LOXLEY — Sometimes the fourth time is the charm.

For three straight years, Alana Wiest has competed in the Baldwin County Spelling Bee. For three straight years, she ran into the juggernaut that was four-time champion Andrew Wilson Williams of Robertsdale.

But Tuesday night, Wiest gave Bayshore Christian School in Fairhope bragging rights when she correctly spelled “fraulein” in the ninth round of competition.

“I’ve been competing since I was in the fourth grade, so this is my fourth year,” said Wiest, the daughter of Ivan and Michelle Wiest of Silverhill.

The winner started gearing up for the spelling bee when school started back last fall. Depending on her homework load, Wiest tried to go over the spelling lists every night. Those lists helped when foreign words made their way into the competition.

She had no problem with “junta” (a Spanish term for group that seizes power by force) in the sixth round. “Echt” (German for authentic and typical) rolled out quickly in the seventh round. Gulf Shores Middle School student Raylyn Paschen nailed “Bolshevik” (a Russian Communist) in the seventh round but stumbled on “einkorn” (an early form of European wheat) in the eighth to give Wiest a shot at winning with one word.

The Bayshore seventh-grader spelled the German word for a young girl correctly to win the trophy and the right to represent Baldwin County in the state competition.

A total of 33 students, fourth through eighth-grade, began the competition. The competitors came from each school in the Baldwin County district, as well as private schools Bayshore, Bayside Academy and Central Christian School. Catholic schools in Baldwin and Mobile counties competed against each other to determine their representative to the state competition.

From the first misspelled word (chutney) in the first round, the field slowly but steadily was thinned. The first three rounds dropped the number to just 13 spellers. Two rounds later, the only students left on the stage at the Loxley Civic Center were Wiest, Paschen and Jordan Jensen, representing Elberta Middle School. The word “accommodate” eliminated Jensen in the seventh round.

The state competition, which is sponsored by Adventure Travel, will be held March 9 at Oak Mountain High School in Shelby County near Birmingham.

Winners from state competition advance to the Scripps National Spelling Bee that will be held May 26 through June 1 near Washington, D.C.

The nationally televised event is sponsored by the G.W. Scripps Company, based in Cincinnati. Its website, spellingbee.com, lists winners dating back to 1925.