When Niklas Thorsen enters to close, he has one thing on his mind.

“All I think about is throwing strikes and filling up the zone,” he said. “I don’t really care about where the ball is at the time, especially at that point. I just want the ball to get put in play. I don’t want to walk anyone, so anything my coach calls, I do my best to locate it.”

The junior right-hander was tasked with navigating a tough jam as Crystal Lake Central sought to protect a three-run lead during a Class 3A Crystal Lake Central Regional semifinal against Wauconda. Taking the mound with the bases loaded and only one out, Thorsen delivered a strikeout on a breaking ball before forcing a flyout to center field.

Thorsen, whose escape kept the Tigers ahead after six frames, worked around an outfield error in the seventh to earn the save and clinch the team’s 6-3 win over the Bulldogs at Fred Tipps Field. Central (18-15) will advance and take on Woodstock North at 10 a.m. Saturday for the championship. The Tigers are seeking their second title in three years.

“I had a load of confidence after that strikeout,” Thorsen said. “When I first went in, I was a little scared because stuff can happen. After that strikeout, I had a bunch of confidence to go after the next guy. My curveball was working a lot in the last inning. We threw a lot of outside curveballs and those two flyouts were on outside curveballs.”

Bud Shanahan went 3 for 4 and delivered a pair of clutch hits when the Tigers needed to stretch their lead. The junior smashed an RBI double into the right-center field gap to put Central ahead 4-2 in the fourth. He came through again in the sixth, shooting a two-run single through the right side of the infield as the Tigers went up by three.

“At batting practice this morning, we were all locked in and having fun,” said Shanahan, who attributed his success to hunting fastballs. “We have a great group of guys who want to be around each other. I have confidence and it’s what I train for. ... I love to hit fastballs.”

Playing from the visiting dugout on their home field, the No. 9 Tigers struck for two runs in the second, where Carter Kropke scored on a Grant Bellino single and Wauconda starter Brayden Kirchwehm balked another run home. The No. 7 Bulldogs (20-13) earned one back on Dom Ciaburri’s sacrifice fly to right in the bottom half.

Central starter Wade Ozment, an Illinois recruit, did his best to limit the damage. Despite not having his best stuff, Ozment allowed just three hits in over five innings of work while striking out three. Fielding his position in the fourth, Ozment picked off a runner at third, a rarity for a righty, before completing a fielder’s choice at third soon after.

“I don’t really pick off in high school,” the junior Ozment said. “I felt like they weren’t paying attention. When you don’t have your good stuff, you’ve got to rely on your defending and making good plays. I really trusted my teammates and threw the ball in the zone not thinking about mechanics, but thinking about blowing it by them.”

After Brody Rudolph’s RBI single evened the score at 2-2 in the third, Central retook the lead in the fourth, where the Tigers drew two walks and Nick Kohlhase fired a ground ball up the middle for an RBI single. The Bulldogs earned one back in the bottom of the fourth, bringing Central within one on Ciaburri’s RBI double down the left-field line.

But Shanahan’s late-game hits, combined with Thorsen’s resolve on the mound, enabled Central to reach the regional finals. The Tigers will meet the No. 15 seed Woodstock North, which upset No. 2 seed St. Viator on Wednesday. Central, which has won nine of its last 10 games, beat the Thunder 10-0 in nonconference play last week.

“They’re a good team, but I feel confident in us,” Ozment said.