Recordpub.com - Aeros, Connecticut start Eastern League Finals tonight

A Championship Series matchup of the Eastern League’s top two teams isn’t especially surprising — both clubs were division champs and the only squads to win more than 80 games this season.

The biggest question heading into tonight’s Game 1 of the Eastern League Championship Series at Connecticut is whether Akron is ready to finish the job and win its first league crown since 2005 after three straight years of Finals heartbreak.

The Aeros have reached this point in each of their past five seasons, but stood by as Portland and Trenton walked away with the last three titles. This year, the team is batting .345 as a unit in the postseason and features a stacked lineup.

Lonnie Chisenhall, Cleveland’s first-round pick last year, leads all league postseason batters with seven hits in three games. Jerad Head — with eight RBIs in the semifinals — continues to swing a hot bat, as does John Drennan, who hit .417 with a homer and four runs scored in three starts against Reading.

League MVP Carlos Santana went 3-for-12 with a homer against Reading and could be due for a big performance in the championship.

Pitcher of the Year Jeanmar Gomez headlines a solid staff. The right-hander, who threw a perfect game in May, went six innings and allowed one run in his playoff win over the Reading Phillies. Eric Berger and Josh Tomlin may also get starts in the Finals.

The Defenders, who look a bit different now than they did in the first half, cruised past New Britain in four games despite losing ace Madison Bumgarner to the Giants a day before he was set to start Game 1. Eddy Martinez-Esteve hit a pair of clutch three-run homers in the series, Brett Pill had six hits and three RBIs and Brock Bond hit .429 in the four-game set.

Connecticut batted .297 as a team in the semis, but it was some unlikely arms that filled in the holes and sent the team to the Finals.

Right-hander Daryl Maday, who won six of his 25 starts this season, was rocked for five runs in four innings in his semifinals start. Craig Clark, promoted after being named the California League Pitcher of the Year, was tagged for three runs in five innings to suffer the loss in Game 3.

To the rescue came Ben Snyder, a former starter who spent much of the season working in relief. The southpaw stepped in for Bumgarner on a day’s notice and held the Rock Cats to a pair of runs over eight innings for the win, putting him in line for another start in the Finals.

Ari Ronick, who started for Class A Greensboro all season, came up to hurl 51⁄3 shutout frames and pick up a series-clinching win in Game 4. Reliever Alex Hinshaw fired 22⁄3 scoreless innings for a win, helping the Defenders to a 3.09 ERA in the series.

Garrett Broshuis did not pitch in the semis but, if healthy, should give the Defenders another solid starter. Expect Maday and Clark to get the ball again.

Akron won 4-of-6 meetings with Connecticut this season, holding the team to a .236 average.

First pitch tonight is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.