EDENTON -- Any question about the Edenton Steamers' ability to win a big game after breezing to the best regular season record in the Coastal Plain League was answered Wednesday night when they beat the Wilmington Sharks 7-1 in a loser-go-home semifinal game in the Petitt Cup playoffs at Hicks Field.

With the victory, the Steamers advanced to the best-of-3 championship series against the Gastonia Grizzlies. Game 1 is Friday in Gastonia with Games 2 and 3, if necessary, in Edenton Saturday and Sunday.

"We've gotten this far, we might as well win it now," said Steamers coach Dirk Kinney. "These kids have a lot of pride and want to bring home a championship for the team and the community."

But before the Steamers (48-12 overall, 4-1 playoffs) could get a shot at their first CPL title since 2005, they had to beat one of the best pitchers in the league and shut down a Sharks offense that had scored seven runs en route to evening the series at 1-1 Tuesday at Hicks.

Mat Batts, a lefty from UNC Wilmington who led the CPL in earned-run-average (1.89) and averaged seven innings per start, provided the first obstacle.

The top-seeded Steamers responded to the challenge early. receiving a leadoff home run from Brett Christopher in the first inning and another homer from Vinnie Mejia in the second to take a 2-0 lead. While Batts made it to the seventh inning, the seventh-seeded Sharks (32-30, 3-2) were trailing 3-1 by the time he left.

"Those home runs were huge," Kinney said. ""Our guys were a little tight early, but that loosened them up."

Christopher said his job as leadoff hitter is to force the starter to throw as many pitches as he can so that the other Steamers can get a read on his stuff.

When Batts fell behind, 2-0, he knew it was time to take the offense, however.

"I had checked his stats before the game and knew he didn't walk many people, so after he threw two balls I figured I was going to get something good to hit," he said. "Sometimes when you are in that situation you get too excited and pull off the ball. I got a good fastball in the middle and away and I just drove it.

"With the way Pauley (starter Esterlin Paulino) pitched so well in the first inning, I think the home run became a momentum shifter. A good first inning can set the tone."

Still, the tone was one of high tension going into the middle innings. Kinney pulled Paulino (four hits, one run, one walk, nine strikeouts) with one out in the sixth and Edenton on top 2-1. He brought in sidearmer David Teasley, who got the next two outs.

"Paulino was working really hard, he had thrown 73 pitches through four innings and that's a lot," Kinney said. "But we got five good innings out of him and that was all we needed."

After Teasley, Kinney tapped closer Ethan Cole and committed to him to finish out the last three innings.

"When we got down to nine outs, if Ethan did what he was supposed to do, that meant guys were only going to see him one time," Kinney said. "And he's pretty tough to hit if you only see him once."

Cole wound up facing 12 batters because he gave up a hit and walked a batter and the Steamers committed an error, but he justified the decision by holding Wilmington scoreless.

"It was nice for the coach to have that kind of confidence in me," said Cole, who pitched five innings in a 14-inning win over Peninsula in the first round. "Paulino had done a great job and I wanted to finish it for us."

Cole had one hairy moment. It came in the eighth inning with one out and a Shark on second base and Daniel Aldrich, who had already hit four home runs in the series -- including a shot off Paulino in the fourth -- at the plate.

"I knew I had first base open and I didn't want to give him a fastball to hit," said Cole, who went to a 3-2 count on Aldrich. "I was able to get him to pop up on a slider."

In the bottom of the inning, the Steamers made it easier for Cole when they scored four runs off Wilmington reliever Ross Whitley,who came into the game with a 2.15 ERA and a batting average against of .196.

The big blow was a two-run double by pinch-hitter Nathan Burns. Adam Giacalone, another pinch-hitter, drew a bases-loaded walk and Mejia hit a sacrifice fly to knock in the other runs.

"It didn't matter what the score was, I was going to pitch the same in that last inning," Cole said. "I wasn't going to let anybody on base."