ELYRIA — Revenge was sweet for Vermilion, thanks to a great pitching effort by Adam Beach.
Vermilion won a Division II sectional championship Friday, beating Elyria Catholic 4-2 just a month after losing to the Panthers 5-3 on the Sailors’ diamond.
Beach struck out 10 and gave up six hits while not walking a batter.
After spotting Elyria Catholic a 2-0 lead in the third on an error (dropped fly ball) and singles by Ben Inman, Mike Norton and Andrew Kubuski, Vermilion took the lead with three runs in the fifth.
Aaron Sooy started it with a single to right. He moved to second on a fielder’s choice. An intentional walk and an Elyria Catholic error were followed by a two-run double to left-center by Christian Gulish. The Sailors (16-8) added an insurance run in the sixth on a single by Sooy and Anthony Labondono’s double to left field on a high fly that was lost in the sun by the EC outfielder.
Brian Hart, who was the winning pitcher in EC’s April 16 win at Vermilion, had a no-hitter Friday through 3 2/3 innings before Wesley White got a hit. Hart gave up only six hits but walked five.  He fanned six.
Elyria Catholic (16-9) was hurt by the absence of two key regulars, Joe Fitch (hamstring injury) and Paul Kubuski (pneumonia), forcing coach Tom Kubuski to make several infield position changes.
“With our errors in the field we gave them reason to believe,” Kubuski said. “That was one of the things I was worried about before the game. But, bottom line, we just couldn’t string any hits together.”
Beach was beaming after the game.
“I’ve always dreamed of pitching a game without giving up a walk,” he said. “I haven’t done that this year. No walks is big because then you don’t have to worry about hurting yourself.
“Coach called all my pitches and did a terrific job. My fastball was really pumping today, which was great because my curve wasn’t working well.”
Vermilion coach Jeff Keck shared in the excitement.
“We’ve gotten better and better as the season has gone on,” he said. “As a coach you hope a team can peak at the right time. And I think we are. This was our fifth straight win and six of the last seven.
“We got great pitching both in the semifinal on Thursday from Tim Clark and Beach today. Neither gave up a walk. I’m so proud of our team.”
Vermilion advances to the Lorain district and will play at either Southview or Admiral King on Thursday against a winner from the Rittman sectional.
While Elyria Catholic did have three errors, the Panthers also came up with the fielding gem of the day when left fielder Jacob Julio made a tremendous diving catch to rob Gulish of a hit.
Contact Jerry Rombach at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.

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