DAPHNE, Ala. — Daphne's young Lady Trojans softball team had the No. 3-ranked 6A Lady Pirates of Fairhope on the ropes in the final 6A Area 3 game for each team Thursday night at Daphne High.

But Fairhope chipped away at an early 2-0 lead by DHS to tie it 2-2 in the seventh and escape with a 3-2, eighth-inning victory.

Senior right hander Farish Beard went the full eight innings to get her 20th win (20-3) for FHS (32-3, 5-1) with a one hitter. She had eight strike outs, three walks and hit a batter.

Her counterpart, freshman Kimberly Small (10-12), also went the distance in the loss for Daphne (20-22, 2-4 ) scattering five hits, striking out five and walking six.

Fairhope coach Jonathan Heflin said he was impressed with how Daphne had improved.

“We played them early, mid season and now and they have consistently gotten better each time. Coach (Lawrence) Yelding has them playing well and always gets them well motivated.”

He added that he was happy with the way his team responded to the Trojans challenge.

“I was very proud of our team,” he said. “We made some mistakes and got into a hole. We stayed in the ballgame though and found a way to get back into it and win. I am just very proud of our girls.”

Each team was resting key injured players, namely Tristan Kitchens of DHS and Courtney Piesco of FHS.

The Pirates are the outright regular-season Area 3 champions and will host the tournament for the official crown set for May 5-6. Daphne, Foley and Robertsdale finished the regular season with 3-3 records. Yelding said he would have to go over what tiebreakers apply to determine the 2-4 seeding with the other coaches.

The Daphne coach said the Pirates showed why they are ranked so highly.

“We jumped on them 2-0 but they showed us why they’re the No. 3 team in the state tonight,” he said. “They picked up a run in the sixth, seventh and eighth inning. We had some opportunities to win but didn't come through. When you have those chances, you have to capitalize.”

Both coaches praised their pitchers who each endured a surprising number of defensive errors behind them.

“She threw absolutely spectacular,” Yelding said of Small who has carried most of the load since Kitchens was hurt in the first week of the season. “She threw only 89 pitches in eight innings. She threw super. She’s a great pitcher.”

Heflin said Beard, who signed with South Alabama, adjusted to the strike zone when needed and kept her focus on her job.

“She had a little bit of a tight zone to deal with tonight but she was constantly around the plate,” he said. “She was challenging hitters tonight and forcing them to put the ball in play. She just did an outstanding job, I’m very proud of her.”

Daphne's two runs in the fourth to go up 2-0 came on a string of three-straight errors by Fairhope to score Bailey Lucassen and Ashleigh Landis.

Beard and Small settled back into their duel until the top of the sixth when Hannah Qualls reached on an error and later scored on a fielder’s choice hit into by Lacey Dorsey for the Pirates.

The tying run came in the seventh when Brooklin Caudill’s hard single up the right-field line hit DHS first baseman Jennifer Fisher in the neck and bounced into foul territory allowing the Fairhope catcher to reach second. She later scored on a bunt single by Lauren Ponder.

Fairhope took the lead in the top of the eighth when Alison Augustine led off with a double and was moved to third on a SAC bunt by Dorsey. Augustine then scored on Caudill’s bases-loaded fielder’s choice.

Daphne’s Peyton Grantham reached on a one-out single in the bottom half and stole second, but was left on when Qualls made a nice put-out throw after diving to stop a Lucassen line drive that would have probably scored Grantham to tie if it had gotten through.