There is no sugar-coating this week’s Class 5A state quarterfinal baseball series between St. Paul’s and UMS-Wright.

It’s not just an ordinary playoff series.

“We can think that all we want,” St. Paul’s coach Andy Robbins said. “But it’s not.”

The two intense rivals – just two miles apart on the same road in Mobile – will play a best-of-3 series beginning Friday for the right to move on to the state semifinals. The doubleheader is set for 4 p.m. Friday. Game 3, if necessary, would be at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

All games will be at UMS.

“The St. Paul’s-UMS thing has been around forever,” said Kevin Raley, in his 11th year as the Bulldogs’ head coach. “Obviously, it’s a big series and then you throw St. Paul’s in there, and it magnifies it a bit. It’s a great opportunity. That’s how we are looking at it.”

This week’s series will be the first playoff meeting between UMS and St. Paul’s since 1992. That year, the Saints won a semifinal series in three games.

The rivals met just once in the regular season this year. The Saints won 2-0 on March 14 with Bradley Irish throwing a complete-game five-hitter and striking out 7.

“Irish was really good that day,” Raley said. “He worked quick, kept his pitch count down and threw a ton of strikes. He commanded his two pitches well and also threw a handful of changeups.”

That game a month and a half ago matters little now, however.

Both teams are coming off dramatic second round wins.

UMS (19-12) edged Elmore County in three games. Ty Waters threw a complete game in the finale, allowing 5 hits and striking out 5. St. Paul’s (24-9) got a Game 3 walk-off homer from John Stowers to oust Briarwood Christian.

“We have been playing them for a long time,” Robbins said of Briarwood. “As soon as I found out we were playing them, I knew it would be a dogfight, and it was. All three games went down to the wire. I was proud of our kids for continuing to fight.”

RELATED: Complete quarterfinal pairings

The rivalry and, more importantly, the friendship between Robbins and Raley – both already inducted into the Alabama Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame — goes back a long way and includes multiple schools.

“I think Andy and I played our first game against each other in 1990 when I was at G.W. Long,” Raley said. “We came over and played those guys. They were well coached then just like they are now.”

Robbins recalled some memorable battles also when he led St. Paul’s against some of Raley’s Robertsdale High teams.

“It seems like every game we play against each other is a one or two-run game,” he said. “When he was at Robertsdale, I had Jake Peavy pitching, and he had Kevin Steele. We played a game that lasted like 58 minutes with those two on the mound.”

Raley said that game took place in Bay Minette. He remembered that Peavy struck out 16 and threw a no-hitter. Steele struck out 14 and threw a 2-hitter.

What will be the keys this weekend on Old Shell Road?

“A lot of it will be about momentum,” Raley said. “In playoff baseball, momentum is such a big thing. It adds confidence to your team. It might be a two-out hit – those are beautiful things in the playoffs. It could be a pitcher getting out of a jam or an inning-ending defensive play. All of those are momentum builders.”

Robbins said how his powerful lineup fares against UMS pitchers will be pivotal as well.

“We’ve got to get on base,” he said. “Kevin does such a great job with his pitchers. We’ve got to be able to hit all pitches to all fields and execute when the time comes. That’s usually what it boils down to whenever we play each other.”

PLAYERS TO WATCH:

UMS-Wright: Pitchers – Andy Purvis (6-3, 1.67 ERA), Ty Waters (4-0, 0.43 ERA), Jack Blackerby (2-4, 3.16 ERA); Hitters – Waters (.407, 23 RBIs), Jeff Holston (.357, 20 RBIs), Manning Amorde (.356, 22 RBIs), Sam Davis (.360, 30 RBIs), John Ramsey (.333).

St. Paul’s: Pitching — Bradley Irish (9-0, 1.14 ERA), Tate Farrell (5-3, 2.63), Ross Delaney (3-2, 2.01), Taylor O’Dell (4-1, 1 save, 4.20); Hitters — John Stowers (.368, 10 HR, 40 RBIs), Edward McLeod (.370, 4 HR, 33 RBIs), Hudson Farnell (.333, 17 RBIs), Brooks McDonald (.333, 2 HR, 26 RBIs), Tate Johnston (.324, 12 RBIs, 35 runs scored).