MONTGOMERY — Spanish Fort baseball coach Tommy Walker probably has neckties older than his team. Yet the youthful Toros leashed the Tigers of Hartselle Saturday to complete a two-game sweep of the defending state champions in the Class 5A state baseball championship series at Riverwalk Stadium. SFHS won 4-1 Saturday and 10-0 Friday.

"We think at Spanish Fort, there's a new king now," said Walker, who came from Mountain Brook to start up and guide the Toros since the school's opening five years ago. He said he was expecting to meet up with the Tigers and would have to fight to knock them off the throne of 5A baseball.

"We thought we were a little more athletic and a little better, but until the king is dead, he's still the king. They weren't going to abdicate, so we had to kill the king. We were expecting to be here and we thought all along that we'd eventually have to go through Hartselle."

The title was a dream come true for the players as well, including series MVP Patrick McGavin. "It's amazing," he said. "It just feels amazing. I've dreamed about this for a long, long time. We finally got it done."

The University of Alabama signee was also available to pitch the third game if necessary. McGavin went 2-for-3 with a triple, made a first-to-third throw to pick off a potential go-ahead run in the third and made a back-to-the-plate-running, two-out, over-the-shoulder Willie Mays catch with the bases loaded in the fourth inning of the second and title-clinching game.

"That's the play of the game," Walker said. "If that flair drops, it's two runs and it goes from being 2-1 to 3-2 and momentum goes right to Hartselle. You could kind of felt them deflate just a little bit once Pat made the Willie Mays catch."

McGavin has also been with the varsity program since his eighth-grade year, when the Toros were in the 2A division.

"I’ve coached Pat longer than anyone I've ever had," Walker said. "He's been a part of 200 games at this school. He's played in two third rounds, the second round and a championship game and he deserves it."

Game two winning pitcher Rocky McCord (9-2) — who threw most of the game with an injured thumb — allowed only five hits and struck out five to get the complete-game. McCord fought off several tight spots with the help of two double plays by short stop Troy Brown, second baseman Luke Crittenden and McGavin at first, key stops by Jake Brackhan at catcher and a run-saving, full-reaching catch at the wall by Cole Jarman in left field to prevent a go-ahead run by HHS in the second.

At the plate, Chris Beasley — who won game one with the shutout — also had two hits for Spanish Fort, Zac Fowler had an RBI single, Brown singled, made third on a hit by McGavin and scored on a contact swing by Wes Runnels who signed with the Nicholls State University Colonels. Jarman scored in the top of the first on an error, but HHS scored in the bottom half to tie it up where the score stayed until the top of the fourth.

On Friday Spanish Fort slugged three home runs as Chris Beasley (9-0) went six innings scattering six hits to blank the defending state champs 10-0 in the first game of the championship series.

The Toros put up two runs in the bottom of the first and six in the second inning to set the tone and provide Beasley the solid lead in the opener. Justin Key hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the second. McGavin followed in the same inning with another two-run shot.

McCord also homered to left in the fourth inning and had two hits with three RBIs and singled in McGavin in the sixth for the 10th and mercy-rule-winning run to end the game. McGavin, Runnels, Jarman, Key and McCord provided two hits each.

Even with a Division I right hander on the team, Walker was pleased they didn't have to rely on McGavin's arm all the time thanks to Beasley and McCord.

"It's just been a magical time," Walker said. "It kind of worked out well because Chris is a great first-round pitcher, because he never gets nervous. He just makes them hit and play. And Rocky's a great finisher. He's finished every one out. So proud of them."

SFHS principal Beverly Spondike is running out room for state championship and runner-up trophies but likes it that way.

"We just have great people," she said. "Great athletes of course, but a winning attitude, a positive attitude, great community support and can't forget the coaches. They do an incredible job and are great role models for our students."

Hartselle finished the year after bouncing back from a 1-12 start. The Toros went 32-11 to finish at the top of their game.

"We've been preaching all year that you want to be your best when the game's at its biggest," Walker said. “They don't get much bigger than state champion.”

Some say it's lonely at the top, but there's no where else they'd rather be.