After last season, West Aurora’s Angel Romero came to a realization.
Heading into his summer season with Top Pick, a travel baseball program out of Sugar Grove, he realized his natural ability to hit wasn’t going to be enough to carry him to a career in college.
In order to get to that point, Romero had to get into better shape.
“I had to speed it up if I wanted to stick up there,” he said. “I think a lot of it is, I want to keep playing the game and you have to take that next step to play at the next level and really compete.
“A lot of it is in your head, pushing yourself to your limits and not being comfortable.”
Romero. a senior first baseman, continued to see the results of that hard work pay off Tuesday.
The Aurora University recruit crushed his second home run of the season, a two-run shot that sparked the Blackhawks to a 17-0 Upstate Eight Conference win in four innings at Streamwood.
Handling the cleanup spot, Romero was one of four players who came through with home runs for West Aurora (10-3, 4-0). In fact, the first four batters in the order all ended up hitting homers.
Tyler Fecht hit a homer on the first pitch of the game, while Romero followed in a two-run first. Oscar Alexander Jr. hit a three-run shot to highlight a six-run third. Zach Toma, who also struck out 10 in four innings for the pitching win, added a three-run homer in a seven-run fourth.
Casey Nosek and Adan Rojas recorded hits for Streamwood (1-11, 0-4).
Romero, meanwhile, is off to a blistering start at the plate for the Blackhawks. He’s hitting .515 (17-for-33) with three doubles and two homers. He’s driven in 19 runs and scored 17.
“I definitely feel accomplishment,” Romero said. “But it helps you keep pushing because it makes you want to do better when you see the results.”
West Aurora coach John Reeves pointed to the hard work Romero put in but also noted a simple part of baseball that can be hard to pin down — just having a solid approach at the plate.
“He’s hunting the fastball, hitting mistakes and staying through the middle of the field for the most part,” Reeves said. “He’s a strong kid, so obviously when he makes contact, he’s going to generate power against anybody.
“When he stays short and quick, you saw it (Tuesday), he crushed that home run. He hammered it. He stayed short and compact and drove the ball.”
Romero is taking advantage of his spot in the batting order as well. Having Fecht, Alexander and Toma ahead of him doesn’t hurt, either.
“All of them are great hitters,” Romero said. “It’s nice having a good foundation at the top. If one of us doesn’t do the job, you’re pretty confident in the next guy to step up.”
Reeves believes it gives the Blackhawks a big advantage.
“We definitely like it,” Reeves said. “When the lineup flips over and those guys are in charge of giving a chance to win, it’s nice.
“Who do you want to throw to? It’s nice just having that protection behind all of those guys.”
Streamwood coach Joel Gamino knew what was in store when the series started.
“There are no dead spots,” Gamino said. “The top four guys, they can swing it. It’s tough. I just told the guys to attack the zone.”
But now that Romero has fully established himself, it’s all about maintaining it. He’s got the right mindset to keep it going.
“A lot of it is confidence, knowing you can do it,” Romero said. “It’s baseball. You’re not going to get a hit every time. It’s just staying in that medium. You can’t get too high or too low.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
