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The biggest of those was arguably in the circle, where ace Emilee Cohee had helped lead the Eagles to their first Class 1A state championship two years ago, as well as back-to-back North Bayside titles.

Well, Jewels Vroman has stepped into the role of ace quite nicely, thank you.

The junior left-hander delivered her fourth no-hitter of the season Thursday afternoon, striking out 12 along the way, as North Dorchester clinched its third consecutive North division championship with a 4-0 shutout of Colonel Richardson.

The Eagles (13-4 overall, 7-1 North Bayside) are slated to play Stephen Decatur (16-2) for the Bayside Conference championship next Tuesday at 5 p.m. at Salisbury University. The Seahawks defeated Mardela 3-1 on Thursday to clinch the South crown.

“Emilee’s a hard player to follow,� North Dorchester head coach Carol Hubbard said of her former star pitcher now at Wingate University. “But Jewels put in so much work in this offseason, pitching wise; just overall strength training. And it shows with the speed she’s picked up on the mound and the confidence she has in her pitches.

“I feel like last year she knew what she was doing, but she didn’t quite trust herself as much,� Hubbard continued. “And this year she trusts herself and is able to get in there and do what needs to be done.�

Vroman pitched in relief during the Eagles’ 12-11 loss to Colonel on March 31, and admitted that provided her with an added dose of motivation heading into yesterday’s second clash between the two schools. But Vroman also admitted getting a second crack at the Colonels while trying to cement a third straight division title didn’t put any extra pressure on her shoulders.

“My rise-ball was really good today,� said Vroman after raising her record to 7-3. “Curveball. Change-up was really good. Really any pitch I threw today was working. I just felt like I needed to do what I’ve been taught to be able to win.�

Vroman certainly did that on this warm afternoon, striking out six of the first seven batters she faced, including the side in the first. The closest the Colonels (12-6, 4-4) came to a hit was with two outs in the fifth, when Kayleigh Bradley lined a shot that went off the first baseman’s glove and was ruled an error.

That would be Colonel’s lone baserunner, though, as Vroman retired the last seven batters she faced.

“She’s the class of the North in the circle,� Colonel head coach Scott Christopher said of Vroman.

Colonel freshman Chloe Simmons (9-6) got off to a strong start before the Eagles scratched across a run with two outs in the third. Emily Boyle worked a two-out walk. Vroman reached on an error. Alexus Myers then blooped a 1-1 offering into center field, scoring Boyle for a 1-0 lead.

North Dorchester pushed another run across in the fourth. Simmons again retired the first two batters before Abby Sann, Kinsley Peters and Boyle reached on consecutive singles, with Boyle’s plating Sann for a 2-0 lead.

The Eagles extended their lead to 3-0 in the fifth, when Vroman scored on an error with two outs.

North Dorchester made it 4-0 in the seventh. Destini Wongus singled sharply to left with one out. Vroman beat out a slow roller to third for an infield hit that allowed Wongus to reach third. Wongus scored when Vroman was thrown out trying to steal second.

“I just feel like as a whole the team is clicking really good right now,� Hubbard said. “We’re aggressive at the plate. I just feel really good going into the postseason.�

Christopher thinks Colonel is also in a good place heading into the playoffs, but needs to tighten its defense and hit.

“I thought Simmons went toe-to-toe with Vroman today,� Christopher said. “I mean that was like David versus Goliath. You take away the errors and the walk and that’s a 1-0 game. And we’ve got to hit. But we’ve worked hard to get 12 wins. I think we’ll be all right.