Once Hinsdale Central's hitters got their timing down, time was up for Proviso West's baseball team Saturday in Hillside.

The Red Devils managed just three hits over the first three innings of the doubleheader opener, thrown off by a steady diet of offspeed pitches from the Panthers.

But Hinsdale Central overcame any early offensive struggles in a hurry, erupting for 11 runs in the fourth inning to roll to a 15-0, five-inning win. Then the Red Devils (6-0, 2-0 in the WSC Silver) carried over the momentum with six runs in the first inning of Game 2, ultimately scoring in double figures again in a 15-5, five-inning win.

"Making the adjustments is always tougher than people think," Hinsdale Central coach Tom Dorrance said. "Hitters are going up there saying, 'We'll kill this guy,' and then they keep dropping their hands and popping up. But then they started coming around and hitting the ball hard."

Andrew Nicholas (3-for-4) did much of the early damage in the opener, reaching on an error and later scoring on a balk his first-time up.

Nicholas then had a two-out RBI triple in the Red Devils' two-run second inning, which followed singles by Alex Bellusci and Drew Bailey (RBI).

All of Hinsdale Central's hitters finally locked in their swings in the fourth, in which eight straight batters reached base after one out.

Bunt singles by Bailey (3-for-3) and Tobi Adeyemi (2-for-4) produced two of the first four baserunners in the surge, with a walk to Sam Katz and a Nicholas RBI single sandwiched in between.

"We laid down a couple of bunts for hits there that I think helped them focus more," Dorrance said. "And that kind of opened the doors."

Brett Suchy drew a bases loaded walk to bring home the second run of the fourth inning, then Mark Noth's two-RBI double down the left field line upped the lead to 8-0.

After a Brett Morse walk, an RBI single from Colin Cimala and a Bellusci sacrifice fly, Katz provided the big hit of the inning with a towering two-run home run to left field.
Two more runs followed in the inning as Bailey and Nicholas singled and both came home on an Adeyemi single.

Noth (2-for-3) capped the scoring with a leadoff home run in the fifth.

The late-inning offense wasn't even necessary with the pitching of junior Kasey Ourada, who turned in his second excellent start of the early season with five innings of one-hit shutout ball (striking out eight). The only Proviso West hit was a two-out double in the fourth inning by Mike Miller.

"Our pitching looks like it's going to be pretty solid," Dorrance said. "It's hard to go from Kasey Ourada to even better, and (Nick) Kurash can do that. And the rest of the guys are falling into line. We expect good things out of (Anthony) Fountas this year too (as the No. 3 starter).

"We lost a lot of pitching from last year, but I knew I had Kurash back and that we had Kasey Ourada coming up. I knew he was going to be good."

Staff ace Kurash (3-0) wasn't at his sharpest in Game 2. After allowing just one hit and no runs over his first two starts, he hit two batters and allowed a single in Proviso West's two-run first inning.

But the Red Devils had already given the Miami of Ohio-bound flamethrower plenty of leeway with a six-run first inning that included an RBI triple by Bellusci and two stolen bases by Suchy (the second theft a steal of home on the front end of a double steal with Cimala).

Adeyemi had a two-out RBI single in the third to put Hinsdale Central ahead 7-2, and a home run by Morse highlighted the Red Devils' surge to eight runs in the final two innings that clinched a second straight slaughter rule win.

Hinsdale Central has outscored its first six opponents by a combined 48-15, holding teams to three runs or less in four of those wins.

"These (pitchers) in the offseason worked hard," Dorrance said. "Drew Bailey is looking good, Kevin Quirke is looking awful good, and I got a couple of guys who weren't on the team last year like Pat Keiser (who finished up Saturday's second game) that are coming out strong. And I'm missing a few other guys who are making strides and improving.

"We've got a ways to go, but they're listening and they're patient," Dorrance added about his team's hot start. "We're trying to take it one step at a time to keep getting better and hopefully not peak out too soon. We need to be in a mental frame that we have a long way to go yet, but I'm thrilled with the way the kids are playing as a team and are focused."