Spanish Fort veteran coach Tommy Walker knows there will be a lot of emotion surrounding his team’s second-round Class 6A playoff series at rival Saraland this weekend.

He wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I know we are playing a team who is red and black just like we are, but we are going to do our best to play the game and keep everything between the lines,” he said. “Is there going to be emotion? Sure. There is emotion in every playoff series. Everything is heightened in the playoffs.

“That is why it is so fun. A Tuesday game against a faceless opponent is kind of boring. A weekend series against a quality team? Now, that’s fun.”

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The fifth-ranked Spartans (26-8) will host No. 7 Spanish Fort (24-10) in the best-of-3 series beginning with a 5 p.m. doubleheader Friday. The “if” game would be at 1 p.m. Saturday.

The two teams played a tense, three-game series in the Class 6A quarterfinals at Spanish Fort a year ago. The Toros won Game 3 12-11 in eight innings to move on to the semifinals. They did not play in the regular season this year.

“There wasn’t a lot of jawing back and forth between the teams,” Saraland head coach Brett Boutwell said of last year’s series. “We were both trying to force another inning. Two of the games went extra innings. Hopefully, both teams can go out and play the game this year.

“The sportsmanship will be there on the part of both teams. We know it will be a battle. They know that, too. That’s exactly what it should be as you get deeper and deeper into the playoffs.”

Walker took over a new Spanish Fort program in 2005 and built the Toros into a statewide power, leading the team to three straight Class 5A state titles. However, he wasn’t the Toros’ coach a year ago. He returned to the Hill in July after J.D. Pruitt left to take the head baseball job at Coastal Alabama.

“When I was here the first time, St. Paul’s and Faith Academy were the big rivals,” he said. “Those were the teams we had to go through just about every year to get to where we wanted to go. But I feel it (the rivalry with Saraland). I know it’s there in just about every sport. I just have not experienced it yet. I did see the third game last year. It was back-and-forth the whole time, and I sense this series will be the same thing.”

Spanish Fort swept Calera 4-2, 7-3 in the first round of the playoffs a week ago to advance.

“We didn’t play great against Calera, but we played good enough to win,” he said. “We’ll have to play better to beat Saraland. I’m happy overall with how we’ve been playing. We’ve progressed well especially on the mound.”

Walker said the team lost most of its pitching experience from a year ago with the exception of John Henry Winstead. However, he said he has eight pitchers who have pitched between 18 and 35 innings each.

“We have a lot of guys we feel good about throwing out there as starters or in relief,” he said. “It’s probably the deepest staff we’ve had at Spanish Fort. In the past when we won, we relied on 3-4 guys. We don’t have a Division 1 guy like we did back in the day, but we have a bunch of guys we feel good about.”

Walker described the rest of his team as “solid.” Ethan Kick, Caleb Chesser, Newton Gardner, Grant Howard and Jack Holley have all played key roles for the Toros.

“I don’t know if we have an overall strength,” he said. “We’ve been very good offensively at times. We’ve also been average offensively at times. I think we are just solid all around. We’re solid on defense, really good in the outfield. Nothing stands out as a huge strength or weakness. We’ve played pretty well in all phases.”

Saraland went on the road in the first round to advance, beating Northridge in a tight, three-game series. The Spartans won Game 3 5-1 in eight innings on Saturday behind a strong pitching performance by Cam Laffitte.

“Northridge was a good team,” Boutwell said. “They made all the routine plays. There weren’t a lot of freebies on either side during that series. Fortunately, we got the big hits when we needed to in that last inning.”

Santae McWilliams has been an offensive catalyst for the Spartans. He is hitting .378 with 32 stolen bases. Mike Smith is hitting .326 with 20 stolen bases. Brooks Womble has 23 stolen bases and three homers.

“We’ve got to contain their speed,” Walker said. “They really run well. They put a lot of pressure on your defense. You have to be able to eliminate them from taking extra bases and getting extra at-bats. We’ve won a lot of games before with pitching and defense. That is how you win playoff baseball. It’s not that often you beat someone 13-12 in the playoffs.”

Saraland is also solid on the mound despite losing star pitcher Bryson Goff a year ago. Laffitte is 4-0 with a 1.34 ERA. Evan Hilliard is 7-2 with a 2.70 ERA and Cam Warren is 3-2 with a 2.04 ERA. Cooper Henson and Daniel Osborne both have ERAs under 2.00. Boutwell said his team will be ready to go Friday.

“I see a lot of the same guys over there for them,” he said. “Those were three battles last year. Our kids know the series could have gone the other way. Tommy did a great job building that program. He’s a really good coach. We know we are going to have our hands full, but our kids won’t back down from the test of it.”

CLASS 6A

Second-round matchups

SOUTH

Hueytown (22-16) at Baldwin County (24-9), Fri., Apr, 26, 5 & 7:30 p.m. (Game 3, Sat., Apr. 27, noon, if needed)

Pike Road 24-9) at Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa (24-10), Fri., Apr. 26, 4:30 & 7 p.m. (Game 3, Sat., Apr. 27, 1 p.m., if needed)

Spanish Fort (23-10) at Saraland (26-8), Fri. Apr, 26, 5 & 7:30 p.m. (Game 3, Sat., Apr. 27, 21 p.m., if needed)

Wetumpka (22-13) at Benjamin Russell (17-10), Charles Bailey Sportsplex, Fri., Apr. 26, 4:30 & 7 p.m. (Game 3, Sat., Apr. 27, 5 p.m., if needed)

NORTH

Oxford (27-9) at Buckhorn (20-12), Fri., Apr. 26, 5 & 7:30 p.m. (Game 3, Sat., Apr. 27, 1 p.m., if needed)

Mountain Brook (27-6) at Mortimer Jordan (20-15), Fri., Apr. 26, 4:30 & 7 p.m. (Game 3, Sat., Apr. 27, 1 p.m., if needed)

Hartselle (26-7) at Pell City (18-10), Fri., Apr. 26, 5 & 7 p.m. (Game 3, Sat., Apr. 27, 2 p.m., if needed)

Gardendale (25-8) at Athens (23-11), Fri., Apr. 26, 4:30 & 7 p.m. (Game 3, Sat., Apr. 27, 1 p.m., if needed)