Expectations for the Aeros have been running high the past few years.

That’s what happens when the Indians’ Double-A team reaches the Eastern League Championship Series four times in five years, claiming a pair of titles in 2003 and 2005.

Problem is, fan expectations no longer include getting to the title game. These days, it seems, the team’s fans won’t settle for anything less than a title.

Despite a handful of team accomplishments and individual player accolades this season, the Aeros came up short for the second consecutive year, losing to the Trenton Thunder (New York Yankees) three games to one in the Championship Series best-of-five matchup that concluded Sept. 15.

In 2006, the Aeros pushed the series to the limit in a deciding Game 5 in Portland, Maine, against the eventual champion Sea Dogs (Boston Red Sox).

While many fans felt the Aeros should have won it all in 2006, they weren’t as upset after this season’s loss in the finals.

‘‘Last year, I kind of felt like the Indians robbed us of a title when they wouldn’t let (ace Adam) Miller pitch,’’ said long-time season-ticket holder Gary Rosen. ‘‘This year, you could tell Trenton was the better team, and we did good to get as far as we did.’’

This year’s championship series pitted the league’s best pitching staff, Trenton’s, against the league’s top hitting team, the Aeros. When it came down to it, however, the Thunder not only pitched well, but also saw its offense contribute, especially in their 10-5 deciding game at Canal Park.

‘‘We could talk about being a better offensive team all we want,’’ Aeros second-year manager Tim Bogar said, ‘‘but they were a very good team and got hits when they needed to.’’

Meanwhile, the Aeros got solid pitching when they needed it only with Jeremy Soweers on the hill.

This, despite the fact they had some added help in getting the right-handed Miller and left-hander Sowers from Triple-A Buffalo in time for the playoffs ` controversial moves that appeared to go against EL rules prohibiting players from higher levels joining teams in the postseason.

While Miller’s addition had little impact (0-0 7.50 ERA in two appearances, including one start), Sowers (2-0, 0.68 ERA) was dominant in his two starts.

‘‘I feel like I’m pitching the best I have all year,’’ Sowers said Sept. 14 after helping hand the Aeros their lone win against Trenton. ‘‘I’m ready to go up there and try to have an impact.’’

Which brings us to another ususual aspect of the season: Instead of most players looking to work their way to Buffalo, such as right fielder Brian Barton did successfully, many went to Cleveland after using Akron as a springboard.

Not long after starting the season in Akron, shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera, right-handed reliever Jensen Lewis and left-handed starter Aaron Laffey were suiting up for the Indians and helping the Tribe win a division title Sunday.

‘‘That’s what’s really gratifying - to see guys like that whose careers really took off here,’’ Bogar said.

And they weren’t the only ones to post career-type years.

First baseman Jordan Brown put his name firmly on the Indians’ prospect list by being the most consistent hitter. He batted a league-best .333 with 161 hits and won EL Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year honors. More impressively, Brown did it on a bum right knee that will require offseason arthroscopic surgery.

Following with the tough-it-out theme, after a horrendous first half that had his batting average hovering around the .200 mark, center fielder Trevor Crowe put his swing together in the later part of the season, finishing with a respectable .259 average that included 26 doubles, 50 RBI, 62 walks and a team-high 28 stolen bases.

Although the Aeros didn’t get the kind of help they usually do from an infusion of Class-A Kinston players, help for next season should be on the way.

The K-Tribe had four pitchers finish with more than 10 wins, saw third baseman Wes Hodges bat a healthy .288, featured the dazzling play of shortstop Josh Rodriguez and was bolstered by the continuing emergence of first baseman/designated hitter Matt Whitney.

With that kind of help, the Aeros might just push their championship series run to five appearances in six seasons come next year - with that elusive third title to boot.

With travel making this trip interesting to say the least - here’s an early look at the story that will run in the Beacon Thursday.

TRENTON, N.J. - Wyatt Toregas lay on the trainers table clutching his stomach, his face twisted in pain, a half-empty plastic bottle of grape Pedialyte sitting next to him.

While his teammates and coaches ate their post-game meals in dead silence in the visitor’s lockerroom at Waterfront Stadium minutes after a controversial play at the plate ended in a 3-2 loss to Trenton, the Aeros catcher writhed on the table, struggling to keep the fluid down.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t talk right now,” was all Toregas could manage, not even opening his eyes.

Despite being exhausted and still fighting a flu-like virus that had him sidelined during the first game of the Eastern League Championship Series the previous night, Toregas told Aeros manager Tim Bogar he wanted to play in Wednesday.

