High school baseball: Coming up big in big games nothing new for Vermilion's Jacob Krausher

Whether he's pitching a big game or hitting in a big moment, Jacob Krausher has delivered time and time again for Vermilion. The Sailors' senior ace has been dominant this year with 90 strikeouts in 60 innings and a 0.817 ERA, a 0.850 WHIP and an 8-2 record. So naturally, Vermilion is tabbing him to start in the team's biggest game of the season thus far — today at 2 p.m. against Tiffin Columbian in the Region 9 semifinal at Carter Park in Bowling Green. It's nothing new for Krausher. In 2019 he was called on to pitch the district championship game against Shelby, delivering a stellar performance in clinching the team's first district title since 1991. And this time around, he's done it all in Vermilion's district title defense. In the semifinals, he earned the win with four strikeouts and delivered a bases-clearing double that broke open the 7-2 win over Perkins. In the championship, the Sailors were on the verge of being no-hit against Bellevue, but Krausher delivered the team's first hit with two outs in the fifth that tied the game and sparked a 5-1 win. "When I know I'm going to pitch in a big game, I try to just focus on what I have to do and I just do my part," Krausher said. "I listen to music to get pumped up, and I focus on myself. Before the game, I just go out into the outfield and focus on the game. When I pitched in that big game in the district finals (against Shelby), it was an experience. This year, now, I know what to expect when we go into these games." Krausher — like everyone else — lost an entire season to the COVID-19 pandemic, but he didn't let that stall his progress. He focused on getting in better shape so he'd be able to add velocity to his fastball. He said that his sophomore year he was topping out at around 87 miles per hour, but this year he's increased his velocity to about 92. Combine that with a strong slider and a change-up that moves, and it's not hard to see why the University of Akron Zips wanted him to play baseball for them next year. "He's a great pitcher," Vermilion catcher Carter Klausing said. "He has the ability to get ahead on hitters and stay in the lead. He pounds the zone, always throwing a ton of strikes, and he has a good number of pitches he can throw and feels confident with everything. So that's definitely an advantage because he can keep the hitters off-balance." Beating a team that knows what's coming is no easy task, and Tiffin Columbian got to square off with Vermilion twice in the regular season. Krausher started the first game and struck out 11 in a 2-0 win. He also made an appearance in the seventh during the rematch, and subsequently picked up the 4-3 win thanks to Vermilion's rally in the bottom half of the inning. "I bet they know what to expect," Krausher said of Tiffin Columbian. "I faced Perkins three times, actually, and once we went into that district semifinal game I found out they had been preparing to face me for over a week. It was obvious that they were because I only had four strikeouts. I have a feeling Tiffin is probably going to be just as prepared, so I just have to go in there, try to shut them down and try to win." Vermilion coach Jeff Keck said Krausher is one of the team's vocal leaders, always setting the tone in weightlifting, practice or just before a game. And having him on the mound gives the team a boost knowing how dominant he can be. "I think our kids just rise up to another level when he pitches and hopefully that's true to form (today)," Keck said. "I think they take their game up to another level. He's had some big moments for us." Contact Chris Sweeney at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com and follow him @CSweeneyCT on Twitter.