In the meantime, just wanted all of the Aeros faithful fans to know the season has come to a close. The Aeros lost to the host Thunder 5-1 in the Eastern League Game 4 of the best-of-five Championship Series Sunday night at Waterfront Park.

Once again the Aeros offense continued to struggle, managing only a Matt Whitney solo home run in the fifth inning that briefly tied the game, 1-1.

The Thunder broke open the close game with a four-run sixth inning that included just two hits. Still, Trenton sent nine men to the plate with the aid of two errors by Josh Rodriguez at shortstop, two walks (one intentional) and a wild pitch.

Akron finishes the season 80-63, going 4-4 in the two playoff rounds against Bowie and Trenton.

Inside-the-park home runs are always a tad bit unconventional.

The one Bronson Sardinha recorded against visiting Trenton in the Aeros wild 13-10 Game Two victory of the Eastern League Championship Series was somewhat controversial as well.

With the host leading 4-1, two outs and Nate Panther on second base in the bottom of the fourth inning, veteran Sardinha sent a drive to right field that bounced off the wall a good 15 feet away from right fielder Edwar Gonzalez.

By the time Gonzalez corralled the ball and threw it into cutoff man Reegie Corona at second base, Sardinha was at third base, apparently happy to settle for an RBI-triple.

But after Sardinha slid, quickly popped up and saw Corona with his back to him, he unexpectantly took off for home to record the rare homer - which he said was his first in-the-parker since PONY baseball.

“I slid into third and got up quick to check and see where the ball was,” Sardinha said. “I wanted to be aware of what the middle infielders were doing. And right away I saw his back turned and it looked like he was taking his sweet old time. So I thought I’d chance it and try and go home.”

The controversy on the play centered around the fact that Sardinha had actually stopped at third with the play seemingly over. And it depended on who was asked as to whether Corona committed an error on the play or simply lost focus and held on to it too long.

“I think we kind of fell asleep,” Trenton manager Tony Franklin admitted. “We were a little too casual on the play and we lost a little focus right there. We got the ball back into the infield and the (defense) must have thought (Sardinha) was going to hold up at third.”

But by the time the four-hour plus affair that knotted the series one game a piece was over, Sardinha’s biggest hit wasn’t even the controversial inside-the-park homer.

On a night when Sardinha went 4-for-5 with four RBI, his biggest contribution came in the eighth inning when his two-run double helped spark an Aeros’ season-high tying seven-run inning that finally handed the host the win after blowing an earlier 6-1 advantage.

But not until surviving one final Thunder rally, as Trenton jumped all over struggling Aeros reliever Randy Newsom for four runs to pull within three runs before Erik Stiller managed to quell the threat.

It was a hard-fought game on both sides, one that included a combined 15 pitchers, five errors and the bases loaded five times between the two clubs.

The Aeros took an early five-run lead and lost it. Then they went back up by a big margin in the eighth inning and nearly lost it again in the ninth as the feisty Thunder would not go quietly.

The wild night began with the Aeros quickly loading the bases in the first inning with nobody out against shaky Thunder starter Christian Garcia. But the Aeros came away with just one run on Stephen Head’s sacrifice fly.

Yet, when they found themselves with the same opportunity to get to Garcia again in the third inning, they made the most of it by extending their lead to 4-0.

Trenton joined the bases-loaded act in the fourth with a two-out rally that came via consecutive singles by Kevin Russo, Edwar Gonzalez and James Cooper, whose hit scoring the Thunder’s first run.

Sardinha’s head’s up play put the Aeros up 6-1, but Trenton began to chip away at the lead with a three-run fifth inning that bounced Martin from the game after just 4 1/3 innings while the Thunder sent eight men to the plate.

* UP NEXT - The Eastern League Championship Series shifts to Trenton’s Waterfront Park Friday at 6:05 p.m. for Game Three after an off day for travel Thursday. Aeros left-hander Ryan Edell (1-0, 1.23 ERA) is slated to face Thunder right-hander George Kontos (0-0, 0.00 ERA) on the mound.

First baseman Stephen Head collected three of the Aeros’ four hits on the night, but it wasn’t enough. Akron scored its lone run in the third inning on Josh Rodriguez’s RBI-double. After that, the Aeros did not notch a hit against Thunder starter Eric Hacker after the fourth inning as he cruised to victory while handing the vistors early series momentum.

The Thunder bullpen finished the game with three shutout innings of relief.

Aeros right-handed starter Kevin Dixon allowed all of Trenton’s three runs on five hits and four walks in his first start of the playoffs.

NOTES:

UP NEXT - Akron hosts Trenton again today at Canal Park at 7:05 p.m. for Game Two of the Eastern League Championship Series. The Aeros are expected to send right-hander J.D. Martin (1-0, 5.40 ERA) to the mound to face Thunder right-hander Christian Garcia (0-0, 0.00 ERA).

NO PRONK, NO WIN - As expected, the Indians activated designated hitter Travis Hafner from the 60-day disabled list Tuesday afternoon with the Tribe in Baltimore, effectively ending his postseason stint with the Aeros.

Hafner had just two hits with the Aeros in two games, but they were big blows. He belted a grand slam in Game Three against Bowie and a two-run homer in the series-clinching Game Four.

Hafner had been sidelined since May 30th with a right shoulder strain. He batted .318 with four runs scored, three doubles and four RBI in seven games at Triple-A Buffalo. Following the conclusion of the Bisons season, he joined the Aeros and helped them advance to the E.L. Championship Series.

* The game will start an hour earlier than usual at 6:05 p.m.

