Demopolis rally finishes just short in playoff loss to Sylacauga

Demopolis made resilience an art form throughout the 2018 season and mastered that virtue until the final brushstroke of the season finished just short Saturday. The Tigers used a late charge to all but erase a six-run deficit before falling to Sylacauga 8-7 in the deciding game of the Class 5A second round playoff series.

Davis Petrey was the first of seven batters to step to the plate in the Demopolis half of the seventh as the Tigers attempted to do away with an 8-6 hole. A Hunter Thrash walk left the Tigers with two on and two out in the inning. Henry Overmyer then drew a five-pitch walk to load the bases. Payton Geary was hit by a pitch to plate Petrey and narrow it to 8-7. A grounder to first appeared to have a chance to score the tying run but the last batter of the Demopolis season was retired by a step to put the Aggies in the quarterfinal round.

The Aggies used a hit-by-pitch, error, single and a sacrifice fly to get on the board in the bottom of the second. Four hits and another hit-by-pitch in the bottom of the third allowed the Aggies to balloon that lead up to 5-0 over Demopolis.

The Tigers finally got off the deck in the fourth inning when Andrew Patterson stroked a leadoff double ahead of Petrey’s double to cut it to 5-1. Hudson Holley later singled and got thrown out trying to take second base, allowing Petrey to score on the throw.

Sylacauga added a run in the fourth and two more in the fifth to push the lead to 8-2. With six outs left in its season, Demopolis got the bats to work.

Petrey opened the sixth with a leadoff single before Charles Casper hit his second homer of the series to cut it to 8-4. Thrash, Overmyer and Geary all singled to load the bases before the speed of courtesy runner Wesley Allgood proved able to capitalize on Tyler Jones’s fly ball to right. DeDe Davis followed with a single to drive in Overmyer, cutting it to 8-6.

Demopolis finishes its season at 19-9.