Colyar outing halts Demopolis skid
Hunter Colyar did everything he possibly could Thursday to help Demopolis snap its five-game losing skid and open Class 5A, Area 7 play with a much-needed 10-0 win over Dallas County.
The Tiger senior was brilliant on the mound, carrying a no-hitter into the sixth before Dallas County got a single to break up the bid. Colyar struck out eight batters over six innings of work, using only 64 pitches to record the shutout. Colyar also helped his team’s cause at the plate, going 4-for-4 with four RBIs.
“He was great again and he was great at the plate. I think he had four hits at the plate, knocked in four runs, something like that. I can’t ask for much more out of him than that. He was really good, really good,” Demopolis coach James Moody said of Colyar’s night. “It has been 19 days since we won a baseball game. I don’t know if I’ve ever said that before. We’ve got to take the positive with it. We play some teams coming up that are good baseball teams. Some folks say, ‘Hey, why’d you throw your one?’ Our job is to win our area games, make it to the state playoffs and try to get hot then. That is what our focus is, every year, to win the area. We’ll worry about the next game, the next game.”
Chandler Barton singled to open the bottom of the first inning before stealing second base. Colyar followed with a single to plate the Tiger shortstop for a 1-0 lead. Jonathon Lewis later singled in Henry Overmyer, who served as the courtesy runner for Colyar, for the 2-0 lead.
Wesley Allgood reached on a dropped third strike in the second inning. Two batters later, DeDe Davis drew a walk with two away in the frame. Barton followed with a double to score Allgood and push the lead to 3-0. Colyar then singled in Davis and Barton to make it 5-0.
The lead remained there until Andrew Patterson hit a leadoff double in the sixth to start a five-run rally that ended the game. Patterson moved to third on a passed ball before scoring on another to make it 6-0. Davis walked, stole second and scored on a Colyar single to push it to 7-0. Lewis later doubled in Barton and Overmyer to stretch the lead to 9-0. Ryan Morrison hit a sacrifice fly to left to plate Hudson Holley to end the game.
The contest had originally been scheduled for Tuesday before being moved twice due to weather.
“With the weather and all this week, some groups handle that better than others. I don’t know that we do. We’ve still got a long way to go mentally, as well as physically,” Moody said. “We’re still scrambling to try to figure the game out, to be honest with you. There were some things today that have got to be worked one, situational stuff; knowing what to do and how to act.”
Barton finished 2-for-2 with a double, one RBI, two stolen bases and three runs scored. Overmyer stole a base and scored two runs. R.J. Cox went 2-for-4. Holley scored a run. Lewis went 2-for-3 with a double and three RBIs. Morrison drove in a run. Allgood scored a run. Patterson was 1-for-3 with a double and a run scored. Davis stole a base and scored two runs.
Demopolis (4-5, 1-0) is set to travel to face Class 1A No. 1 ranked Sweet Water Friday.
“We’ve got to play better. We have to be a lot more focused at the plate. I think we weren’t as focused on some base running stuff tonight,” Moody said. “It’s a maturation process. We’ve just got to continue to get better at something, individually, each time we go out and play and each time we practice. If we can do that, we’re going to be as good as we can be. It’s like I told them, I want them to play like their heads are on fire. And we’re not doing that right now.”