Omerza notches shutout as Ely downs Virginia for third straight win

A season-long search for a third starting pitcher may have ended Thursday at Virginia, where Ely's Elliot Omerza recorded his first career shutout.

The senior righthander fired a three-hitter and seemed to get stronger as the game progressed, striking out the side in the seventh as Ely slipped past Virginia 1-0 to gain its third straight win.

Consecutive hits by Gage Merhar, Patrick Huisman and Will Gustafson resulted in the game's only run in the top of the fifth inning, and Omerza made that lead hold up.

After escaping a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the third inning with the help of a double play, Omerza allowed only one hit the rest of the way.

He finished with a season-high eight strikeouts, including six in the final three frames, en route to his first pitching win of the summer.

Omerza was also backed up by a strong Ely defense, which overcame two errors and kept Virginia in check.

Post 248 struggled for much of the game against righthander Colton Herring, a junior from Cherry who has bolstered the Virginia pitching rotation.  The 6-4 Herring held Ely without a hit until the fifth inning and finished with a four-hitter and six strikeouts.

Herring stranded two Ely runners in the fifth but couldn't escape trouble in the sixth, when Merhar's line drive down the right field line started the rally with two out. Huisman's single to right-center put runners at the corners, and Gustafson lined a Herring pitch right up the middle to end the stalemate.

Omerza stranded one Virginia runner in the sixth and closed the game with three consecutive strikeouts.

After a break for the Fourth of July holiday, Ely is back in action Monday with a district doubleheader at Cook County (4 p.m.).