Fairhope scores four runs in the sixth to win Dixie AAA title

Forrest Gunnison stood in the on deck circle and watched his team tie the game. Moments later he was circling the bases as he teammates stormed out of the dugout to mob him at the plate.

With one mighty swing, Gunnison gave Fairhope an 11-8 win over Auburn Orange and a trip to the Dixie AAA World Series.

Gunnison sent a 1-0 pitch over the left field wall for a three-run homer that turned out to be the deciding runs in a tense title game for the Dixie Alabama AAA State Tournament crown.

Despite a rocky tournament to that point for Gunnison, Fairhope head coach Andy Malone said there was not any other player he would rather have at the plate needing a big hit.

“He has been our hottest hitter up until the time we came to state,” Malone said. “He struggled some this week, but we knew it was going to even up eventually. He hit a three-run shot a couple of nights ago to win it for us, and I knew that if we could get him to the plate good things would happen.”

Following Gunnison’s cloud scraping homer, Fairhope set Auburn down in order in the bottom of the inning to claim the state title.

Earlier in the game, Auburn staked a quick 8-2 lead with four runs the first, one in the second and three in the third. However, Malone’s team chipped away piece by piece throughout the latter innings before striking in the sixth.

Fairhope picked up three runs in the second, one the fourth and three in the fifth to bring itself within striking distance in the final stanza.

“I kept telling my son that were going to score 10,” Malone said. “This group of kids is a sixth-inning team. Our run average in the sixth is better than any other inning, because this team never quits. They battled all day long, and get rewarded with a state championship.”

Fairhope will now make the 527-mile trek to Lexington, S.C. for the Dixie AAA World Series, achieving the goal the team set before ever throwing a pitch.

“We wanted to go back to the World Series after doing it last year,” Malone said. “We said that were coming here as Fairhope and leaving as Team Alabama. We accomplished our goal.”