Demopolis takes two from Selma
Demopolis (15-5) wrapped up its regular season home slate Thursday night with a doubleheader sweep of Selma. The Tigers hung eight runs on the board in the second inning and five in the fifth for a 13-0 victory in game one.
Ryan Morrison reached on an error to jumpstart the eight-run second inning. Walks to Hunter Thrash and Wesley Allgood loaded the bases. A hard hit grounder off the bat of Tyler Jones resulted in another Selma error and allowed Morrison and Thrash to score for the 2-0 Tiger lead. After a DeDe Davis walk loaded the bases again, Chandler Barton took a beanball to plate Allgood for the 3-0 lead. Two batters later, R.J. Cox drew a bases-loaded walk to plate Jones.
Jonathan Lewis followed with a single to left to drive in Davis and Barton. The lead stretched to 7-0 when Morrison singled to right to plate Henry Overmyer. Thrash then singled in Jake Malone for the 8-0 lead.
Demopolis added to the lead in the bottom of the fourth as Morrison and Thrash walked to open the inning. Allgood singled home pinch runner Charles Casper to make it 9-0. After a Jones walk, Davis singled in Thrash to make it 10-0. Allgood scored on an error to push the advantage to 11-0. Barton capped the scoring with a single that drove in Jones and Davis.
“I thought we were good at the plate both ball games. We went through a little lull in the second game,” Demopolis coach James Moody said. “We’ve still got a lot to work on. We’re going to try to spend the next couple of days doing that. Then we travel to them Monday. We’ll spend next Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday before the playoffs trying to get some things ironed out on our swings.”
Cox picked up the win as he struck out four over four innings of work while scattering three hits and walking one batter. Andrew Patterson struck out three in the fifth to close the game.
Demopolis used three pitchers to earned a 13-1 victory in the nightcap. Andrew Fuqua struck out five batters over two innings while scattering three hits and allowing one earned run for his first varsity win. Patterson followed in relief, striking out five over two innings. Thrash closed it by striking out the side in his lone inning of work.
“Just trying to get some of them some work because, when it comes playoff guys, you never know when you’re going to have to have some of those guys,” Moody said. “I want them to have had some of that experience on the varsity level.”
Barton drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the first to ignite a seven-run inning. After Barton stole second, Hunter Colyar singled him in for a 1-0 lead. After a Lewis hit-by-pitch and a Morrison single loaded the bases, Patterson drew a walk to move the lead to 2-0. Overmyer followed with a hit-by-pitch to set the advantage at 3-0. Jake Malone then singled to plate Morrison and Patterson for the 5-0 lead. Davis followed with a single to score Overmyer. Barton then scored Malone on a hard grounder to short.
“We honored our seniors in the first game and was able to get some of those guys out in the second game and get some of those younger guys in and get them some reps that are very valuable for them,” Moody said.
Selma picked up a run in the top of the second to cut it to 7-1. Cox opened the Tiger half of the second with a hit-by-pitch before giving way to courtesy runner Hudson Holley. Patterson later singled Holley home for the 8-1 lead.
The Tigers later rallied with two outs in the bottom of the fourth. Patterson, Overmyer and Malone each drew walked to load the bases. Casper then drew a bases-loaded walk to stretch the lead to 9-1. Barton then singled in Overmyer for the 10-1 advantage. Colyar followed with a single to drive in Malone and Casper for the 12-1 lead. Barton later scored on an error for the final run of the game.
The win set the Demopolis win streak at 12 consecutive games.
“We’ve won some ugly games. We’ve won some good games. We just happen to be doing some things right and ending up on the good side of the score,” Moody said.