The regional round of the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s softball state tournament will feature seven Baldwin County teams where four enter as area champions and three as runners-up.

The South Regional championships will be held in Gulf Shores with local teams in action May 10-12.

Top seeds included Orange Beach (Class 4A Area 1), Gulf Shores (Class 5A Area 1), Spanish Fort (Class 6A Area 2) and Fairhope (Class 7A Area 1). Those schools will be joined by 5A Elberta, 6A Baldwin County and 7A Daphne which all earned runner-up spots in the respective area tournaments.

Orange Beach, Elberta and Fairhope are all heading to a third straight regional tournament where the Makos will be searching for a third straight state championship despite climbing two classifications from last season.

Below are the opening-round pairings for the AHSAA South Regional championships in Gulf Shores.

Class 4A – opens May 11
Game 1: Area 1 winner: Orange Beach (39-9-1) vs. Area 3 RU: Dale County (9-15)

Class 5A – opens May 11
Game 1: Area 1 winner: Gulf Shores (9-5) vs. Area 3 RU: Headland (15-20)
Game 3: Area 3 winner: Rehobeth (32-11) vs. Area 1 RU: Elberta (9-16)

Class 6A – opens May 10
Game 2: Area 2 winner: Spanish Fort (26-12-1) vs. Area 4 RU: Benjamin Russell
Game 4: Area 4 winner: Wetumpka vs. Area 2 RU: Baldwin County (22-15)

Class 7A – opens May 11
Game 1: Area 1 winner: Baker (20-13) vs. Area 2 RU: Daphne (37-10)
Game 2: Area 2 winner: Fairhope (41-5) vs. Area 1 RU: Mary Montgomery (27-24)