Demopolis bows out of quarterfinals

5-6-2016 - Demopolis, Ala. - Jonathan Lewis checks the situation at the plate as he heads into third base in game two against Rehobeth.
5-6-2016 – Demopolis, Ala. – Jonathan Lewis checks the situation at the plate as he heads into third base in game two against Rehobeth.

Demopolis (18-10) saw its season come to an end Friday night with a third round Class 5A playoff sweep at the hands of Rehobeth. The Tigers lost game one 7-4 before falling 13-10 in the second contest.

“I thought we got a lot of mileage out of them. I really did. And I think that’s a direct result of leadership,” Demopolis coach James Moody said of the campaign his Tigers had in 2016. “They got a little taste of it late and went with it. We just ran out of bullets tonight. But the effort that we got out of our kids, no one can say anything about because we got max effort out of them with what they were capable of doing.”

5-6-2016 - Demopolis, Ala. - Chandler Barton starts off game two against Rehobeth.
5-6-2016 – Demopolis, Ala. – Chandler Barton starts off game two against Rehobeth.

The Tigers fell into an early 4-0 hole in game one before Hunter Colyar settled in and struck out 11 batters over seven innings to keep the game close.

Demopolis scored three runs without the benefit of a hit in the bottom of the sixth inning to cut the deficit to 4-3. Demetrius Davis, Chandler Barton and Wesley Holemon took advantage of three Rehobeth errors to score in the inning. The Rebels fired back with a three-run seventh to stretch the lead to 7-3.

R.J. Cox broke up the no-hit bid with two outs in the seventh when he singled in Davis to make it 7-4.

Demopolis jumped on Rehobeth early in game two, scoring four runs in the first inning. Jacob Rodrigues singled home Barton. Luke Yelverton then doubled in Rodrigues and Jonathon Lewis. Wesley Allgood scored on a wild pitch.

Rehobeth scored a run in the first and another in the second to make it 4-2 before Jamarcus Ezell got both of them back with a double in the third that plated Lewis and Andrew Patterson.

Rehobeth added another run in the fourth before unleashing for five runs in the fifth to take the 8-6 lead.

5-6-2016 - Demopolis, Ala. - Luke Yelverton goes opposite field for a hit in game two against Rehobeth.
5-6-2016 – Demopolis, Ala. – Luke Yelverton goes opposite field for a hit in game two against Rehobeth.

Demopolis wasted no time getting back in it in the sixth as Rodrigues singled home Colyar before Lewis drove in Charles Casper with a hit.

The Tigers were unable to make the lead stand up in the bottom of the sixth as Rehobeth scored five more times for the 13-8 lead. Colyar singled home Ezell and Barton in the seventh to make it 13-10. The Tigers managed to get the tying run to the plate but could not complete the rally.

“They bought in to every pitch, every inning, every game. If we can get that mindset here and get them to play game one like that and the last game like that, I think it puts them in a mode where they’re competing a lot harder,” Moody, whose team made it to the quarterfinals for the first time in 11 years, said. “I thought we did an excellent job, especially in the playoffs, of doing that.”

Demopolis ends its season at 18-10. Rehobeth (30-9) moves to the Class 5A semi-finals to face the winner of Faith Academy and Helena.

5-6-2016 - Demopolis, Ala. - Jamacus Ezell knocks a little dirt off the ball in game one against Rehobeth.
5-6-2016 – Demopolis, Ala. – Jamacus Ezell knocks a little dirt off the ball in game one against Rehobeth.

Friday’s double-header marked the end of the Demopolis High careers of seniors Jamarcus Ezell, Wesley Holemon, Jacob Rodrigues and Luke Yelverton.

“They’ve been a part of turning it around, of advancing it in the playoffs. They’re all good kids. They’re all very coachable kids. Some of them had career years this year, especially at the plate,” Moody said of the departing quartet. “The character that they showed all year and the leadership of leading our guys every single day, I think it showed up in the end.”

Moody also pointed to the important roles that the sophomores and juniors on his roster played during the 2016 season, a group whose experience is amplified significantly by having been to the state quarterfinals.

5-6-2016 - Demopolis, Ala. - Chandler Barton loads up to throw out a runner in game one against Rehobeth.
5-6-2016 – Demopolis, Ala. – Chandler Barton loads up to throw out a runner in game one against Rehobeth.

“I don’t think you can put a price on being at that stage and for them to see that. And some of that got us tonight. But, there again, the bar has been set and they know where they have to get to and what it takes to get there. That’s the biggest thing. And the thing that I’m probably, as much as anything, proud about with them is they are a team. They care about each other. They get along with each other. They love each other. They fuss at each other when they need to and, at the end of the day, that’s what matters. That’s what matters because the traits they’re learning doing those things are what they’re going to have to do in life to survive,” Moody said. “We talked to them as a coaching staff about it all the time. I still, to this day, when you wake up those days and everything is going wrong, what do you go back to? All I know to go back to is athletics. All I know to do is put my nose down and go to work. I think that those kids, those seniors especially, have that trait in them.”

5-6-2016 - Demopolis, Ala. - Jacob Rodrigues puts the ball in play in game one against Rehobeth.
5-6-2016 – Demopolis, Ala. – Jacob Rodrigues puts the ball in play in game one against Rehobeth.