Torres, St. Edward blast away on ACC

Teenagers mimic what they see on TV. Take St. Edward slugger Jordan Torres, for example.

Since school was not in session Monday, Torres spent the afternoon watching Opening Day baseball on the small screen, specifically the Cardinals-Reds season opener in which reigning National League MVP Albert Pujols belted 2 home runs.

"I was watching that game and I thought, 'I want to do that, too,'" the senior cleanup hitter said.

St. Edward benefitted from his copycat act. The Wave already led visiting Aurora Central Catholic 2-0 in the first game of a twinight doubleheader at Elgin's Wing Park when Torres stepped to the plate in the fourth inning and blasted a 3-run home run over the fence in left-center field.

After the Green Wave added another run in the fifth to go ahead 6-0, Torres batted with the bases loaded and matched Pujols with his second home run of the day, a walk-off grand slam that capped a 10-0 victory in five innings in the Suburban Christian (Blue) opener for both teams.

Torres' big hits masked the fact the Green Wave (5-4, 1-0) had stranded 7 baserunners in the first three innings.

"That's too many guys to leave on base in the first three innings of a close game," Torres said. "We needed to break out the bats and start hitting home runs."

Torres, who hit his second and third longballs of the season, finished the game 2-for-3 with 2 home runs, a walk and 7 RBI. His career-high for RBI was more than sophomore hurler Luke Duffy needed. The right-hander allowed only 2 hits to the Chargers in 5 innings, struck out 9 and issued a lone walk to improve to 2-1 this season.

"We're real pleased with him," St. Edward coach Gene Belmonte said. "He's young. This was only his third varsity start. He could very well emerge as our No. 1 as the year goes on. He's pitched very, very well. He shows remarkable poise for a sophomore."

Duffy was pitching to an inexperienced ACC lineup that included freshmen at second base, shortstop and center field.

"We're still so young," Chargers coach Eric Fulara said. "We don't have a lot of varsity experience. Some of these guys are being thrown into the fire."

The only extra basehit Aurora Central (0-3, 0-1) managed was a fourth-inning double by Kent Brauweiler. Otherwise, Duffy was dominant.

"Early in the game I still felt a little shaky because I didn't have full command," Duffy said. "But I settled down, took a few breaths and relaxed. I felt a little tense, but it worked out and I cruised through."

St. Edward led 2-0 in the second game, which was delayed twice by lightning before it was suspended.