SPANISH FORT, Alabama — Chilly temperatures were not enough to cool this heated rivalry as Gulf Shores went to The Hill at Spanish Fort for a 5A Area 2 battle Thursday night.

Winning pitcher Leah White hit her own walk-off RBI in the bottom of the seventh for a 6-5 Lady Toro win. White closed for SF starter Megan McCarthy while their Lady Dolphin counterpart Jordan Reynolds went the distance and helped her team take it’s first lead 3-2 in the top of the fifth with a lead-off double.

The lead changed hands four times with three ties. GS led 5-4 after five and a half innings and held until the Toros’ seventh. Jade Phillips singled with one out to put the tying run on. An error off the bat of Laurel Lewis and a collision between Phillips and third baseman Shana Elmore left Phillips at the corner and Elmore unable to stay in the game. Lewis advanced to second on the play. Katie Stacey then singled in Phillips and White connected with a line drive to score Lewis for the win.

Toros coach Sean Womack credited his team’s early 3-0 lead for part of the victory.

“I think that was important for us, confidence-wise, against a good solid pitcher like Jordan. Plus it took some pressure off our young starter, Megan. She really stepped up, did a good job and and took us as far as she could. Then we brought Leah in in a pressure situation and she handled it real well and got us out of a jam with minimum damage. She threw well and hit her spots, but they have a good line up of hitters and got to her a time or two. But I’m proud of her and Megan and the whole team for not getting rattled out there. They hung in and fought back in the last inning. When it all was on the line they did their jobs.”

Gulf Shores coach Trevor Powell said his team lost momentum after the collision and missed a few opportunities to add to their lead earlier in the game.

“We didn't get the clutch hit when it needed it,” he said. “But Spanish Fort just outplayed us. Period. We had some errors at the worst possible times. We always seem to make errors when the other team has runners on base and never when the error won't hurt us. We just didn't get the key hits.”

He added that Reynolds did a good job of keeping the score within reach but suffered too many errors behind her. “She pitched OK. It wasn't her best game but she gave us a good effort. She pitched good enough to win."

Reynolds struck out five and walked one but gave up nine hits. White improved to 4-1, allowed two runs on two hits and a walk after coming in the top of the fifth with the bases loaded and one away.

SF improved to 9-8 overall and 3-0 in Area 2. The Dolphins dropped to 8-8, 1-1. The Toros led 3-0 by the fourth inning after Stacey drove in two of her four RBIs. SF was also led at the pplate by Laura Anna Raines who finished with two singles and an RBI, Lewis reached three times, twice on bunt singles and scored the winning run. Katlyn Hoodless, Phillips and McCarthy each had a single.

Reynolds also singled along with Ashton Boone, Taylor Brown, Kennedy Cronan, Tristan Fitts, Emily Smith and Nicole Wallace for GS. Smith had an RBI and a SAC bunt, Brown and Cronan each had an RBI.

Elmore made several big defensive plays guarding the line for the ‘Phins before leaving. Hoodless had a put-out throw to short-stop Lauren Vaughan at second on a caught stealing for SF.

Gulf Shores plays in the Robertsdale tournament on Friday and Saturday. The Toros will host a tournament next weekend beginning March 22.