Only a handful of people outside the clubhouse have witnessed more Connecticut Defender baseball games this season than Charlie Dowd.

As the team's general manager, Dowd has watched Connecticut ride a wave of success to an Eastern League Northern Division championship and now a berth in the best-of-five championship series against Akron.

After a busy day Monday, Dowd is looking forward to hosting the first two games of the today and Wednesday at Dodd Stadium. Starting times are 6:35 p.m.

"It's been very hectic the past couple of days," Dowd said. "It will be nice to see some baseball and hopefully some nice crowds."

The championship series pits the two teams with the best regular-season records. Connecticut beat New Britain in four games in the first round of the playoffs and Akron swept Reading.

Akron, the Southern Division champion, won the regular season series, 4-2, including taking two out of three Aug. 11-13 at Dodd Stadium. Four of the six games were decided by two runs or less, including two walk-off wins by Akron, the Class AA affiliate of the Cleveland Indians.

Dowd expects a fiercely competitive series.

"Their lineup one through nine is tough," Dowd said. "They're a very typical American League team. They're good. We're pretty good, too. … It will come down to who pitches well and who makes plays."

The Aeros will host game three Friday night and, if necessary, game four Saturday and game five Sunday.

Tickets are available for both home games at Dodd Stadium.

In tonight's series opener, Connecticut's Ben Snyder opposes Josh Tomlin while the Defenders' Daryl Maday faces Jeanmar Gomez in game two.

The Connecticut office staff has been selling a chance to witness franchise history, as the Defenders are hosting a championship series for the first time in seven years as a San Francisco Giants affiliate.

"It's been a storybook season," said Brian Irizarry, director of media relations and the radio voice of the Defenders. "This is great. This is what we work for."

No matter the outcome of the series, there will be a bittersweet feeling for Dowd and company. The Defenders are in their last year in Norwich.

Winning the franchise's second Eastern League championship would be a nice way to go out.

"It would be very gratifying to win this for a number of reasons and one being this is a terrific bunch of talented people," Dowd said. "They're fun to deal with. They're professional in every sense. It makes it much easier to go to work."

g.keefe@theday.com