Softball: St. Bede rides Ella Hermes’ no-hitter to 15-0, 5-inning win over Hall

SPRING VALLEY – Ella Hermes knew she had a pretty good thing going.

Then teammate Reagan Stoudt told her how good.

The St. Bede junior pitched a five-inning no-hitter to defeat rival Hall 15-0 Monday in the Three Rivers East opener for both teams.

Her only blemishes were two walks, recording all 15 outs via strikeout.

“I didn’t [know it] until Reag said, ‘Hey, you got a no-hitter going.’ I said, OK, OK.’ That felt good. I needed it,” Hermes said.

“I just felt loose and ready to go. I was just trying to hit my spots and be confident in my pitches.”

The only thing better, St. Bede coach Shawn Sons said, would have been a perfect game.

“The walk in the second took care of that. But she pitched a gem the rest of the way and slammed the door on them,” he said.

Hermes struck out the first three batters she faced and six out of the first seven with a walk sprinkled in. Even so, Sons thought it took a little while for her to get in the groove.

“She started off and looked like she was out of rhythm a little bit. Probably halfway through the second inning, she got things going and got her rhythm going again,” he said.

“I was talking to [plate umpire] Ed Dericx, and he said, ‘Yeah, you were right coach, she’s got a heckuva a breaking ball.’”

St. Bede (3-1) was kept silent at the plate by Hall starter Kendell Gerbitz in the first two innings, helped by center fielder Ellie Brooks’ diving catch to snuff out a Bruins threat in the second.

Then St. Bede broke through with four runs on three hits in the third, including an RBI single by Stoudt and a two-run single by Maddy Dalton.

The fun was just beginning for the Bruins. They sent 13 batters to the plate in the fourth, scoring nine runs on five hits, three walks and two Hall errors.

Hermes helped her own cause with a two-run single, and Tessa Dugosh also had a two-run single.

“I finally got it past them,” Hermes said of her hit.

Freshman Lily Bosnich, a courtesy runner for catcher Bella Pinter, scored on a hustle play when she was hit by a throw while stealing third. She jumped up to score when the ball caromed away, and Dugosh followed her home when the Red Devils couldn’t locate the ball on the throw home.

Madelyn Torrence and Maci Kelly added RBI hits in the fifth for the Bruins, with St. Bede taking a couple of intentional outs by leaving the base early.

Although the Bruins cracked 13 hits in the game, Sons said it seems to take them awhile to get going.

“It scares me because I know we’re a good-hitting team. We can hit the ball hard. But the beginning of the season, we’re getting a late start,” he said. “It’s like it takes us longer for the hitters to find the rhythm and time the pitchers. Once they do, we’re hitting the ball hard. Even the ground balls are hard to come up with.

“In a game like this, though, it’s tough. A lot of the girls are going for high pitches, and it doesn’t have a lot of velocity. They think they’re going to Hulk-amania out of the park, and they struggle a little bit. But they zoned it back in.”

Gerbitz pitched into the fourth inning, exiting after walking the bases load. She was relieved by freshman lefty Brynn Blair, who finished the game.