SALINAS >> While most teams in the Northern California tournament were coming off emotional section title wins, Salinas High sat around for a week after falling in the Central Coast Section Open Division softball semifinals.

Refueling the fire came with some much-needed time off.

“We gave them some time off, let them do their graduation parties, relax and rest,” Salinas coach Ron Guzman said. “The break was good. Now it’s a matter of building up their momentum. Today was big. We made a lot of plays.”

The No. 2-seeded Cowboys have advanced into the NorCal Division II semifinals after a 5-2 decision Tuesday over Casa Grande of Petaluma.

Co-champions of the Pacific Coast Athletic League’s Gabilan Division, Salinas (20-8) will host No. 6 seed King’s Academy of Sunnyvale, 6-3 winners over No. 3 seed Destiny Christian Academy.

Runner-ups in the Peninsula Bay Division to Capuchino, the Knights (21-7) won the CCS Division I title last weekend with a 1-0 win over Gilroy. Salinas was extended an invitation to the NorCal tournament after winning a game in the CCS Open Division.

It took one bunt for Guzman to take advantage of a Casa Grande defense that often left the third base bag open, enabling runners to go from first to third on a sacrifice.

“The first time we bunted, I noticed they were vacating third,” Guzman said. “I told the girls as soon as you round second, take third. No one was there. We were aggressive on the bases. We executed. Having girls that can run is beneficial.”

Staring at a 1-0 deficit in the third inning, the Cowboys responded with Kelsie Domenighini doubling home a pair of runs during a three-run outburst.

Domenighini continued to sting the ball at the plate for Salinas, collecting three more hits — two triples and a double — and two clutch runs batted in.

“She hit everything thrown to her,” Guzman said. “We did the simple things. We were smart in running the bases and played solid defense.”

That included right fielder Jaslyne Coronado, who had two diving catches in the outfield, including one over her shoulder.

“The girl is a stud,” Guzman said.

The five runs was more than Gabilan Division Pitcher of the Year Abi Jones needed as the Grand Canyon University-bound hurler allowed just four hits, while striking out seven.

King City 11, Matilda Torres 1

Still emotionally charged after capturing the program’s first CCS title 72 hours earlier, the Mustangs needed just five innings to dispose of Matilda Torres of Madera County in the Division V quarterfinals.

“We’re still on such an adrenaline high from Saturday,” King City coach Artie Carrillo said. “School gets out this week. But these kids are so excited to still be playing.”

With No. 7 seed Balboa crushing No. 2 Foresthill 20-3, the No. 2 seeded Mustangs will host a second game on Thursday at 4 p.m. for a spot in the Northern California Division V title game.

“We’ll try and find out what they have in the next 24 hours,” Carrillo said. “Beating a team 20-3 is impressive. Our game plan is ‘don’t go outside what we do. Stay aggressive.’”

In four playoff games, the Mustangs have outscored the opposition 47-8.

Champions of the San Francisco Section after avenging an earlier season loss to Lowell last weekend, the Buccaneers (14-4) have won five straight games.

One of Balboa’s losses this year was a 6-0 setback to South San Francisco, which the Mustangs throttled 11-4 in the CCS finals last Saturday.

Only two teams in the county have ever won Northern California divisional softball titles, with Monterey being the first in 2022 in Division IV and Alvarez winning it in 2024 in Division IV.

A three-run double from Raylie Moore ignited a six-run first inning for King City (19-11), providing more than enough support for sophomore hurler Alizah Carrillo, who struck out seven over five innings.

“We watched some of the title game of Torres last week,” Artie Carrillo said. “They play a lot of small ball and bunt. We felt if we could take that away from them, we would be OK. Our infield was on it, and we made them adjust.”

Avery Munoz, Amity Hearne and Moore all collected two hits for the Mustangs, while Crystal Paramo drove in a pair of runs.