• Baker, Fairhope qualify for Class 7A state tournament

GULF SHORES, Ala.— The Fairhope Pirates battled back through the elimination bracket to qualify for the Class 7A state tournament at Lagoon Park in Montgomery. Round one starts Friday for the Class 7A Elite Eight. The Pirates will play Spain Park at 10:30 a.m. Baker will take on Vestavia Hills at noon. Auburn will face Sparkman and Central-Phenix City plays James Clemens.

In the Regionals, Fairhope opened round one with a 11-5 win over Mary G. Montgomery at Gulf Shores. Baker took a 10-2 win over McGill-Toolen Catholic and the Honeybees stayed in the winners bracket to qualify on a 10-4 win over the Pirates. Fairhope met MGM again in the elimination bracket and qualified for state with a 5-2 win over the Vikings.

Diana King got the win for Fairhope. Jaden Morace singled, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from Addison Reagan, and scored on a single by King in the first inning.  MGM took the lead 2-1 in the top of the fourth.  Fairhope scored 3 runs in the bottom half when Taylor LeDrew singled, Emma Kropp reached on an error, and Bailey Keith walked to load the bases. Kelsey Reagan singled home LeDrew and Dakota Holtzclaw singled to score Kropp. Sallie Fell ran scored on a passed ball. 

Fairhope added a final run in the seventh when Kropp singled, advanced on a sacrifice bunt from Keith and scored on a single from Holtzclaw. MGM eliminated the Yellow Jackets 18-3 earlier.

In Class 6A, Dothan and Saraland qualified from the South Regional. Local favorites Daphne and Gulf Shores failed to advance. The Dolphins lost an 8-5 heartbreaker to Dothan in the eighth inning of their elimination-bracket final.

Gulf Shores opened the tournament with a 2-0 shutout over Dothan and a 14-7 win over Opelika, but fell to Saraland 9-0 in the first qualifying round.

Daphne dropped their opener to Northview 1-0, then defeated Valley 16-3 in the elimination bracket, but fell 5-2 to Opelika in the next round.

In Class 3A, Bayside Academy's Admirals made their first appearance at the Regional level. Bayside dropped the opener to Dale County in the first round and fell to T. R. Miller in elimination, 14-2. Dale County cruised to the first-seed qualifier slot with a 6-2 win over Opp. Slocomb took the second 3A slot with a 4-1 win over Opp.