As baseball irony would have it, Toregas was at center stage of the game’s final play - the 5-foot-11, 200-pound catcher receiving a right-on-the-money throw from right fielder Cirilo Cumberbatch before quickly moving into position to block the plate and tag out a charging Colin Curtis trying to score the winning run from second base.

As Curtis approached the plate, Toregas went to tag him high. Curtis slid in an attempt to avoid the tag, trying to sneak his left hand under Toregas’ outstretched glove in an effort to catch the corner of home plate.

Right on top of the play, home plate umpire Cory Blaser quickly called Curtis safe - handing the Thunder a commanding 2-0 lead as the series shifts to Akron Friday.

“It was obviously a close play, and from Wyatt’s reaction, I’d say we have a pretty good argument,” Bogar said. “But the umpire said (Curtis) made a great slide.”

As Blaser signaled Curtis safe, Toregas reacted angrily. He spun around to plead his case to Blaser, then pounded the ball into the ground, followed by his glove and then helmet before collapsing a few feet away, his head bowed in his hands.

After arguing briefly with Blaser, Bogar and center fielder Trevor Crowe came over to check on Toregas. Finally, they pulled him up to his feet and helped him off the field.

”The bottom line is we didn’t lose the game on that play, we didn’t execute all game long,” said Bogar, whose team went 0-for-16 with runners in scoring position. “We had plenty of opportunities to score runs, we should have scored five or six.”

The Aeros took an early 2-0 lead with a pair of fourth-inning runs. Jordan Brown led off with a single and scored on Michael Aubrey’s RBI-double. Aubrey soon came around to score on an error.

But Trenton chipped away at the lead with a run in the fifth inning, Curtis reaching on one of six walks by Aeros starter Chuck Lofgren, before scoring on P.J. Plittere’s RBI-single. Gabe Lopez tied the game three innings later with a run-scoring double.

After practically crawling into the playoffs, the Aeros have come up with one heck of a turnaround the last two weeks in finshing the last week of the regular season strong and now knocking off Southern-Divison winner Erie 3 games to 1 with an 8-6 win Saturday night at Canal Park.

The Aeros overcame a rough start by starter Bobby Brownlie and a pair of early errors, using three home runs - including a pair of two-run shots by Michael Aubrey - to charge back for the win.

The Aeros have two days off before heading to Trenton for the start of the Championship Series Tuesday in New Jersey - a well deserved rest.

As players sprayed bottles of champaign at each other under the clear plastic tent that was the team’s clubhouse Saturday night, Aeros manager Tim Bogar called the media into his office. After a few quick words about his team’s achievements, he spent some more time talking about how impressed he was with Erie.

A lot of managers will throw comments in like that to sound good.

But it was obvious Bogar meant what he was syaing about how the SeaWolves were the best team the Aeros played all year. He also talked about how impressed he was with Erie Manager Matt Wallbeck. Perhaps Bogar was referring to Wallbeck’s class for not making too big of a deal out of the Indians sending Jeremy Sowers to Akron to pitch a pivitol Game Three.

As unfair as the move may have been, neither Bogar nor Wallbeck had anything to do with it, and both handed it professionally. The message they sent to their respective players was clear: You can’t worry about things out of your control.

After crawling through practically the second half of the season, the Aeros have really made this last week of the regular season more than interesting. Since embarking on the final regular-season and five-game road trip in Binghamton, the team has won the first four games and presently own a six-game winning streak.

In winning the last two games of a four-game set at home last week versus Bowie (which was hot on the Aeros heels in a battle for the wild card spot in the division), the Aeros cliniched the division runner-up spot and appeared all but willing to hand Erie the Southern Division title with the SeaWolves owning a four-game lead with a week to go.

Asked if he would do anything particular in Binghamton with the rotation, Aeros manager Tim Bogar said no, he’d just focus on getting the rotation set up for the playoffs.

But suddenly, the Aeros have caught fire.

Now, they are just a half game back of Erie heading into the final game of the regular season Monday afternoon. A final day, I might add, that has the Aeros finishing up with a 1 p.m. game against the B-Mets while struggling Erie is facing a double header with visiting Altoona - marking the team’s third double header in the last five days!

In the previous two twin bills, the SeaWolves were swept - both times by Altoona. How ironic that the Aeros main rival in the Curve would be helping them in this quest to successfully defend their Southern Division title?

And now the race comes down to this:

Although both Akron and Erie each have one game remaining (due to rain outs that were not made up earlier this season), league officials have decided neither will be made up for the sake of travel and timing.

Instead, if the teams end up tied for first place, both would be crowned division champs and a tie-breaker would come into play. With Erie having edged Akron 15-13 head-to-head this season, the SeaWolves win the tie breaker.

