Demopolis sweeps doubleheader against Greensboro
Demopolis tallied 24 runs over two games Saturday to sweep a doubleheader from Greensboro Saturday. The Tigers got four scintillating innings from Hunter Colyar to anchor an 11-1 victory in the opener.
Colyar struck out 10 batters over four perfect innings of work before leaving to limit his pitch count in view of Tuesday’s area matchup with Dallas County.
“He hadn’t thrown in a while and he needed to throw. He gets a little antsy when he hasn’t thrown when he is supposed to. He was scheduled to go Monday against Thomasville and couldn’t go,” Moody said of his senior starting pitcher who last pitched in a game Monday, March 23. “He’s got some work to do. To win the big games we need to win in the playoffs, we’re going to have to throw that breaking ball a little more often in the zone. He was good. He was down all day. Any time he is down in the zone with some sink, we’ve got a chance.”
The Raiders’ lone run came in the fifth when Reginald Wilson singled to break up the perfect game before scoring on a Tyler Wilson single.
The Tigers opened the scoring with five runs in the first inning. R.J. Cox walked with two out and gave way to courtesy runner Jake Malone. Charles Casper followed by singling in Malone to put the Tigers up 1-0. Jonathon Lewis singled and later scored when Wesley Allgood took a pitch off the top of the helmet with the bases loaded. Tyler Jones then singled in Casper and Ryan Morrison to move the lead to 4-0 before Allgood scored on a passed ball.
The Tigers added four runs in the third as Barton singled home Morrison before Allgood and DeDe Davis scored on an error. Colyar then ripped a single to plate Barton for the 9-0 advantage.
Demopolis stretched the lead to 11-0 in the fifth when Lewis reached on an error and scored on another. Morrison then singled in Casper for the final Demopolis run of the contest.
The Tigers found themselves in an early hole in game two before going on to win 13-3.
Jaleen Tinker doubled to open the game for Greensboro. Two batters later, Kevin Lomax legged out an infield hit to put runners on the corners. Wiggins followed with a single to center to plate Tinker. When the ball caromed under the glove of the Demopolis outfielder, Lomax and Wiggins scored to give the Raiders a 3-0 lead. With two outs and the bases loaded, the Tigers turned to reliever Andrew Patterson to wriggle off the hook.
“Early when he came in, he threw strikes and gave us a chance to get back in the ball game. That’s a pretty extended outing for him but he absolutely gave us a chance to get back in the game and have a chance to win,” Moody said of Patterson, who went on to throw four and a third scoreless innings while striking out eight batters and allowing only one hit to pick up the win.
Demopolis wasted little time taking the lead as Barton got the first of 14 Tiger hits in the game when he doubled to lead off the bottom of the first inning. He scored on a wild pitch to cut it to 3-1. Colyar and Jones later scored on a wild pitch to tie the game. Lewis drew a walk and scored on a Morrison single to put Demopolis up 4-3.
The Tigers scored three more runs in the second as Colyar walked before being driving in by a single off the bat of R.J. Cox. Casper then doubled to drive in both Jones and Lewis to move the lead to 7-3.
Davis singled in the third and stole second to get himself into scoring position for Barton’s RBI single. Barton later scored on a throwing error to set the lead at 9-3.
Casper stroked a one-out double in the fourth and later scored on a passed ball. Morrison reached on an error and found his way home on Hunter Thrash’s RBI single. The Tigers moved it to 12-3 in the fifth when Lewis singled and stole second ahead of Casper’s RBI single. Barton doubled with two out in the sixth and scored the final run of the game on a Colyar single.
“Obviously some adjustments were made but I think, too, they had played a game. They had seen pitching. Different groups, it takes them a while and this seems to be one of those groups. Maybe that’s something we have to work on as coaches to get them ready earlier,” Moody said of the difference in his team’s six-hit performance in game one and it’s 14-hit outburst in game two. “We can throw BP to them from 30-40 feet all day, but it’s not the same as seeing a live arm. That’s probably a little of it.”
Demopolis (12-5) is set to travel to Dallas County for a doubleheader Tuesday to play for the Class 5A, Area 7 championship.
“We talk about it all the time. Anything can happen on any day. We’ve got to be ready to play,” Moody said. “We’ve got prom tonight and they’re going to go out and have themselves a good time, so Monday is going to be getting their minds back to where we need to.”