The showdown between the top two teams in Class 6A in the quarterfinals of the AHSAA playoffs turned out to be a sweep by No. 1 as Oxford eliminated No. 2 Hartselle 4-1 and 5-3 behind a pair of strong performances by two senior left-handers on the mound.

The Yellow Jackets completed the sweep of the defending state champions at Reuben Sims Field in Hartselle’s Sparkman Park behind Hayden Gallahar. Hayes Harrison notched the win for Oxford in the opener.

“We kind of wanted to go with him as a starter since our first left-handed pitcher did so well,” Oxford coach Wes Brooks said. “They got a bunch of left-handed hitters in the lineup and it’s just awkward when a lefty faces a lefty.

“What a great night for Oxford Yellow Jackets and our fans,” he said. “Our fans travel well. And it was clean. No trash talk. You want to be a part of that.”

Gallahar (3-0) had six strikeouts and allowed three runs – two earned – on six hits with one walk in six innings.

“Left-handed pitchers were the answer,” Brooks said.

Carter Johnson, a righty, pitched the seventh for his third save.

Second baseman Peyton Watts, who is a Troy University signee, went 2-for-3 with a home run and a double with two runs scored as Oxford improved to 35-6 on the year. He was 2-for-3 in the opener with an RBI.

“I think when we come out here and play our game it says a lot about who we are,” Watts said. “When we don’t play our game, you can tell that we struggle. Just the more that we continue to be us we’re going to continue to have success.”

Hartselle left-hander Jack Smith, an Arkansas signee, had 14 strikeouts in six innings but took the loss for the 30-9 Tigers. He finished at 8-2 on the year after a perfect game in the first round of the playoffs and a no-hitter in the second.

Eli Tidwell hit a leadoff homer for Hartselle.

“They made the plays, and we didn’t,” Hartselle coach William Booth said.

Harrison improved to 10-0 on the year with the Game 1 victory. The Northwest Shoals Community College signed struck out four, walked one and allowed one earned run on five hits in his complete-game effort.

“It was just a whole lot of trust in my coaches and also trust in my teammates,” Harrison said after throwing 87 pitches that he estimated were 50 percent curveballs. “It was a fun game. It was a battle of a Game 1. I feel like I felt confident in my pitches and mostly my curveball.”

Sam Robertson, Forrest Heacock and Drew McCormick hit solo homers for the Yellow Jackets in the opener. Hartselle starter Jace Meadows took the loss for the Tigers.

The Yellow Jackets play the survivor of the Gardendale-Cullman series in next week’s semifinals. Gardendale (25-12) beat the Bearcats 6-2 in the opener on Thursday with Cullman (22-20) bouncing back for a 3-0 win in the nightcap. The two teams will decide the series on Friday at 6 p.m.