GWYNEDD VALLEY, PA. -- Starting Friday, Gwynedd Mercy takes on Cabrini in the 2019 Atlantic East Baseball Championship Series in Radnor. Action continues in the best-of-three series on Saturday where one team will raise the inaugural conference trophy.

Both teams met in the regular season back on March 16h at Cabrini as the Cavaliers prevailed in a pair of close one-run games. Game one was a 7-6 decision in the seven-inning matchup. Game two had the same score, but the nine-inning matchup extended into the 13th where Cabrini won it with a walk-off RBI single.

Gwynedd Mercy (19-14-2, 8-4 AEC), the second seed, ran through their pod last weekend, defeating Neumann and Marymount on the first day, then taking down the Saints on Saturday to move on. Cabrini prevailed over Immaculata, 9-5, to win their respective pod, that also featured Wesley,

The Griffins enter the final series leading the Atlantic East in both hitting (.323) and with the lowest team ERA (4.87). Individually, Dave Tatoian is among the conference leaders in several offensive categories including batting (.425), slugging (.625), and extra-base hits (17). His 13 doubles leads the squad while adding 32 RBIs, 21 walks, and an on-base percentage of .510. Ryan Keen boasts a team-high 40 RBIs while he and Josh Lopez each have five home runs apiece.

On the mound, Nick DeRitis has a 5-1 record with a 3.13 ERA with a team-high 44 strikeouts in 54 innings of work (eight starts). Gino Tripodi, Bryan Kaelin, R.J. Boyle, and Brian Wildrick all have three wins each. Liam Sullivan (2.37 ERA) spearheads a bullpen along with Matt Pallotta and Cameron Culver to help GMercyU to a 17-0-2 record when leading after six innings and 13-0-1 when leading after seven.

The Cavaliers feature a record of 31-9 in their third season as a varsity program, going 11-1 in conference play. As a team, they are third in batting (.298) and second behind the Griffins ERA (5.00). Mack McKisson leads Cabrini in hitting (.374), runs (50), hits (61), extra-base hits (17), RBIs (41), and walks (31).Tyler Norris has homered six times with Sean Stackhouse lead the team with 17 stolen bases. On the hill, Ray Lutick, Kryan Weemaels, and Andrew Corso are a combined 14-2. Reliever Drew Swire has a 7-0 record in 16 appearances.