford, the Explorers will clash with Hatboro-Horsham, of District 1, in a noon semifinal. That will be followed, at about 3 p.m., by Neumann-Goretti's semifinal meeting with District 3 titlist Lampeter-Strasburg.
In the sixth inning for La Salle, junior first baseman Chris Melillo (3 for 4, four RBIs) ripped a three-run triple to center to give La Salle a 6-5 edge.
"It was a first-pitch curveball," Melillo said. "On that at-bat, I was looking to be pretty aggressive."
A two-run Explorers fifth was highlighted by Colin Pyne's RBI single and Tyler Kozeniewski's RBI triple off the right-field fence.
Because catcher and Red Division MVP Corey Baiada was sidelined because of the flu, Parisi had to shake up the lineup. Christian Bruno took over behind the plate and handled three pitchers.
Sophomore righthander Dom Cuoci started for the Explorers, going five innings before giving way to sophomore lefthander John Scheffey.
Cuoci stayed in the game after being drilled in the left ankle with a batted ball in the third.
Central Dauphin evened things in the seventh on Blake Lazur's leadoff triple and a sacrifice fly. Mike Piscopo, taking over for Scheffey, recorded the last out and was credited with the win.
Neumann-Goretti, which loaded the bases before leaving Thursday, immediately broke open a 2-2 tie. Josh Ockimey, a sophomore first baseman, highlighted the fourth-inning explosion with a three-run blast to right-center field.
"I was confident that we were going to score some runs on them," Saints coach Mike Zolk said. "We wanted to be aggressive right away, especially on the bases."
Marty Venafro started the uprising with a sacrifice fly to center. After Ockimey's shot, Jimmy Kerrigan (double to left) and Joe Kinee (hit by pitch) scored on errors to make it 8-2.
Joe Jaep did the Day 2 pitching for the Saints, who totaled eight hits in the game. In three innings, the righthander yielded two hits and struck out five.
"He's a senior," Zolk said. "He's battle-tested."
Central Dauphin 2000031 - 6100
La Salle 0010231 - 7101
WP: Mike Piscopo. LP: Jared Lydon. 2B: CD-Conner Anderson; LS-Piscopo. 3B: CD-A.J. Aull, Blake Lazur; LS-Chris Melillo, Tyler Kozeniewski.
Blue Mountain 0011000 - 243
Neumann-Goretti 002610x - 981
WP: John LaMotta. LP: Scott Snyder. 2B: NG-Joey Gorman, Jimmy Kerrigan. HR: NG-Josh Ockimey.
Contact Rick O'Brien at robrien@phillynews.com, or @ozoneinq on Twitter. Read his blog, "The O'Zone," at www.philly.com/ozone
