One Win away from Series Sweep, Anglers Feeling Confident

by Chris Jones, 08-07-2013

Chatham cruised to their first playoff victory since 2005 on Tuesday at Veterans field, as Lukas Schiraldi (Texas) and the Anglers dispatched of the Y-D Red Sox 6-0 in game one of the East Division series.

Schiraldi was near perfect, only allowing two hits with no walks and six strikeouts over seven dominant innings. He has not allowed a run in his past 20 innings.

Dante Flores (USC) gave the Anglers the lead in the second inning with a two-out grand slam, and Chatham would never give up that lead.

Now Manager John Schiffner will turn to right-hander Tommy Lawrence (Maine), as Chatham looks to wrap up the series sweep on Wednesday as they travel to Red Wilson Field.

"He (Lawrence) gets the job done," Schiffner said. "We could not feel better about our chances right now. We are back."

Lawrence has almost been as dominant as Schiraldi this season, as he posted a perfect 3-0 record with a 1.58 ERA, 23 strikeouts, and only one walk over 28.1 innings pitched this season.

He was given the award for the best New England prospect in the Cape League before Tuesday's game.

He has only given up five earned runs this season, and all of them have come against the Red Sox. Lawrence's last start came against Y-D on July 31, where he gave up three earned runs on eight hits over five innings pitched, but the Anglers would make a miraculous ninth inning comeback to get Lawrence off the hook for the loss.

Going into that start, Lawrence had not given up a run since June 25, when he gave up a game-tying two-run home run to D.J Stewart (Florida State). The game would end in a tie, Chatham's only one of the season.

With a 1-0 series lead and Lawrence on the mound, the team is confident in their chances.

"It is amazing. With one win, the series is ours, and we got Tommy (Lawrence) on the mound, so we are pretty confident," Flores said

Opposing Lawrence on the mound will be Red Sox right-hander, and UCLA freshman phenom, James Kaprielian. He was a late arrival for Y-D, but had a 1.80 ERA with 28 strikeouts and four walks over 20 innings pitched.

Kaprielian has not made a start since July 22, when he gave up four runs on five hits over six innings against Orleans. He made one start against Chatham this season, where he gave up only three hits while striking out seven over six innings on July 8, but the Anglers would come back to win in walk-off fashion once again.

The key to the game for Chatham will be jumping out ahead first against the Red Sox, as they are a perfect 20-0 when scoring first.

With the win, the Anglers will clinch their first playoff series since 2001, when they advanced to the Championship series, but lost to Wareham in the final game.

First pitch at 4 p.m. Tune into the Anglers Extra Pregame Show at 3:30 p.m. for live coverage with broadcasters Brandon Liebhaber and Keith Zubrow at TRZ Teamline or call 1-800-846-4700, code 3841.



Chris Jones is the Beat Writer and Social Media Manager for the Chatham Anglers. Follow him on twitter at @Chrisjones_UO, and follow the Chatham Anglers at @ChathamAnglers.

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