High school baseball: Jacob Krausher's bat and arm lead Vermilion past Perkins and to another district final

FREMONT — With one swing of the bat Thursday, Vermilion senior Jacob Krausher turned a pitchers duel into a rout. Krausher, who spent the first four innings of the Sailors' 7-2 Division II district semifinal win over Perkins matching Pirates ace Luke Walton pitch-for-pitch, hit a bases-clearing double to left field off reliever Landon Kim as part of a five-run fifth inning. "When they took out Luke I felt a little bit of relief because he's a good pitcher," Krausher said. "I figured (Kim) would come in with a first-pitch fastball trying to get a strike. I was looking for that, he threw it and I hit it well." With the comfortable lead in hand, Krausher, a University of Akron commit, went back to the mound to finish off the Pirates. With his seven-hit complete game, Krausher improved to 8-2. "Jake pitched a great game and he had that big hit in the fifth inning, too," Vermilion coach Jeff Keck said. "It was a heck of a day for him. "Luke Walton is a heck of a pitcher, too, and he has held us down before. The one big inning was the difference for us. We have guys who keep getting after it and we were finally able to get it done. I'm so proud of how we played today." The top-seeded Sailors (23-6) will face No. 8 seed Bellevue on Saturday at noon in the district final. The Redmen defeated Huron 7-3 in Thursday's other semifinal. Vermilion got only six hits off a trio of pitchers but they made the most of each hit. The Sailors' first hit of the game drove in their first run in the second inning when senior right fielder Ethan Young singled home Krausher, who opened the inning with a walk. In the fifth inning, Vermilion used four hits, a walk and a hit batter to score its five runs. Jaden Fox had a one-out double and scored on a Cody Shultz single to break a 1-1 tie. Jack Wells was then hit by a Walton pitch, loading the bases and setting the stage for Krausher. Shultz was the only Vermilion player with more than one hit. "We hit the ball very well today and that was our goal coming into the game," Shultz said. "That's what we were talking about on the bus on the way here. Once we get going the momentum just keeps rolling." The Sailors scored their final run in the sixth inning without the benefit of a hit when Wells walked with the bases loaded to drive in Young. Vermilion went 27 years without a district title prior to 2019 but now they are one win away from back-to-back regional appearances. "We're not just trying to get back to regionals this year," Keck said. "We want to do some business and go further then we did before. But in saying that, we're still taking it one game at a time and not looking past anybody." Vermilion won both its regular-season meetings with the Redmen, 10-3 and 11-2. "Most of this team has been to the regional final and not a lot of kids ever get that opportunity," Krausher said. "We know what to expect in these type of games and how they usually play out. We come in every game ready to play. We want to keep winning." Contact Todd Shapiro at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.