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Gwynedd Mercy 8, Cedar Crest 7

BOX SCORE Game 1

Cedar Crest 8, Gwynedd Mercy 7

BOX SCORE Game 2


ALLENTOWN, PA. -- Gwynedd Mercy and Cedar Crest split a regular-season ending CSAC Doubleheader on Saturday with identical scores. The Griffins won game one, 8-7, while the Falcons took game two by the same score.

GMercyU is now cemented in as the #6 playoff seed and will be on the road on Wednesday at #3 Centenary at 4 p.m. in a first-round matchup.

In game one, the Griffins would build an 8-3 lead before holding off Cedar Crest, who scored four times in the seventh, to hang on for the win. Gwynedd got a big day from junior MaryKate Ballerino (Hatboro, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) who went 3-for-4 with two triples and a homer, as she drove in five runs, tying a career high. Her two-run triple in the first staked Gwynedd early.

The Falcons would get one back in the bottom half on an infield single. In the second, GMercyU used two Cedar Crest errors to their advantage, scoring a run on a miscue and later an unearned run on an RBI single from Amanda Hesson (Levittown, Pa./Neshaminy).

Leading 5-2 after the third, Ballerino smacked a two-run homerun in the fourth and later in the sixth, added her second RBI triple.

In the seventh, Cedar Crest put their first three batters on, and used two hits, a hit by pitch and a walk to score four times. Starter Jennifer Whalen (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) would nail it down getting a grounder to herself for the third out.

Whalen struck out three while scattering six earned runs on 11 hits. At the plate, she was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI.

In the first inning of game two, Whalen led off the game with a triple and score on a Jessica Mower (Hatfield, Pa./North Penn) RBI single for a quick 1-0 lead. Kaylee Martinez countered in the Falcons' first at bat with a two-run homerun.

Jessica Behr (Philadelphia, Pa./MaST Charter) would hit second homer of the season in the second, a solo shot to knot it up at 2-2. But Cedar Crest chased out starter Michele Arechavala (Mt. Ephraim, N.J./Audubon) in the third, scoring four times on six hits.

Behr would double in the fourth and later score on a single from Mower to cut the deficit to 6-3. In the top of the fifth, GMercyU used RBI singles from Megan Kelly (Ivyland, Pa./Little Flower) and Behr to make it a one-run game.

Cedar Crest would get those two runs back in the bottom half when Molly Schnaubelt drove in two with her single. Gwynedd once again scored twice in the sixth as Mower reached on a leadoff double and scored on RBI single from Nikki Canfield (Souderton, Pa./Souderton). Ballerino would walk to put two on, but a double steal was unsuccessful as Canfield was out at third. This proved costly, because Kelly would single home Ballerino in the next at bat to score one run instead of two.

After Whalen got out of a jam in the sixth, the Griffins would get a one-out double from Tara Matteo (Springfield, Pa./Springfield). She would move up to third on a flyout to right, but would be stranded when Mower grounded out to end it.

Mower would finish with a season-high three hits while Behr was 3-for-4 with two runs, and two RBI's. Ballerino added two hits, two runs, and a stolen base.