All that being said, here’s the importance of Monday’s games:

Akron needs to win and have Erie lose both of its games to win the division title and host the first round of the playoffs that begin Wednesday.

If Erie splits its double header and Akron wins, both teams end up tied and earn a share of the division title, but Erie still gets to host the first round of the playoffs.

If Akron loses, they lose out on a share of the division title and will head straight to Erie from Binghamton tonight.

Being forced to use a position player to pitch in a game that’s way out of hand in order to save a team’s bullpen happens now and again. Not so much at the Double-A level as it does in Triple-A, yet that was the situation the Aeros faced Monday night in a blowout loss to Bowie.

With Aeros pitchers combining to give up a season-high 20 hits (starter Eric DuBose was guilty for 12), Aeros outfielder Nathan Panther came on to pitch the eighth and ninth innings.

Usually, the results aren’t pretty when a position player takes the mound. But Panther wasn’t only servicable, he was pertty darn good. Really, he was.

Panther allowed just a harmless single and walk in the two innings, and looked like a pitcher while doing it.

“He’s the only pitcher we had to go two straight innings without giving up a run,” Aeros manager Tim Bogar correctly pointed out.

Bogar was as impressed as anyone after Panther’s pitching debut in Akron (he owns a save from his time with Class-A Kinston earlier in the season), figuring he couldn’t go wrong with a guy who could throw a curveball, changeup and fastball for strikes - even if he is listed as an outfielder.

Turns out Panther was a pitcher at Muscatine Community College before being drafted by the Indians in the 15th round of the of the 2002 draft. So, what’s to keep Panther stuck on the bench as a fourth outfielder when right now he’s probably more needed in the Aeros starting rotation?

“I guess I could call (Indians minor league pitching coordinator) Dave (Miller) and ask if (Panther) could stay,” Bogar said.

Given the current state of the team, It was hard to tell if Bogar was joking or not.

A lot of baseball folks might not consider losing their No. 2 and No. 3 hitters a way to “jump start” a struggling team.

Yet that’s exactly what Aeros manager Tim Bogar believes happened to the Aeros when they lost shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera and right fielder Brian Barton recently in a week’s span.

Say what?

“This change is exactly what this team needs,” Bogar said confidently. “We were kind of mumbling and bumbling along, just kind of getting through it. Then all of a sudden Cabrera leaves, a week later Barton leaves, and these guys still here are like ‘Hey, what’s going on? Maybe I have a chance to move. Maybe I could do some things and get out of here. Now I’m the guy, so I better put some numbers up.”

First baseman/designated hitter Jordan Brown has been putting up numbers all season long, entering Wednesday game batting a team-best .331 (second in the league) and leading the Eastern League in hits with 128. This, despite battling a nagging knee injury that will require off-season surgery.

Center fielder Trevor Crowe has begun to pull his weight, turning his dismal season around the last month to enter Wednesday batting a much more respectable .248.

Now it’s time for veteran left fielder Ryan Goleski (.253) to do the same, as well as shortstop Brandon Pinckney (.220) - now that he has the advantage of playing every day with Cabrera gone.

“Right now we got what we got,” Bogar said. “We’ll figure it out. There’s plenty of hitters on this team.”

The Aeros’ pitching staff needs to share a portion of the burden during this final month as well, as the hitters have carried the team most of the season.

As decent as Wednesday’s starter Chuck Lofgren has been at 10-6 with a 4.28 ERA, the left-hander has yet to live up to his pre-season “ace” billing. And as a three-year Double-A veteran, right-hander Jake Dittler needs to do better than the 4.37 ERA he’s posted in 19 appearances.

After going 2-for-4 with three RBI and a pair of runs scored in the Aeros 6-3 win over Altoona Sunday afternoon, shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera was promoted to Triple-A Buffalo.

Ironically, Cabrera started at second base Sunday for the first time all season, fueling immediate talk that it was likely his last game for the Aeros.

Sure enough, the sudden position switch after he’d played 95 games at short signaled preparation had begun to advance Cabrera to the next level - where he’s expected to split time with veteran Luis Rivas at both second base and shortstop. Aeros manager Tim Bogar even suggested Cabrera could see some time at third base.

“He plays everywhere in Winter Ball, so he can play anywhere (at Buffalo),” Bogar said. “Selfishly, you don’t want to see him go because he is such a great player and a big part of our offense. Guys respect him and watch how hard he works. But development-wise,
he’s ready.”

Arguably the team’s first-half MVP, Cabrera batted .310 (114-for-368) with 78 runs scored, 54 RBI, 23 doubles and stolen bases and eight home runs for the Aeros this season.

