GULF SHORES — The top southern seeds from Class 6A and 4A will come from each end of Baldwin County as the Baldwin County Tigers and Orange Beach Makos hoisted the top-qualifier plaque from the AHSAA South Regional Championship Tuesday afternoon at the Gulf Shores Sportsplex.

Late-inning dramatics from eighth-grader Addison Hadley and sophomore Teagan Revette gave each team their wins in the championship game of their brackets and they'll enter next week’s state tournament as No. 1 squads.

Tigers top Spartans in fifth meeting

In four previous meetings this year, Saraland beat Baldwin County each time and the last three came via shutout.

With the Class 6A South Regional Championship on the line Tuesday, the Tigers earned the season’s first win over the Spartans when Hadley broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the sixth inning.

A fielder’s choice scored freshman Brooke McGowin who was only on third base after a perfectly-place sacrifice bunt from junior pitcher Madilyn Byrd who then delivered the final three outs from the circle for a 1-0 win. Baldwin County clinched its third regional title in the last four years and its first state tournament bid since 2022.

Baldwin County pushes a run across as Brooke McGowin scampers across on a fielder’s choice from Addison Hadley. Madilyn Byrd delivered a perfectly-placed sac bunt to get McGowin to third. The Tigers are three outs away from clinching the top spot in Class 6A #ALHSSoftball pic.twitter.com/nJ410OflVd

— Gulf Coast Media Sports (@GCMSportsAL) May 7, 2024

The Tigers beat the Pike Road Patriots (4-1) and defending champion Wetumpka Indians (2-1) to earn their spot in the bracket’s finals before earning the top qualifier. Wetumpka went on to beat Saraland in the elimination finals on a walk-off home run to earn the runner-up qualifier.

Makos earn revenge win over Raiders

In a rematch of last year’s state championship game, the Orange Beach Makos and Houston Academy Raiders took a heated 1-1 tie into the sixth inning of the championship game.

As Houston Academy went to their bullpen and brought in its ace pitcher and Alabama commit Braya Hodges after Orange Beach juniors Kaitlynn Robertson and KG Favors reached base, Revette and the batters met with Mako hitting coach Jody Hodo.

The first pitch Revette saw went over the centerfield fence for a three-run home run that avenged last year’s loss in the regional finals and secured Orange Beach’s first South Regional Championship on the Class 4A stage with a 4-1 win.

.@teagan2026 has left the building! A TWO-OUT, 3-run blast breaks open Orange Beach’s 1-1 tie against Houston Academy in the Class 4A South Regional Championship. @oba_softball moves onto the verge of another regional title #ALHSSoftball pic.twitter.com/olHma2BhMc

— Gulf Coast Media Sports (@GCMSportsAL) May 7, 2024

The three-time defending state champion Makos will now enter the state tournament as the top qualifier with the Raiders alongside them as the runner-up qualifier. Orange Beach also took down LAMP (17-0) and Slocomb (15-0) during play on Monday at the regional tournament.

Follow @GCMSportsAL on social media for more sights and sounds from the AHSAA South Regional Softball Championships.