With his team’s season on the line, he was.

Now the New England Region champions are going to play for a championship.

Ermo threw six-plus innings of one-run, five-hit ball as Norwalk beat Eau Claire, Wisconsin 6-1 in the second semifinal Friday at Diethrick Park.

“It’s been our goal all season. They’ve had their eyes on this tournament,” Norwalk manager John Bell said about reaching the final. “We joke around that we booked our hotel in Jamestown before the season started. We’ve worked really hard to get here. We had a goal in mind and we’re here now.”

Norwalk’s Dylan Izzi safely steals third base ahead of Eau Claire’s Zach Shipman. Norwalk, Connecticut pitcher Jaxon Ermo winds up against Eau Claire, Wisconsin in the semifinals of the Babe Ruth 13-15 World Series at Diethrick Park in Jamestown, N.Y. on Friday. Times Observer photo by Tim Frank

Now, Connecticut will look to avenge a 2021 loss to Atlantic Shore, New Jersey in the 13-year-old championship game on the city’s east side when it takes on Portland, Oregon in today’s 1 p.m. title game.

“They’re a good team. They play a clean game,” Bell said of Portland. “It’s going to be a tough test for us, but we’re ready to go.”

Ermo was in control from the start Friday night against Eau Claire, the Atlantic Division No. 2 seed which advanced to the semifinals with a dramatic come-from-behind victory Thursday over Beekman, New York.

Norwalk, on the other hand, had a bye into the semifinals after winning the National Division.

Ermo allowed singles in each of the first three innings, but never allowed a runner to reach third base.

“He was fantastic. He got ahead of hitters early. He mixed all of his pitches in,” Bell said. “He threw a ton of strikes and got a lot of outs.”

By the time the sixth inning rolled around, the right-hander was already staked to a 6-0 lead and had thrown just 74 pitches. He struck out the side in the sixth and finished the frame with 92 pitches.

“He pitched a great game. I’ll give him all the credit. He kept us off-balance,” Eau Claire manager John Bugher said of Ermo. “We didn’t have very good approaches at the plate.”

Bell sent Ermo back out for the top of the seventh, but he hit Cashton Kainz with a pitch and then allowed a single to Zach Shipman to end his night.

“He’s very tough and he’s a competitor. I know he wanted to finish it, but he knows the rules,” Bell said. “We told him before he went in that he probably had one more batter.”

Antonio Marchetti relieved for Norwalk and induced a 5-4-3 double play, but Kainz scored on the play to break up the shutout. Ethan Prell then singled, but Marchetti got a fly out to right fielder Matt Weiss to send Norwalk to today’s final.

“Antonio was able to go back in,” Bell said, “and shut the door again for us.”

Norwalk took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Ermo singled, took second on a wild pitch, went to third on a groundout and scored on Aidan Brehm’s sacrifice fly to center field.

The boys from Connecticut broke the game open in the fourth. Dylan Izzi singled to open the inning before back-to-back walks to Brehm and Luke Manley. Matt Rinaldi then hit a hard grounder down the third-base line that got past Eau Claire’s third baseman for a two-run double.

“It was huge. Matty’s been a sparkplug all year,” Bell said. “He gets on, gets people over, does his job. He’s phenomenal.”

Eau Claire then pulled starter Blake Bugher, but Norwalk greeted reliever Cameron Buchman with three consecutive RBI singles from Weiss, Jacob Fields and Mike Marini to take a 6-0 lead.

“Too many free bases at the beginning of the game. Blake may have been a little tired,” Bugher said of his son. “With a team like that, you can’t give them free bases. Two guys right away, generally they are going to score.”

Wisconsin stranded two runners on in both the third and sixth innings, and never really got its bats going against Ermo.

“He locks in. He goes through moments in games where you can just tell he’s locked in, that’s him,” Bell said. “That’s what he’s been doing all year for us.”

Eau Claire, which has now come up short in three straight World Series, including the 2021 tournament in Jamestown, will play for third place against Torrance, California at 10 a.m. today.

“They can’t drown in their sorrows,” Bugher said. “They have to come back and be ready to play, and get a win.”