SALINE - Al Zeiher considers himself fortunate. He doesn’t have to pitch against teammate Mark Weist.

If he did?

“I’d walk him,” Zeiher said.

The way Weist hit the ball Saturday, that might be an idea opposing pitchers borrow for the rest of the Division 1 playoffs.

Weist slugged two homers and fell a triple short of the cycle as Saline beat Temperance Bedford, 11-1, in a six-inning district final.

He went 4-for-4 against the Mules and finished the day 7-for-8 after a three-hit performance in an 11-1 district semifinal win over Ypsilanti.

“He’s playing with me in college (at Spring Arbor), too,” Zeiher said. “That’s a good deal. I’m happy about that.”

Weist has 10 home runs on the year and started catching fire in recent weeks after making some minor adjustments to his swing.

His first homer Saturday traveled an estimated 400 feet, clearing the scoreboard in left-center field. His second was an opposite-field shot that sparked Saline’s five-run fifth inning. And he just missed a third, banging a double off the right-field fence to lead off the sixth.

“I finally went back to the basics,” Weist said. “Kind of relaxed, tried not to do too much with the ball, tried not to pull off on my front shoulder. Just use my hands more. That helped today.”

While Weist led the way, the rest of Saline’s lineup was just as destructive Saturday. Garrett Gordon went 3-for-3 with two doubles and a triple, Cameron Keller reached base in all five plate appearances, and seven different Hornets had at least one RBI.

That was more than enough cushion for Zeiher, who scattered four hits over six innings to improve to 10-0 on the year.

“When it got to 4-0 I knew we were in some trouble because it’s going to be tough to score four runs on Zeiher,” Bedford coach Craig Trychel said. “We just tried to fight through it. They kept hitting the ball and our pitching’s not deep enough to go 3-4-5 after those first two guys.”

Bedford starter Trent Szkutnik gave up five runs and nine hits in four innings. Szkutnik, who lost 2-1 in eight innings to Zeiher earlier this year, got hit on his pitching elbow in Bedford’s 13-1 district semifinal win over Monroe.

Trychel said Szkutnik’s elbow swelled up some, but “he felt like he could go so we went with him as long as we could.”

“Obviously when they got to their bullpen that made a huge difference,” Saline coach Scott Theisen said. “But I didn’t expect the game to end like that, that’s for sure. Especially against that team.”

Bedford finished the season 33-5 after losing to eventual champ Warren DeLaSalle in last year's state semifinals.

Saline (29-5) is three victories away from reaching the Battle Creek for the third straight year. The Hornets play the winner of the Southgate Anderson district next Saturday at Allen Park.

“We got five games left,” Weist said. “Win them all and we’ll be state champs.”

Dave Birkett covers University of Michigan football for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached by phone at 734-623-2552 or by e-mail at davidbirkett@annarbor.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.