SARATOGA — Hayden Hummel got it going for the St. Francis softball team with a second-inning home run right down the left-field line.

The rest of the Lancers took it from there, adding another run in the third and four in the fifth in a 6-1 win over Salinas in a Central Coast Section Open Division semifinal game Wednesday at West Valley College.

No. 2 seed St. Francis (27-3) will play undefeated top seed Willow Glen on Saturday for the CCS Open championship.

The Lancers are the defending CCS Open champions and have won three of the last four Open titles. But this year they are seeded behind a Willow Glen team they have always dominated in the past.

But don’t expect St. Francis to be riled up over a perceived slight.

“They’re undefeated, they’re a senior-heavy team, they have the best pitcher in the section,” St. Francis coach Mike Oakland said of Willow Glen. “They’re a very, very good team and I thought the seeding was spot on.”

Nevertheless, the Lancers are, year after year, in a category all by themselves when it comes to hitting the long ball. Hummel’s home run was the team’s 28th of the season.

“After the first inning when we went down 1-2-3 it helped us go, `Oh, we can hit this kid, ” Oakland said.

Catcher Malianna Liongitau led off the third inning with a single. Pinch runner Aryka Gunsager stole second and came around to score on Peyton Tsao’s bases-loaded ground out.

The score remained 2-0 until the fifth when St. Francis had its break loose inning. Liongitau started it off by drawing a walk. May Meltz reached on a bunt single. Maya Yumiba and Jaime Oakland followed with RBI singles. Yumiba scored on a passed ball and Ava Bulanti capped the inning by hitting a sacrifice fly to deep center.

Salinas (18-8) broke up Bulanti’s shutout bid in the sixth when Gigi Rossi doubled and scored on Jaslyn Coronado’s single. But that was all the senior right-hander gave up. She scattered seven hits, walked two and struck out nine in a complete-game effort, improving to 15-0 on the season.

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“They’re a good-hitting team so I knew I had to pitch my best,” said Bulanti, who will remain on the Peninsula and play college softball at Stanford.

So now it’s all set up. No upsets, the two top seeds, the two best teams all season, will meet on Saturday with the CCS Open Division title at stake.

“I think we’re both competitive teams and saving that matchup for the CCS championship will be a really good game,” Bulanti said. “Come out and watch, hopefully we get a big crowd. There’ll be a lot of energy and we know they’re a really good team so we’ll bring our best game and go after it.

“Not feeling like we’re slighted, but we’re coming on Saturday to show we’re the better team.”