Lisle makes itself at home in Sugar Grove

By winning the Class 2A Aurora Christian regional baseball championship at Waubonsee Community College, Lisle now has the advantage of hosting the sectional.

There's a little part of each player, though, that's going to miss Sugar Grove.

"It feels like sophomore year," said Lions senior Jon Kolosky. "We're undefeated here."

Top-seeded Lisle claimed its second regional title in three years at its home away from home by beating No. 3 Aurora Christian 11-1 in six innings on Saturday.

The Lions (24-9) advance to Wednesday's sectional semifinals at Benedictine University to face Immaculate Conception (27-10), a 10-7 winner over Walther Lutheran.

After surviving a 5-4 eight-inning win over Westmont on Wednesday, Lisle cruised against the Eagles (19-12). Clemson-bound starting pitcher Jon Surber (8-1) once again didn't need much support from the lineup - allowing 4 hits and striking out eight over five innings - but he wound up with plenty of backup from the bats.

"After the Westmont game we knew we were going to come out and hit," Surber said. "I think we were confident the whole game at the plate."

Lisle scored 10 of its runs with two outs including three in the bottom of the first. The inning nearly ended with a close play on an attempted tag at first base, but after a delay the umpires reversed the initial out call and the Lions kept hitting.

Two errors, a hit batter and Nick Thome's RBI single followed to put the Lions ahead 3-0. Ryan Liss drove in a run in the second inning and Lisle added 4 two-out runs in the fourth on a 2-run double by Surber and a 2-run single by Kolosky.

"We just didn't execute like we can, and that put us in a hole," said Aurora Christian coach Andy Zorger. "Against a good pitcher like Surber you can't put yourself in a hole and give them any unearned runs, which we did several times."

Trailing 8-0 in the sixth inning, the Eagles broke through for their lone run when Brent Minta singled and courtesy runner Todd Clapp scored on a balk.

After Kazim Khan singled home 2 runs in the bottom of the sixth, Liss ended the game with an RBI single that put the final at 11-1.

"When you play good defense, and you get good pitching, and you get timely hitting," said Lions coach Pete Meyer, "those things go together really nicely."