Fisher Roberts was injured early in the season for Northside and has just recently started to ease back into the baseball lineup for coach Justin Thompson.

“He said he felt good coming into this week, so we thought it would be a good idea to give him a shot,” Thompson said Saturday afternoon.

It was definitely a good idea.

Roberts had three hits, including a dramatic, two-out, two-run single that lifted the underdog Rams to a 7-6 upset of No. 2 ranked Bayside Academy in Game 3 of their Class 4A first-round playoff series.

“We’ve got a bunch of young guys that have a lot of fight,” Thompson said. “They are young. This is a group that doesn’t really know any better. They fought all season. They’ve battled.”

The Rams (15-13) move on to face Trinity in the second round next week. Bayside finished 20-8. The Admirals led Game 2 on Friday 3-0 before giving up nine runs in the bottom of the sixth to lose 9-4. They led Game 3 6-4 heading into the top of the seventh Saturday.

Brody Abernathy’s RBI single off Cole Dean cut the Bayside lead to 6-5 and set up Roberts’ dramatic at-bat. Griffin Roberts and Abernathy advanced to second and third respectively on a pitch in the dirt with Roberts just beating the throw to third. With a 1-2 count, Fisher Roberts grounded a single up the middle to score both runners.

“We’ve played some really good teams to get them prepared to do something like this,” Thompson said. “They have a lot of grit about them, and that is what I like about this bunch. They are young. They are gritty. They fight. That’s all I ask of them.”

Rowdy McBride set Bayside down in order in the bottom of the seventh to seal the win. He went the distance, scattering seven hits and allowing six runs. Dean went the distance for Bayside, allowing 10 hits and five earned runs.

“I thought Cole battled his butt off today, pitched well enough to win,” Bayside coach Matt Limbaugh said. “Credit Northside. That’s why baseball is so great. Anybody at any given time can win. They battled their butts off, and they deserved it and I wish them the best in the rest of the playoffs.”

Noah Cain, Dean, Teague Broadhead, Tait Moore, David Lilley and Miller Stokes all drove in runs for the Admirals. Abernathy and Fisher Roberts were each 3-for-4 for Northside. Bennett Green added two hits.

SATURDAY’S STATEWIDE SCORES

CLASS 6A

Mountain Brook 9, Muscle Shoals 6, Mountain Brook (27-6) advances

Saraland 5, Northridge 1, 8 innings, Northridge (26-8) advances

CLASS 5A

Leeds 10, Boaz 1, Leeds (19-17) advances

Southside-Gadsden 5, Arab 2, Southside-Gadsden (20-16) advances

Tallassee 3, Marbury 2, Tallassee (17-8) advances

Lawrence Co. (16-16) at John Carroll (19-13), (DH, if necessary)

CLASS 4A

American Christian 7, Orange Beach 0, American Chr. (21-16) advances

Ashville 15, West Limestone 5, Ashville (19-13-1) advance

Northside 7, Bayside Academy 6, Northside (15-13) advances

CLASS 3A

Fayette County 8, Decatur Heritage 3, Fayette County (22-11) advances

Houston Academy (12-12) at Oakman (17-8), 11 a.m.

CLASS 2A

Washington County 10, Luverne 9, Washington County (15-18) advances

CLASS 1A

Belgreen 7, Victory Chr. 4, Belgreen (14-12) advances

Coosa Christian 5, Hubbertville 4, 8 innings, Coosa Chr. (15-20) advances

Millry 5, Maplesville 1, Millry (26-5) advances

Billingsley (14-9) at Leroy (20-12), noon