Andalusia’s 12-and-under girls softball team didn’t let a 3-0 deficit dictate the outcome of its game against Hamilton tonight at the ARPA state tournament in Gadsden.

Andalusia scored three runs in the top of the fourth inning to edge Hamilton 6-5 in the first round of the winner’s bracket.

“We were just happy to pull one out,” Andalusia coach Anthony Mikel said. “I was just proud of the effort. The girls got down early, but they fought back and persevered and showed that they were a team.

“They worked hard together,” he said.

Hamilton scored one run each in the bottom of the third and fourth to make it 6-5.

In the end, Mikel said the girls played good defense as well as offense.

“We ran the bases real well,” he said. “The girls came together as a team.”

Andalusia advances to play Piedmont at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow in the winner’s bracket quarterfinals.