Lafayette Central Catholic (27-6) staved off a late rally to beat Morgan Township 4-3 in the LaPorte Semi-State late Saturday night. The Cherokees loaded the bases in the seventh inning before Lucas Gerkey induced a groundball to Isaac Suppinger at first base to preserve the victory and send the Knights back to Victory Field in their quest for a third consecutive state championship. Keaton Brooks pitched 5 1/3 innings and struck out six to pick up his sixth win of the season. Brinn Robbins pitched 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief before Gerkey was able to get the final out to earn the save. Gerkey had pitched a complete game in the semi-finals in Saturday afternoon’s 6-1 victory over Union City. Hudson Gutwein led off the bottom of the first with a ringing triple and scored on an errant throw by the Cherokee right fielder. Kayden Minnich’s two out, two strike single to left in the fifth inning plated the Knights third run. Minnich came around to score the important insurance run later in the inning. The Knights will take on Barr-Reeve on Friday, June 14 at Victory Field starting at 5:30pm in a rematch of the Knights 1-0 victory in last year’s state championship game.