Yarmouth-Dennis couldn’t string together enough offense to put Chatham away in two games. In the one game it absolutely had to, the Red Sox looked like themselves again.

Three home runs and another dominant pitching performance carried Y-D to an 8-2 victory over the Chatham Anglers in Thursday night’s winner-take-all Game 3, sending the Red Sox to the CCBL East Championship Series.

“This was so awesome for the guys and awesome for their belief in themselves,” assistant coach Craig Gianinno said. “The trust amongst the group is great and they never give up. Just a resilient group of dudes.”

The offense wasn’t the only unit that delivered.

After a Game 2 shutout, Y-D’s pitching staff held Chatham to one run on two hits through the first eight innings. Rhett Vaughn (Florida State), who entered Thursday without allowing an earned run since June 26, tossed five innings of one-run ball. Owen Birchard (Bryant) followed with two scoreless innings, Eli Walker (Indiana) threw a clean eighth, and Easton Harris (SIUE) closed out the series.

Birchard and Walker each struggled in their first appearances for Y-D in mid-July, but neither has allowed a run since.

“Sometimes it takes an outing or two just to get settled in up here. Both of them have made some good adjustments,” pitching coach Eric Beattie said. “I feel like I’ve learned Birchard a little better and what he likes to throw and how he gets hitters out. Eli is in the middle of a mechanical adjustment right now, and he’s handled it really well. He’s got electric stuff, and when he can get dialed in on that zone, he’s tough to hit.”

With two on and two out in the second inning, Reid Howard (Virginia) squared to bunt early in the count. Instead, Anglers starter Oliver Pudvar (UConn) left a fastball over the plate, and Howard unloaded on it for a 387-foot, three-run homer that gave Y-D a 3-0 lead.

Howard finished the East Division Series with two home runs after not hitting one since May 2025 at Western Kentucky.

Two innings later, Mateo Serna (Alabama) crushed a 397-foot, two-run homer to extend the lead to 5-1. Left fielder Bino Watters never had a chance.

“Papi (Serna) has a wonderful spirit about him, very even-keel mentality,” Gianinno said. “Never gets too high, never gets too low. Has a ton of belief in himself, and that’s why he’s successful.”

Jake Souders (Mississippi State) added Y-D’s third homer of the day with a three-run blast to center.

The past few weeks had been frustrating for Souders. Hard-hit balls kept finding gloves, and the results rarely matched the quality of his swings. On Thursday, they finally did.

Souders finished 2-for-2 with three RBIs and a walk after making adjustments with his father in the batting cages.

“I did a lot of early work recently,” Souders said. “My dad has been helping me out a ton, and it was just something minor to where I feel like I’m more on time for pitches and taking a step back, just having fun again. Just like when I was little, just out in the cages hitting. So I think that was a very big part of it as well.”

After sitting out Game 2, Souders made the most of his opportunity.

“You never know who it’s going to be with these guys. It’s been up and down our lineup, different guys all throughout,” Gianinno said. “I’m sure Jake wasn’t happy to not see his name in the lineup last night. But you know what? He has the right attitude, the right mentality. He’s all about the team. He got an opportunity tonight, and he busted it open for us.”

With the victory, Y-D advanced to face No. 3 Harwich in the East Championship Series.

“Our mentality is NFO: nameless, faceless object,” Gianinno said. “Harwich is good. It’s going to be a fun opportunity. Everybody you play, the farther you go, the more fun it gets. So we’re looking forward to it.”

Connor Hamilton is the projected starter for Game 1 at Red Wilson Field at 4 p.m. Friday.