John Henry Winstead struck out nine and drove in the go-ahead run as No. 7 Spanish Fort downed Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa 4-2 to force a third and decisive game for the final spot in next week’s Class 6A championship series.

The two teams will play Game 3 of their best-of-3 series at 1 p.m. Saturday. Hillcrest won Friday’s first game 6-0. The winner plays No. 1 Hartselle next week.

“He’s the ultimate competitor,” Spanish Fort coach Tommy Walker said of Winstead. “He is such a bulldog. He threw 120 pitches and struck two of the last three batters out.”

With the game tied 2-2 in the bottom of the fourth inning, Winstead slapped a single up the middle to put the Toros ahead for good at 3-2. Newton Gardner added a solo homer in the sixth inning.

“This is what high school baseball is about,” Walker said. “Our kids fight, and their kids are going to fight. It is going to be a fun day tomorrow.”

The Patriots jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the inning when third baseman Noah Latham singled to center, scoring Kahden Smith and Caleb Kelly.

Gardner, who was 2-for-3 in the nightcap, led off the bottom second inning with a double and scored on a ground out. Jack Holley tripled to start the fourth and scored on Ethan Kick’s double. Kick, who was tagged with the loss in game one, slapped a pair of doubles in the second game.

Evan Williams fired a two-hit shutout in Game 1 and left-fielder Rhett Turnipseed was 2-for-3 with three RBIs to lead Hillcrest, snapping Spanish Fort’s 14 game-winning streak.

After Brooks Tunnell opened the bottom of the third with a double off the left-field fence and Owen Drayfus was hit by a pitch, Turnipseed hit a deep shot to center field. The Toro centerfielder got his feet tangled up trying to track the ball down, allowing the ball to fall in and bounce to the field. Turnipseed’s triple plated Tunnell and Dreyfus with the game’s first runs.

In the bottom of the third inning, Jameson Farley blasted a 1-0 offering over the fence in the left for a solo home run. Farley was 1-for-2 with a pair of runs scored the game.

The Patriots, who finished with eight hits, added a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth as Jackson Henderson slapped a two-run double to the fence in right, driving in Kahden Smith and Caleb Kelly.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, Turnipseed stroked a single up the middle, plating Gunnar Hobson with the game’s final run.

Williams, who struck out four Toros, kept Spanish Fort off guard. In fact, no Toro runner reached third base.