FAIRHOPE — Five Baldwin County baseball teams were in action Friday night in the AHSAA state playoffs. Spanish Fort advanced to the Class 6A quarterfinals with a sweep, both Bayshore Christian and Bayside Academy needed a Game 3 to find a winner and Fairhope and Daphne found the end of the road.

With 1-0 and 10-3 wins, the Toros advanced to their first third-round series since 2018 and will face the Saraland Spartans who have also started their postseason undefeated with a pair of sweeps.

On the Class 4A stage, Bayside Academy split its second-round doubleheader against Bibb County with an 11-4 win in Game 1 and an 8-0 loss in Game 2. A decisive Game 3 was set for Saturday at noon with the Admirals looking for a third straight trip to the quarterfinals.

On the Class 2A circuit, Bayshore Christian and Pike Liberal Arts both earned a win Friday night to set up a rubber match scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday. The Eagles had their 12-game win streak snapped with a 9-6 loss but bounced back with an 11-9 win to force the do-or-die Game 3.

In the first round of the Class 7A bracket, both Area 2 representatives fell in the first two games of the series to close their postseasons. Central-Phenix City took down Daphne with wins of 8-1 and 9-0 and Smiths Station eliminated Fairhope after wins of 9-7 and 2-0.

Smiths Station Panthers sink Fairhope Pirates

The host Pirates nearly came all the way back in Game 1 after the Panthers used a four-run seventh inning to extend to a 9-3 lead.

After Fairhope strung together six hits, it trailed by only three runs with the bases loaded and one out. In stepped Caden Creel, who had lifted a home run to left field the prior inning and would win the game with another.

FINAL: Smiths Station 9 Fairhope 7. Caden Creel came thiiiis close to his second homer and walking off the Pirates but instead settles for a sacrifice fly before the Panthers got the third out. Game 2 coming up next with the Pirates’ backs against the wall #ALHSBaseball pic.twitter.com/n6vB2Xq2Vg

— Gulf Coast Media Sports (@GCMSportsAL) April 29, 2023

While Creel put a charge into the contact he made, it didn’t have quite enough distance to clear the fence again and scored only one run on the sacrifice fly before a strikeout ended the threat and sealed Game 1 for Smiths Station.

In Game 2, the Panthers scored both their runs in the first inning as the home team then kept the Pirates off the board for all seven innings to secure the sweep. Fairhope base runners advanced to scoring position five times on the night and only two reached third base.