* Indians designated hitter Travis Hafner will be in the lineup again for the Aeros. With the team on a rehab assignment for a nagging right shoulder strain, Hafner blasted a grand slam in his first game Friday to power the Aeros to a 6-2 Game Three win.

* With 1350 AM airing the University of Akron football game, the Aeros game will instead be carried on the radio by 640 AM.

In his second at-bat following a first-inning walk, the Tribe’s designated hitter blasted a grand slam that landed just in front of the scoreboard in right field, sparking the host Aeros to a 6-2 victory over Bowie.

HEAD TO HEAD - It’s worth noting the difference between the results of both starting pitchers from regular season to playoffs. Durint the season, Aeros left-handed starter Ryan Edell (7-8, 3.80 ERA) went 0-1 with a 5.49 ERA in four starts against the Baysox. Meanwhile, Bowie’s starter David Hernandez not only led the league with a 166 strikeouts, he posted a 2-0 mark and tidy 2.04 ERA in three starts against the Aeros.

But come Thursday in a head-to-head matchup, the results were drastically different.

Edell earned the win after throwing 7 1/3 solid innings, limiting the Baysox to a run on four hits to earn the win.

Meanwhile, Hernandez could not find the stikezone and was ejected after the second inning - while in the dugout arguing with the homer plate umpire about his strike zone.

The Aeros were in the game until the eighth inning, slowly chipping away at Bowie’s early lead with a pair of RBI-groundouts by Bronson Sardinha and a Matt Whitney solo home run.

But Reimold’s third homer - a grand slam in the eighth inning off Aeros lefty Chuck Lofgren - put the contest out of reach.

The series now shifts to Akron for Games Three and Four at Canal Park.

AEROS NOTES:

* HAFNER REHAB - Indians designated hitter Travis Hafner will continue his rehab assignment with the Aeros, joining the team today at Canal Park in time for Game Three of the Eastern League’s best-of-five Southern Division Playoff Series. Hafner has been plagued the last season and a half with a nagging right shoulder strain. He finally went on the disabled list May 31st, and begin playing in games at Triple-A Buffalo last month.

* ROSTER MOVES - Infielder Brandon Pinckney and catcher Carlos Santana were replaced on the roster before Thursday’s game with Jared Head and Damaso Espino. Pinckney, sidelined with a forearm contusion, left Wednesday’s game in the ninth inning after being hit by a pitch. Santana, who recently joined the Aeros when high Class-A Kinton’s season ended, suffered a groin pull and has been shut down from all baseball activity.

Five rallies.

Four-plus hours.

One glorious Game One win.

If that’s what it takes in every one of these Eastern League Southern Division Playoff Series games, than so be it. Aeros manager Mike Sarbuagh is ready for the challenge.

“It didn’t seem like it at the time, but as soon as we’re done with the win in hand, you kind of think, ‘Man, that was fun’,” Sarbaugh said after his team nipped host Bowie 6-5 in 12 innings Wednesday night. “It was what playoff baseball is all about.”

The contributins on the night were plenty: left fielder Matt LaPorta going 4-for-5 with two home runs and the game-winning RBI-single, catcher Wyatt Toregas hitting a clutch, ninth-inning home run, Stephen head making a diving defensive stop to save a game-winning run, Neil Wagner coming out of nowhere to provide three shutout innings of relief to earn the win.

But there was nothing that made Sarbaugh feel better than seeing his dormant offense wake up in a big way to send a message in the first game of the series.

The Southern Division Series begins Wednesday with the first two games at division-winner Bowie (Baltimore Orioles). The Aeros, the Southern Division wild card winner, hosts Games Three and Four (if necessary) Friday and Saturday at Canal Park.

If the best-of-five series goes to a deciding fifth game, the series would shift back to Bowie Sunday.

For Aeros season ticket holders, use playoff tickets marked DIVIS1 and DIVIS2 (if necessary).

If Akron advances to the Eastern League Championship Series, the Aeros would host the first two games at Canal Park, tentatively scheduled for Sept. 9-10 - both at 7:05 p.m.

Season ticket holders would use the tickets marked CHAMPA and CHAMPB.

But one big milestone was still within reach for third baseman Wes Hodges.

With four RBI in the Aeros 7-5 win over the SeaWolves Saturday night at Jerry Uht Park, Hodges became Akron’s all-time single season RBI leader.

Hodges 97 RBI surpass Chan Perry’s mark of 96 set in 1997.

Either scenario was all the Aeros needed to clinch a spot for the fourth consecutive season in the Eastern League playoffs that begin next week.

But as anyone who has followed the team through the second half of the season can attest, even the added help of a double header in which to garner a win Thursday night wasn’t guaranteed to be enough for the struggling squad.

But starter Ryan Edell put up a solid 5 2/3 innings that included seven strikeouts.

Catcher Wyatt Toregas put the Aeros on the board with a solo home run in the fifth inning.

And finally, a timely two-run triple off the bat of Matt Whitney supplied a pair of insurance runs as the Aeros rode a 3-0 victory over visiting Altoona into the post season despite being shut out in the nightcap 1-0.

“It’s always awesome to be able to come up with a big hit in a game, especially one in which you can clinch,” Whitney said as the team celebrated with bottles of champagne and countless cans of Miller Lite. “And now we’re finally in the playoffs. Now, anything can happen.”

With the wild card secured, the Southern Division Playoff Series kicks off Wednesday in Bowie with a pair of games. It then switches to Canal Park Friday for Games Three and Four (if necessary). If a Game Five is needed, the teams will play the pivotal game Sunday in Bowie.