If she likes it, she’s going to swing at it. And that’s what she did Monday to a pretty nice first-pitch offering.

Her solo home run broke a 0-0 tie in Dirigo’s Western C semifinal showdown with Telstar. An inning later, the Cougars broke the game open against Rebels ace Jessie Dirago for a 9-2 victory.

“I’ve always been one to jump on the first pitch,” said the Dirigo first baseman. “If I see a strike, I don’t let it go by. It showed once you get a pitch, if you see the ball, you can hit it. She’s not impossible to hit off. I think it showed everybody. I think it definitely lit a fire under our butts.”

The defending Western C champs return to the regional final to play Madison on Wednesday afternoon at 3 p.m. at St. Joseph’s College.

“This is awesome,” said Wilson, who finished with three hits and three RBI. “I remember last year being so exciting and thinking it might be the only one. It’s so cool that we get to go back.”

Tasha DeRoche added a pair of hits and an RBI. Telstar got two hits each from Taylor Savage and Becca Howard.

The second-ranked Cougars (13-5) had lost four straight late in the regular season before a win over Telstar ended that run. Since then, Dirigo has won five straight and get to face a Bulldog team it lost to 2-1 earlier in the year.

“All of our pieces are starting to come together,” said Dirigo coach Sara Thurston. “It’s pretty good timing. It’s nice. It’s exciting to see. We just need to keep our focus.”

Pitcher Cami Denney held Telstar to just six hits overall and to just one through the first five innings. She struck out five and walked just two.

“It’s a little intimidating to pitch against (Dirago),” said Denney. “She’s a good pitcher. I just tried to focus on me and my pitching and not anything else.”

Denney was supported by a solid Dirigo defense. Wilson made a number of nice stretches at first. Catcher Lauren Henderson threw out a runner stealing at second. The Cougars even turned a double play when Denney threw to Wilson at first for one out and she relayed a throw home to get a runner at the plate to end the inning.

“That’s a big confidence boost,” said Denney. “I know if it gets hit, I have the fielders behind me.”

Dirago held the Cougars to just one hit through the first four innings. That was Wilson’s home run. In the fifth, Dirigo scored seven runs on three hits. Dirago walked five, hit one and another reached on an error.

“That was a nightmare of an inning,” said Telstar coach Jim Lunney. “Jess hasn’t had anything like this all year. She got into a little bit of a funk and couldn’t get out of it.”

Telstar (10-6) had a chance to score first. The Rebels got a single and a walk and had runners at the corners. When Telstar sent the runner at second, she was supposed to draw the throw and force a run down while the runner at third scored. Instead, she was thrown at at second and no run scored.

“We made a few base-running mistakes,” said Lunney. “We should have had a run. Our lack of experienced showed in a big game. We’ll build on this.”

Instead, it was Dirigo getting the first run in a big way. With one out in the fourth, Wilson drilled the first pitch over the left-field fence at Marble Park.

“That put some ignition on the fire,” said Thurston. “From that point on, they were like ‘We can all hit. Let’s do it’ and they did.”

In the fifth, Dirigo broke the game open. An error and three straight walks started the trouble. Emma Lueders walked in a run. Then DeRoche followed with an RBI single. Wilson delivered a two-run hit to make it 6-0. Denney plated another with a sacrifice fly. Gretchen Bradbury walked in another for the 7-0 lead.

Telstar got two back in the sixth when Savage singled and Autumn Berry followed with a home run of her own. The Rebels got three more runners on but ended the threat with the double play.

“I’m pleased,” said Lunney. “After the bad inning, I told them to play for pride. We came back and got some base runners and got a couple of runs. They battled.”

Dirigo added one more in the sixth against relief pitcher Olivia York. Wilson singled in DeRoche.

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