FAIRHOPE — Last but not least. Batting in the No. 9 spot in the lineup, senior Ashton Johnson has been a varsity pitcher for Fairhope for a long time, but Saturday the veteran righthander kept the Pirates in the playoff hunt with his bat.

"I knew I had to do my job," he said after driving in Robert Baugh for the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning to end game three 6-5 and defeat McGill-Toolen Catholic 2-1 in round-one of the 6A state playoff series.

Johnson's two-out drive to deep center capped a dramatic come-from-behind rally for the Bucs who trailed 5-3 after six.

Baugh was pinch-running for relief pitcher Cody Etheridge who doubled in Chase Domino to tie it at 5-5.

FHS Catcher Evan East led off the bottom of the seventh with a single. Domino then doubled to put Sam Kent (running for East) at third. Kent scored on a Sac-fly by Justin Hathcock to make it 5-4. That set the table for Etheridge to score Domino and tie it 5-5. Brock Gilheart then moved Baugh into scoring position with a fielders' choice for Johnson's walk-off single.

"I am proud of the kids," said Fairhope coach Stu Fuller. "Those guys clutched up in the seventh inning with some big hits there. We live another week and hopefully we can correct some of the things we did and play a little better against Satsuma." The 31-7 Pirates will host SHS Friday for the second round doubleheader beginning at 4 p.m.

Fairhope began the playoffs ranked No. 2 while the Gators, who defeated Foley Friday in round one were ranked No. 5.

Yellow Jacket coach David Weems said close games always come down to small things.

"It comes down to little things in one-run games. The guys never quit. They fought and believed in themselves. I'm very proud of all of them."

The Jackets finished 16-16 as the Area 4 runner up to Satsuma.

Etheridge picked up his third win in relief allowing two runs on two hits in 1-2/3 innings. Peyton Fuller went over five striking out seven and scattering four hits while three Jackets scored. Five errors were committed by the Pirates.

"I thought Peyton was outstanding today," Fuller said. "He was battling and got up to about 100 (pitches) and then Cody comes in and we shut it down."

Earlier, East tied the game for FHS 1-1 on a solo homer in the fourth. Garrett Pitts went 2-for-3 with a double. Domino also had a two-run double in the fifth to put the Pirates up 3-1. The hit scored Pitts and Daryl Norris from third and second. Pitts had singled, Norris and East were intentionally walked to load the bases with one out. But the Jackets fought back with a pair of hits scoring four, two of which were on FHS errors.

In the loss Friday night, Mc-T won 11-7, Josh McCarron got the win holding the Pirates to six scattered hits, Johnson (4-2) took the loss for FHS. Will Franklin hit a grand slam for the Jackets. Norris went 4-for-4 with a solo home run, East had two hits and two RBIs.

In game one, Norris improved his pitching record to 9-1 with seven strikeouts in a four-hitter. Leading 9-3, Etheridge's walk-off slam ended it early 13-3 in six innings. The Pirates trailed early 3-0, but came back with additional offense from Hathcock and Norris who each homered and East who had two RBIs.