Explosive offense carries Chargers

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After a season of inconsistency and tough sledding during the conference season, Aurora Central Catholic picked the right time to bring out the lumber.

The Chargers made things easy for ace pitcher Nick Czaja by ripping a pair of two-run homers and coasting to a five-inning 11-0 victory in the opening round of the Class 3A Aurora Central Regional.

ACC, seeded No. 5, will head back home to challenge top-seeded Yorkville today.

After Aurora Central (12-15) got on the board in the second inning, Pat Wondrak cranked a two-run homer in the third inning with Mark Adams on base to widen the lead to 3-0. Matt Wagner drove in an unearned run later in the inning.

Then the Chargers broke the game open in the fourth. They scored six runs, highlighted by a two-run homer by Wagner. Adams had a two-run single in the inning, while his brother Mike Adams drove in another by lunging into a line-drive double to the right field fence. Chad Roscoe added a double in the big inning and scored.

"I didn't expect us to give up this many runs, but (the Chargers) hit the ball well," said Sandwich coach Derek Avery, whose team finished 16-17. "We made a few mistakes and they capitalized on every one."

Given the early lead, Czaja was mostly content to throw the heater and allowed only three harmless singles. John Hutchinson had two of the three hits for the fourth-seeded Indians, while Tim Brann had the other single.

"Nick pitched really well," said ACC head coach Michael Armato. "We're just tickled to death that our guys really played well. I thought we were capable of this type of ball game all year -- we've just struggled to put it together. After getting no-hit in our last (regular season) game at home, we really wanted to get back home one more time."