MONTGOMERY, Alabama — When Tate Godwin stood on third base after hitting one of his many triples this year, he often held up three fingers for his teammates in the dugout.

It might have been because he hit a triple, might have been because he wears the No. 3. Or probably because that is the Toros’ magic number this year— the numeral after the No. 2 that is on many minds, but few if any lips.

The Toros’ journey back to the 5A state championship began in earnest in January and culminates today with a best-of-three series for the 5A baseball championship in Montgomery, where Spanish Fort earned the last two 5A state titles in baseball and hope to earn another.

The 35-6 two-time defending state champs face Southside-Gadsden at 4 p.m Friday and 10 a.m. Saturday, and if necessary 1 p.m.

Toros head coach Tommy Walker explained the most important number is one.

“As far as I’m concerned we have one (series) to play,” he said. “I’m treating it as one. Every team is new, every team is different. We have guys who have been there the last two years and that two years experience is going to help, of course, but it’s not enough by itself. You still have to play the game the right way. Still have to be sound in all phases and I think we have been. But those two years have nothing to do with this one, now. Of course, it’s fun to go back. I’m so proud of this group. They deserve it. But that won’t win it. So now, we just have to be ready for Friday night.”

To get ready the Toros have a kind of non-routine routine when it comes to practice during the playoffs when each round is played on a weekend.

“We take it slow during the playoffs, work on some basic stuff,” Walker said.”If we try to reinvent the wheel at this point we’re in trouble. So we’re going to believe in what got us here and just try to keep it fresh. We like to mix things up by not hitting everything everyday in the same way.

“We have a routine but we do something different every day, Monday we’ll do Japanese hitting with two going at the same time and two L shapes, Tuesday we do live BP (batting practice) where we are throwing across, Wednesday we do situational batting practice where we’re playing live, a seven inning game with coaches pitching, Thursday we do a pregame workout with light BP.

“You can get bored with practice and it’s been a long, grinding season since January. So we do some things everyday, like ground balls and fly balls but it may be in a different order just to mix it up so that each day’s not like a carbon copy of the last. Keep it fresh.”

It seems to work. Walker said Southside struggled early in the year, but seems to have found an effective comfort zone in the short game. Something he hopes to neutralize early.

“We will need to stop their bunt game,” he said. “They like to bunt a lot and so we’ll try to put pressure on their short game. Make sure we get outs and force them to get hits. They will play for one a lot and with the bats the way they are right now, that’s the kind of game we’re in. So we just have to continue to play defense and pitch it well. If we do that, we’ll give ourselves a chance to win. If we don’t, well. We’ll see. But we have to play sound in both of those two phases. It’s hard to win if you’re not doing that in the playoffs. They are 27-15. Beat Walker and Pinson Valley and Hartselle. All good teams. So they have beaten good teams and are playing at a high level right now. But plan to be ready.”

The 4 p.m., Friday opener is set for Paterson Field. The Saturday game(s) will be played at Riverwalk Stadium.