Sailors 'scrape and dig and scratch' way to regional final

BOWLING GREEN — For five innings Friday, neither Vermilion nor Tiffin Columbian could score. But in the top of the sixth, the Sailors found a way. Nick Werth pulled a leadoff single into right field. Cody Shultz followed with a sacrifice attempt that turned into a hit before Jack Wells laid down a bunt to move the runners. The Tornadoes opted to intentionally walk Jacob Krausher, bringing up Ethan Hendrickson with the bases loaded. Hendrickson fell behind 0-2, but his focus never wavered on finding a way to put the ball in play. That's what he did on the third pitch he saw, pulling a grounder through the left side to break the deadlock and score two runs. "As you get deeper in the tournament, you're gonna have to scrape and dig and scratch for runs," Vermilion coach Jeff Keck said, "and that's what we had to do tonight." Vermilion (25-6) tacked on another run in the seventh to beat Columbian (23-8) in a Division II regional semifinal, 3-0, at Carter Park. The Sailors kept the Tornadoes off the scoreboard thanks to a shutout from Krausher, who struck out eight and worked efficiently to finish with 83 pitches in his seven frames. The victory advances Vermilion to the regional final right back at Carter Park at 1 p.m. Saturday. The Sailors take on rival Firelands, which defeated Toledo Central Catholic 5-4 on a seventh-inning walkoff in the evening's second semifinal. "It feels great," Krausher said. "… I'm just glad we could do it with my friends like this, my brothers." Runs were always going to be at a premium in the third meeting this season between the SBC Lake foes. Krausher entered the ballgame with a 0.82 ERA and Columbian lefty Carson Mellott had a 1.55. The game's first hit didn't come until the bottom of the third as Krausher and Mellott traded zeroes, with plenty of help from their respective defenses. Columbian junior centerfielder Gunther Kissell ran down fly balls going both in and back to prevent early damage. Werth did the same in center for Vermilion, capping off his fielding day with a diving catch on a blooper in the sixth. "You already knew it was gonna be like that," Krausher said. "It's gonna be a pitching war for sure, but you just have to have the confidence when you go out on the mound. Once you have that confidence on the mound, you just have to feel like no one on the other team's gonna cross the plate." When Werth stepped in to lead off the sixth, he was 0-for-2 with two strikeouts in a left-on-left matchup against Mellott. But this time, Mellott hung a curveball that Werth lined into right field for a single. Keck knew at that point that Vermilion needed a run, maybe even just one with how Krausher was dealing. So he called for two-hitter Shultz to lay down a sacrifice bunt. After Shultz fouled off his first attempt and then took a ball, he deadened the ball toward the third baseman and beat out the throw. The bunt call stayed on for the junior Wells, an Akron commit, and after whiffing on his first try and taking a pitch out of the zone, he placed a sacrifice toward third to move two Sailors into scoring position. Krausher stepped in, having four combined RBI from the fifth inning on in Vermilion's last two wins, but his spot in the box was temporary before Columbian intentionally walked him. That brought up Hendrickson. "He's been hitting all year," Krausher said of Hendrickson. "There's nothing else you expect from him. When he's at the plate, you already know that he's gonna make contact." Hendrickson fouled off the first two pitches before hitting a hard grounder to the left side. The ball's final hop on the grass was a big one, sending it into left. Werth scored and so did Shultz, with a feet-first slide. "That feeling was great," Hendrickson said. "I was so excited. Just happy to get us on the board." Vermilion added a run in the seventh when Werth tripled home Konnor Clark, who'd reached on an error. That gave Krausher a three-run lead with only three outs to get. "You feel pretty good about things with Jake on the mound (in that spot)," Keck said. Krausher allowed a leadoff single, but then a lineout to center and a flyout to right set up the game's final out. A foul ball brought strike one, then a curveball looking for strike two before Krausher induced a swing-and-miss for strike three. After maintaining a straight face on the mound for most of the game, Krausher strutted toward Vermilion's first-base dugout, slapped his glove and screamed, "Let's go!" before three of his teammates chest-bumped their ace. Behind Krausher, Hendrickson threw up his right fist and let out a scream, too. Together, they'd ensured Vermilion would be back in Bowling Green on Saturday with a spot in the state final four on the line. "I don't want them to be all tensed up and everything," Keck said. "It's a baseball game. They're gonna play baseball, and they're gonna do what they've done for 25 wins before that. We've been able to have fun and turn it loose and play the game, and that's what we're gonna keep doing. Hopefully it works." Vermilion 000 002 1 — 3 7 0Columbian 000 000 0 — 0 6 0 WP: Jacob Krausher (9-2). LP: Carson Mellott (7-3) 2B: (C) Griffin Bunting. 3B: (V) Nick Werth