Edison gets back on track behind no-hitter

MILAN — Eli Hermes broke the elbow in his pitching arm last May. Safe to say, he's completely healed. On a warm Monday, the junior left-hander threw a no-hitter and struck out 15 batters in Edison's 7-0 Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division win Huron. "I felt really good," Hermes said. "It was nice to finally pitch in the warm weather. It's been pretty cold to start the year. Eighty degrees felt good." Hermes threw 103 pitches in the first six innings and there was a brief conversation about whether he should take the mound in the seventh. Brief. "He was throwing great. His pitch count was up there," Edison coach Sean Hoover said. "We were a little nervous about sending him out (for the seventh) after last year ended in injury. But he was strong. He didn't lose any velocity and looked real good. He dominated, mixed his pitches well and kept them off balance." Hoover talked to Hermes before he batted in the bottom of the sixth, stressing to his pitcher that he was on a short leash. "Coach Hoover asked how I felt. I knew in my head that I had a no-hitter going," Hermes said. "I wasn't just gonna let that slip away from me. He said he had a guy warming up in case I hit the pitch limit of 125, but I had to go out and attack and throw strikes." Hermes, who had good velocity throughout the game and effectively hit the outside corner, threw only 12 pitches in the seventh. He retired all three Huron batters in the inning — the last two on strikeouts. "I asked him how he felt and he said 'good,' " Hoover said. "He didn't have a whole lot of pitches to work with. I really wasn't comfortable with him over 100, but we needed somebody to give us a strong seven-inning performance and not burn another arm. We've got a long week with four games." Hermes broke his elbow nearly 11 months to the day while pitching a Saturday game against Western Reserve. "It was the third or fourth inning, busted my elbow up," he said. "I was hurting before the year. I threw one game before that to try to get in the groove. Felt a little sore, but a week's rest and I was good. Went back out there and was throwing well and broke my elbow. It was unfortunate, but I got back healthy and I'm ready for a good junior season." It wasn't an easy road back for Hermes, who had surgery. "I broke the tip of my elbow off at the growth plate — had a doctor up in Cleveland put a screw in it," he said. "I was in a cast for a month and then some intense physical therapy. Rehab was tough, but I had to fight through it. I went to physical therapy about every day for three months. It was a battle, but it's all worth it. I feel better than I ever had." Hermes, making his second start of the season, threw the first complete game of his high school career. "(Assistant) Coach (Mike) Old put together a good scouting report," he said. "We knew what we were gonna do attacking certain hitters. Fastball and curveball were working nice, mixing off speed, hitting spots. Felt good." After a long first inning, the game moved quickly, thanks in part to Hermes' approach on the mound. "I work quick out there. I like to get in a rhythm," he said. "Start feeling good, you want to keep going. The catcher gets me the ball back and I'm right back on the mound ready to go and hunt strikes." Hermes got some early support when the Chargers scored four runs in the bottom of the first inning. Huron starter Grant Periat hit four straight batters — Cole Leimeister, Chaz Smith, Hermes and Tristian Wetherill — all with two strikes in the count. Leimeister scored the game's first run on a wild pitch. Ian Preston made it 2-0 with a RBI single before Brody McFadden worked a walk with the bases loaded. Owen Price singled to bring in the fourth run, which proved to be more than enough for Hermes. Periat settled down and retired eight straight Chargers before he was lifted for Max Jacobs in the fourth. "He's a good pitcher and he settled in and did a nice job," Huron coach Dan Lindsley said. "We did good with their main hitters. We got caught down at the bottom, but that's what happens when you put guys on." Huron dropped to 5-3 overall and 2-1 in the SBC Bay. The Tigers travel to Margaretta, which is 3-0 in league play, on Thursday. The win was a big one for Edison, which started the season 3-0 before losing three in a row last week. "We did a nice job moving runners from second to third and got some big hits from Brody and Owen at the bottom of our order with guys on base," Hoover said. "We definitely had much better contact today." Edison added single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings on RBI singles from Leimeister, McFadden and Smith. Meanwhile, Hermes was dealing. He walked the leadoff batter in the first and second innings before retiring 13 straight batters. "You can't strike out 15 times; you gotta hit the baseball," Lindsley said. "Eli Hermes did a great job keeping us off balance and we didn't adjust." The Chargers improved to 4-3 overall and 1-1 in the SBC Bay. Edison play division games at Vermilion on Tuesday and at Willard on Thursday. Huron 000 000 0 — 0 0 2 Edison 400 111 x — 7 7 0 WP: Hermes. LP: Periat.