It has been over 6,200 days since the Chatham Anglers organization has made the CCBL Championship Series.

Chatham (3-0) has a chance to end that streak and become East Division champions for the first time since 2001 with a win at Stony Brook Park on Thursday against the Brewster Whitecaps (2-1) in Game 2 of the East Division Championship Series.

Behind Spencer Torkelson, the Anglers put on a power display Wednesday in Game 1 of the EDCS. Torkelson mashed two home runs — a three-run homer in the second and a solo-shot in the fifth — while John Rave (Illinois State), Blake Sabol (Southern California) and Colin Simpson (Oklahoma State) all belted round-trippers of their own in an 11-6 Chatham victory.

The A’s were not the only team driving baseballs out of Veterans Field. Brewster knocked three home runs of its own. Ray Alejo (Central Florida), Jesse Franklin (Michigan) and Christopher Wright (Bryant) all smashed solo homers for the Whitecaps.

Jeff Belge (St. John’s) went 4.1 innings before handing the ball over to John McMillon (Texas Tech), who posted his best outing of the year. McMillon did not allow a hit or walk in 3.2 innings while striking out six batters.

Tristin English will make his first postseason start on the mound Thursday. (Julia Hopkins/Chatham Anglers)

 

Tristin English (Georgia Tech) has started all three games in the playoffs — two games at first base and one at designated hitter — while hitting in the middle of the lineup. Thursday, the two-way star will be the starting pitcher for the A’s.

The last time English straddled the rubber, he had one of the best starts of any Chatham pitcher this season. Facing the Harwich Mariners on July 31, English threw 60 pitches in six shutout innings. He allowed five hits while striking out five batters in the Anglers 4-1 win.

Of all ten ballparks in the Cape League, Chatham might have had the most success at Stony Brook Field in the regular season. The Anglers won all three games played at the park, and all three games were blowouts. The closest final margin was seven runs in the A’s 7-0 win on June 20. The largest margin of victory was 14 runs in Chatham’s 17-3 seven-inning victory on July 19.

In Game 1 of the West Division Championship Series, the Wareham Gatemen (3-0) picked up a 4-3 victory over the Falmouth Commodores (2-1) at Clem Spillane Field in Wareham. Falmouth got out to a 2-0 lead in the third but Wareham scored two in the fifth and two in the seventh to take the lead.

The Gatemen’s eight-and-nine hitters — Ryan Kreidler (UCLA) and Skyler Hunter (Purdue) — propelled Wareham to victory. The two combined to go 4-for-6 with three runs scored and two RBIs with Kreidler hitting a go-ahead homer in the seventh. Regular season batting champion Austin Shenton (Florida International) went 2-for-4 for Wareham.