The Edenton Steamers will attempt to put the finishing touches on the greatest season in franchise history when they take on the Gastonia Grizzlies in Game 1 of the best-of-3 Petitt Cup championship series Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Gastonia.

While the top-seeded Steamers (48-12) have shattered the team record for victories, they still need to bring home their first Petitt Cup crown since 2005 before they can call themselves the best Clam team ever.

“We’ve achieved three of our four goals by winning the first- and second-half titles in the North Division and having the best overall record in the league, but now we need to get the fourth one,” said Steamers coach Dirk Kinney.

“Everybody is excited. Some of our guys have never played for a championship and they really want to win this one for the community.”

In sixth-seeded Gastonia (33-28) the Steamers will be facing a team that is statistically inferior, but has already knocked off two higher-seeded teams to get to the title round — No. 3 Thomasville and No. 4 Forest City.

In the playoffs, the Grizzlies are batting nearly 20 points above their regular-season average and have reduced their earned-run average by nearly two runs a game.

No matter who wins Friday, the championship will be decided Saturday in Edenton.

Originally, Game 2 was Saturday at 7 p.m. at Hicks Field with Game 3, if necessary, set for 7 p.m. Sunday in Edenton.

But the fear of wet weather on Sunday convinced the Coastal Plain League to play Games 2 and 3, if necessary, as a doubleheader at Hicks Saturday with two nine-inning games beginning at 5 p.m.

Here’s a capsule look at the championship series:

Matchup: Edenton Steamers (48-12) vs. Gastonia Grizzlies (33-28).

Format: Best-of-3 series.

Schedule: Game 1 — Friday at Gastonia, 7:30 p.m.; Game 2 — Saturday at Edenton, 5 p.m.; Game 3 (if nec) — Saturday at Edenton, following completion of Game 2.

How they got here: Top-seeded Steamers beat No. 8 Peninsula in two games and No. 7 Wilmington in three games; No. 6 Grizzlies beat No. 3 Thomasville in three games and No. 4 Forest City in three games.

Regular-season meeting: Steamers beat the Grizzlies 6-4 at Gastonia on June 29 in only game between the two teams.

Regular-season offense: Steamers led CPL in batting (.282), runs (370) and stolen bases (131) and hit 36 home runs. Grizzlies batted .257 with 278 runs, 22 homers and 90 stolen bases.

Regular-season pitching: Steamers led league in ERA (2.84) and batting average against (.210). Grizzlies had ERA of 4.59 and teams hit .276 against them.

Players to watch:

Steamers — Brian Blasik is top hitter in playoffs (.455), followed by Nathan Burns (.417), Brett Christopher (.400) and Vinnie Mejia (.400). Joe Wendle was second in CPL batting during regular season (.377). Benny Mejia (1-0, 8.16 ERA in five games) will start Game 1, Jordan Glover (5-1, 3.77 ERA) Game 2. In 10.1 postseason innings, closer Ethan Cole has two wins and a save and hasn’t given up a run.

Grizzlies — Justin Vasquez (.391), Grant Gajdosz (.364) and Jordan Luris (.321) are top playoff hitters. Rick Marks (3-4, 3.96 ERA) will start Game 1. Michael Heesch (6-0, 2.79) or Tyler Ware (2-3, 5.61) are possibilities for Game 2.