“We have three horses,” said McElfish, whose Baltimore County champion Mavericks (18-2) picked up a North Regional championship with Friday?s victory. “They?re all No. 1s on just about anybody?s rotation.”

Kempa outdueled Engineers starter Brian Ellis ? the author of two no-hitters this season. Kempa struck out 10 and left with the bases loaded in the seventh. Solokis induced a line-drive double play before Dustin Peddricoro made a diving catch in shallow right to send the Mavericks into the state semifinals.

Eastern Tech is one of four teams left in the 47-team field and will play 2A East Regional champion Parkside on Tuesday at Arundel High School.

The winner moves to the state finals and will play either Calvert (14-7) or Middletown (18-3) at 4:30 p.m. Saturday in Ripken Stadium.

“Like I told the kids from Day 1,” said McElfish, whose team has given up one run in three postseason games, “the goal is to win the region because once you get to the final four, you?ve got the four best teams in the state.”

Parkside (19-3), the second-seeded team in the East, advanced to the regional finals with one-run victories over Southern-AA and Stephen Decatur before pounding No. 1 Easton, 14-5, to move into the state semifinals.

The Rams will likely see Rivers on the mound. Through 40 innings, Rivers (6-0) boasts a 0.58 ERA with 43 strikeouts and six walks.

“With Ryan on the mound,” McElfish said, “we?ll be ready for anyone.”

Rivers will have a tough task on hand with the Parkside lineup.

Against Easton, Daniel Trivitis was 2-for-4 with two RBI. Josh Clogg drove in three runs, and Seth Illian reached base four times and scored twice.

Rivers, who had two hits against the Engineers to raise his team-best average to .554, leads an offense that pounded out 16 runs against No. 10 Lansdowne. He then tossed a 4-0 shutout at third-seeded Hereford.

“I think we?re doing really well,” Rivers said. “The bats were a little shaky [Friday], but I think this momentum will pick up and carry us the rest of the way.”