Ardmore pitcher Seth Underwood pitches to Curry's McKinlee Gillespie in the third inning of the Tigers' 3-0 victory Monday in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs. Underwood allowed five hits, no runs and fanned 11 batters.

The sound of Seth Underwood’s final pitch hitting the catcher’s mitt sent Ardmore’s bench rushing onto the field in celebration Monday afternoon.

Underwood had just struck out Curry’s Scotty Lynn to put the finishing touches on a 3-0 shutout victory in the second game of a first-round playoff series. Ardmore went on to beat Curry 12-2 in the third game of the series later Monday to advance to the second round.

After being delayed twice over the weekend, it was the final playoff series in the AHSAA state baseball playoffs. Curry beat Ardmore in the first game Friday 8-4, but the teams could not play the second game because of severe weather. On Saturday, the series was again moved because of severe weather.

By 9 p.m. Monday night, more than 72 hours after the teams finished the first game of the series, Ardmore emerged victorious.

“It rained to start the game (Friday). After we ended game one, it started raining again. And then rained all day Saturday morning and then hit us again late that day,” Ardmore head coach Andrew Smith said. “It didn’t affect how we approached the game though. Our (pitchers) were already set.”

It was fitting that Underwood struck out Lynn to finish the second game in the series. For four scoreless innings, Underwood dueled with Lynn on the mound, until Ardmore finally broke through with runs in the top of the sixth and seventh innings.

Prior to those late insurance runs, there was little to separate the teams. Superior pitching and defense dominated the game. Underwood got the win. He allowed five hits, no runs and recorded 11 strikeouts.

“We’ve struggled against lefties like (Lynn), but with Seth pitching for us, we didn’t expect them to score much” said Smith. “He’s been pretty good for us all year. All his losses have come against good teams.”

Ardmore led most of the game, but only by the slimmest of margins. An error by Curry in the top of the second allowed Blake Wallace to score and give the Tigers a 1-0 lead. In the sixth inning, Wallace hit a ground ball, which the second baseman failed to gather, allowing Jason Hogan to score.

Leading 3-0 entering the bottom of the seventh, Curry started the inning with consecutive hits, but Patrick Music ended the visitors’ rally with a diving play near second base to get the first out.

“That was a big play. I thought it was a base hit,” said Smith. “He made a great play. You’ve got to have plays like that to win in the playoffs.”

In the second game, the Tigers belted out 16 hits in a 12-2 win in seven innings. Ardmore secured the victory thanks to seven runs in the fifth. The Tigers’ big inning was driven by an error, singles by Nicholas Embrey and Music, and a triple by Hogan.

“I think we had momentum going into it. We had good at-bats, that was the difference,” said Smith. “Our approach was much better against (the pitcher) Monday than it was in the first game. We were hitting the ball up the middle.”

Hogan earned the win. He pitched seven innings, allowing two runs on three hits while striking out 10 Curry batters.

Ardmore scored two runs in the first and second innings to take an early 4-1 lead. Wallace started the scoring with an RBI-single and Jacob Reed doubled to drive home another run in the opening inning. Underwood’s single drove in two runs in the second inning.

Ardmore will travel to Boaz in the second round with a doubleheader beginning at 4:30 p.m. Friday.