When the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s soccer state tournament opens the semifinal round in Huntsville May 11, six teams will represent Baldwin County three each in the girls’ and boys’ brackets.

In Class 7A, the Fairhope Pirate girls’ soccer team earned a 1-0 win over McGill-Toolen to punch a ticket to its second straight final four after finishing as runners-up last season. Fairhope drew the Auburn Tigers, who the Pirates beat in the second round of the 2022 postseason, Thursday at 3 p.m.

The St. Michael Catholic Cardinal girls’ soccer team is heading to its first-ever Class 4A state semifinal match after a buzzer-beating goal in the final minute from junior Maddie Key that sealed a 3-2 quarterfinal win over Trinity Presbyterian. St. Michael was set to face the American Christian Academy Patriots Friday at 1 p.m. with a trip to the finals on the line.

Similarly, both teams from Gulf Shores punched their first tickets to the Class 5A final four following quarterfinal wins over Faith Academy at home.

The Dolphin girls’ team took down its area rival 3-1 and drew the Marbury Panthers Friday at 5 p.m. in the semifinal. The boys’ team earned a 3-0 shutout over the Rams with goals from Jerome Morgan, Talan Galvan and Bryan Orellana and drew Elmore County at 7 p.m. Friday.

Also on the boys’ stage, both Daphne (7A) and Bayside Academy (4A) took a step forward in their title defenses with close contests in the semifinals.

The Trojans secured a 2-1 win over Davidson to set up a meeting with the Dothan Wolves in the semifinals Thursday at 5 p.m. In last year’s playoffs, Daphne faced the same teams in the opposite order where it beat Dothan 5-0 in the second round and Davidson 4-2 in the third round.

Bayside Academy had some dramatics in its quarterfinal match with St. Michael and needed penalty kicks to determine a winner. It was none other than Admiral senior Tipton Smith who delivered the winning shot that secured a 3-2 win for the hosts to advance to the final four against the Oneonta Redskins Friday at 3 p.m.

Bayside Academy won three straight state titles on the Class 1A-3A circuit before joining Class 4A due to the AHSAA’s competitive balance factor.

The Spanish Fort girls’ team in Class 6A joined the St. Michael Catholic boys’ team in finding the end of the road in the state quarterfinals after the Toros fell to Montgomery Academy 2-0 Friday night. The visiting Eagles fired home both their goals within 33 seconds of each other to open the second half and never looked back.

Stay tuned to @GCMSportsAL on social media for updates on the soccer semifinals.

Editor’s note: In immediate coverage of quarterfinal action online, and in Wednesday’s print editions, the Gulf Shores Dolphins were omitted from the list of teams advancing.