FAIRHOPE, Alabama—The Curse of the Causeway is history. Baldwin County's string of all-star soccer losses to Mobile's all-stars was broken Friday in the 7th annual Battle of the Bay Soccer Showcase at W.C. Majors Field. Both the girls and boys teams off the Baldwin exits

of the Bay Way came away with long-sought wins for the first time in seven tries as the BC ladies won 3-1 and the BC gents ran out the clock with a 5-2 victory.

Fairhope's Caroline Seibt finished a nice pass from Gulf Shores' Sophie Simantel to give the Baldwin side a 1-0 lead at the half in the girls match. Action picked up again as Rebekah Diring of Spanish Fort scored off an assist from Darian Hill of Fairhope to make it a 2-0

Baldwin lead about 15 minutes into the second half. Mobile's Francesca Talotta then found the net about five minutes later, but Rachael Lane of Daphne added the extra insurance goal for Baldwin and the score would stand the rest of the match.

Simantel and Taylor Brackin were named the Girls Players of the Game.

The boys' contest was tied 2-2 at the half on Baldwin goals by James Croissant (assist Thomas McLendon) and Josh Gurvitz and Mobile goals by Moses Muhubao and Yannick Wildraut. Baldwin then pulled away on strikes by Croissant (assist Gurvitz), Welles Richardson and Ivan Torres while holding on for a second half shut out.

Croissant and David Valverde were named the Boys Players of the Game.

Baldwin Girls coach Brian Person, head women's soccer coach for Univerity of Mobile, said the team came together as if they had been on the same side for much more than two days.

“It is what it is,” he said. “It's two teams coming out to play and have fun. It's a great way to honor the girls who were selected and just be competitive. I told them, of course, we want to win, but to go out and concentrate on having a good time by performing at the level they're capable of first and if that involves a win, we'll take it.”

A four-year Showcase all-star bound for the womens pitch at Auburn University, Simantel said it has always been an honor to be selected, but to cap her senior year with a first-ever win over her counterparts to the west made it even more memorable.

“It was awesome to get to play with my teammates from high school and club again,” she said. “It was an incredible experience. I just wanted to come out and have fun and play ball—and it's for a good cause— but to finally beat them, too. It's great. Everybody played well on our side. Anne Baumhower and I play together on club, but it seemed like we had all been playing together for more than a couple of days.”

Simantel reports to the Tigers summer camp June 21.

Person, who had coached the Mobile side four times, said there was little time to develop strategies and mainly relied on the soccer IQ of his players.

“By the end of the first half, we started to play a bit more direct, by-passing the midfield, but really I just wanted them to go out and do what they have typically done because they're the best of the best in the area. So we just worked on some set plays and basically just put them on the pitch. I'd like to take credit for some of the success out there, but I can't. We just kept it fresh (frequent subbing) to keep the momentum going, not let it die with fatigue. And the girls going in were just as good as the ones coming out. It was my first time coaching the Baldwin team and I was honored to coach them.”

Baldwin Boys coach Roy Patton, head soccer coach at University of Mobile, was obviously pleased with the score and said, as usual it (the score) is a reflection of the players on a given night. He added that the chemistry was icing on the cake to the layers of his players skills.

“It's the players, it's always the players,” he said. “Absolutely. The kids were up for it. The first night I met them with (UM assistant coach) Daniel Whelan we both thought this was a special, energetic bunch of lads. And I think their persistence of energy and effort translated onto the field and won out tonight. They (Mobile) looked like they were given' it to us for for the first 20 minutes. But the guys weathered up the storm and their confidence increased and by the end of the game they were defending strongly and counter attacking very effectively.”

Croissant is bound for Spring Hill College to continue both his education and soccer career.

“For this game, we just had the mindset to have fun,” he said. “We had nothing to lose, so we just played as hard as we could and it worked out great. The Blast players that have played together showed it tonight. But I think we just kept the pressure up, We hustled, beat them to the ball, especially in the second half. Both teams are full of good players, but I know we all seemed to be getting better in the second half and once we took the lead back and then built on it, it was like, all smiles.”

The first Showcase was played in 2006. It pits the best high school level players from each county. The Mobile girls lead the series 5-1-1 with a tie in 2009. The Mobile boys still lead 4-1-2 with two even finishes in 1010-11.

The annual event is sponsored by The Blast Futball Club. Proceeds benefit Kicks for Cancer, the Children’s Hospital at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. The Gate proceeds were $1,500 for the event this year.