Tigers strike early in win over Thomasville

THOMASVILLE — Demopolis (20-5) secured a 5-3 victory over its biggest rival Tuesday while using seven pitchers over seven innings.

Matt Eicher and Brock Montgomery opened the game with back-to-back walks before Mason Rogers singled to load the bases for the Tigers. Wesley Anderson drove Eicher home on a groundball to give DHS the early 1-0 lead.

Devin Stroud followed with a walk of his own to score Montgomery before Tyler Oates hit a RBI grounder to score Rogers and stake the Tiger pitching staff to a 3-0 lead.

Demopolis added to its lead in the second inning as Josh Mangum ignited a rally with a leadoff single. A Rogers walk gave the Tigers runners on the corners with two outs before an Anderson single plated Mangum to push the lead to 4-1. Stroud followed with a RBI double to score Rogers and up the DHS lead to 5-1.

The Tiger bats then went cold, managing just one hit over the next five innings. That knock came in the form of an Eicher double in the fourth.

Stephen Stewart (2-0) ultimately picked up the win for the Tigers after working a perfect fifth inning and striking out one batter.

Rogers would twice pitch the Tigers out of a jam to pick up his fifth save of the season. Rogers took to the hill with two outs and the bases loaded in the sixth, nullifying the Thomasville threat with a strikeout.

The seventh inning saw a single, an error and a passed ball put Thomasville runners on second and third with only one out before Rogers fanned the No. 2 and No. 3 hitters in the THS lineup to end game.

Eicher, Oates, Stroud, Anderson and Walker Davis also pitched in on the mound for the Tigers in the win. Demopolis is scheduled to play a double-header Friday night at Selma.

The Tigers’ weekend double-header with Cordova is cancelled due to scheduling conflicts with Cordova brought about by inclement weather.