ROBERTSDALE, Alabama — Fairhope emerged atop the Robertsdale pool of the BayBears High School Classic Wednesday night with three wins over the three-day preliminary stretch. The Pirates closed with a tight 6-5 win against Gulf Shores after topping site host and perennial 6A Area rival Robertsdale 9-5 Tuesday and Saraland (12-9 in 11 innings) Monday.

Fairhope’s Jerrod Hathcock drove in the game-winning run—himself—with a 5-5 tie-breaking solo home run in the top of the ninth inning and the Pirates held on for the one-run win. Hathcock went 2-for-4 and had three RBIs on the night, William Roh had a pair of RBI with a double and Gabe Wagner added an RBI.

Kyle Bayley (1-0) got the win for the Pirates in relief after pitching two no-hit, no-pass innings with three strikeouts. Gulf Shores' Chris Childers took the loss, allowing five runs on three hits in three innings. Chris Brown led the Dolphins’ attack with two RBIs.

Saraland finished 2-1 in the four-team bracket by defeating RHS 8-4 Wednesday and Gulf Shores Tuesday 11-5. Robertsdale (2-1) edged Gulf Shores 5-4 to open Monday.

On Tuesday, RHS battled back to tie Fairhope 4-4 in the third inning, but the Pirates broke away with a three-run fifth inning and added a pair in the sixth.

Easton Fuller got the FHS win with a one-hitter in relief and two strike outs. Troy Johnson took the loss for the Golden Bears.

Hathcock also went 2-for-4 with a home run shot with three Pirate RBIs while teammate Corey Childress went 3-for-4 at the plate with two doubles, two RBIs and two runs scored as the DH for Fairhope. Tanner Boots led the Bears’ offense with a 2-for-4 night.

“It wasn’t pretty, but a win is what you want,” said Fairhope head coach Stu Fuller. “Still we are not doing a very good job defensively, overall. We need to be consistent and make some adjustments. I think we improved with our approaches at the plate tonight with about 10 hits or more. But hopefully we can defend better and make more progress as we move along.”

The Pirates are the reigning four-time defending BayBears Classic champions.

RHS coach Kevin Raley said early mistakes hurt his team’s chances against the Pirates.

“Errors hurt us, we struggled early then settled down. But we’re working hard and we’ll keep working and hope to improve. Fairhope is always tough and this year in a five team area it’s going to be real tough. All five teams have a chance and I think whoever gets out of this area—the winner and the runner-up—will make a good run in the playoffs.”

Competition moves on to Hank Aaron Stadium this weekend with all 24 tournament participants seeded according to their Monday-Wednesday record. The Pirates will face Baker Saturday at 4:30 p.m. The Golden Bears will play Satsuma Friday at 8 p.m.

On Monday Jacob Bushaw got the win in closing for RHS with offensive help from Taylor Garrison who went 3-4 with a double and a pair of singles. The Dolphins’ Parker Skelley went 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI.

Also on Monday Childress got the extra-inning win for the Pirates going four innings with four strike outs, four walks and a run. Beecher Faust slugged out the winning RBI and was 2-of-4 with a double. Caleb Huff went 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs for the Spartans.

Also on Wednesday, at Mary G. Montgomery, Daphne completed a 3-0 sweep with a 3-0 victory over Theodore. At MGM, Daphne’s Blake Carnley went six innings for the shutout win and James Reynor provided support at the plate.

The Trojans will take on McGill-Toolen Catholic Saturday at 7 p.m. The finals are set for Monday at 7 p.m.

The Trojans opened Monday with a 7-3 win over MGM’s Vikings with Stephen Williams getting the win in five innings of work while Adam Daniel went 3-for-4 at the plate with an RBI.

On Tuesday Reynor led Daphne on the mound to a 13-2 win over Cottage Hill working three innings while Dalton Filotei tripled and singled with an RBI and a steal.