When former Aeros pitcher Jensen Lewis made his major league debut with the Indians last week there was more than a few of his former teammates and coaches interested in the results.

“I was excited for him,” Aeros manager Tim Bogar said. “It’s hard not to be when it’s Jensen, he just brings so much energy to the game. The way his wind up is and all that, it’s fun to watch. Of course, I’m sure over time it might drive (Indians manager Eric Wedge) Wedgie crazy.”

The high-strung Lewis, who was a starter during his first two professional seasons after the Indians drafted him in the third round of the 2005 draft out of Vanderbilt, saw his career take off suddenly this season after being converted to a reliever.

The role change, accompanied with the addition of a slider, helped the 23-year-old right-hander go 2-0 with a 1.85 ERA in 24 appearances with the Aeros, then 1-0 with a 1.38 ERA at Triple-A Buffalo.

“I haven’t talked to him directly, I’m kind of letting him soak it all in first,” Bogar said. “I’m kind of like a proud papa right now, you just sit back and watch your kid pitch.”

In six appearances with the Tribe, Lewis has held his own. He’s owns a 2.45 ERA in 7.1 innings, allowing two runs while striking out 11 and issuing just 4 walks.

You know a win is huge when it snaps a four-game losing streak.

But at Canal Park, you know an Aeros win is really big when manager Tim Bogar busts out his cowboy boots.

I don’t mean once he’s out of uniform and dressed in street clothes. Nope, Bogar’s big-game statement is always made while still in his uniform, parading around the clubhouse with his old out-of-style brown cowboy boots.

Bogar doesn’t care how goofy he looks. The boots were a gift from teammates when he first made it to the big leagues, and Bogar reserves wearing them now only for his team’s big wins.

It didn’t take Bogar long to put them on Wednesday night after shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera hit a three-run, walk-off home run in the ninth inning that not only won the game 9-7, but also snapped the team’s losing streak AND prevented a sweep by lowly Harrisburg.

But before the boots came out, former Aeros catcher Javi Herrera blasted a three-run home run in the fifth that handed visiting Harrisburg an early 6-0 advantage.

Few Aeros fans would ever openly root for an opponent, but here’s betting there were plently of people doing it quietly for one of Akron’s former favorite players.

Six Aeros will be accompanying Aeros manager Tim Bogar to the Eastern League All-Star Game July 11 - the highest number of players from the 12-team league.

Making the trip to Norwich, Ct., with Bogar are pitchers Randy Newsom and Reid Santos, first baseman Jordan Brown, shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera, catcher Wyatt Toregas and right fielder Brian Barton.

‘‘I’m not surprised at all that we placed so many guys,” Bogar told me Monday aftrenoon from Erie, Pa., where the Aeros are playing on the second leg of a three-city road trip. “Jordan Brown is having a great year, Brian Barton is doing well and Asdrubal Cabrera is perhaps the best player in the league. Wyatt’s catching abilities behind the plate set him apart, and enough
can’t be said about the job Reid has done in a variety of roles for us and how Randy has stepped right into such an important closer’s role.”

Bogar is right. Hoever, that doesn’t always translate into the right players being picked (anyone remember Ronald “Bear” Bay going just last year?) But voters - media and fans - got it right this season. Consider:

Cabrera and Brown vied for the honor of the Aeros’ first-half MVP, with the slick fielding Cabrera owning the third-best batting average in the league at .338 (91-for-269) featuring a league-high 64 runs scored.

But the slugging Brown has been just as important, checking in at sixth place in league batting average (.321), but owning league highs in hits (95) and doubles (25).

Toregas may be batting just .240 (41-for-171), but there’s more to the selection of the catcher than the obvious stats - as Bogar said he considers Toregas’ game-caling and defense to be among the leagues best.

While steady most of the first half, Barton has begun to take his game to another level over the last month of play. Plus, he’s not afraid to take one - or two - for the team. In 75 games, Barton is batting .303 (82-for-271) with 11 doubles, seven home runs, 40 RBI and a minor-league-leading 24 hit-by-pitches.

That leaves the lefty Santos and side-arming righty Newsom - a pair of pitchers who have been instrumental in keeping the Aeros pitching staff ranked among the best in the league.

The do-it-all Santos started out as a late-inning reliever, moved over to closing when the team’s original closer Bubbie Buzachero was promoted to Triple-A and has spent the last six game in the starting rotation. In 22 games, he’s 5-1 with a save and a sparkling 1.99
ERA and 44 strikeouts.

All Newsom has done since he joined the team May 12 is go 12-for-12 in save opportunities while recording a 3-0 mark and 2.28 ERA along the way.