Demopolis walks off with playoff win after five-run seventh fells Marbury

A lackluster six innings of offense from Demopolis Saturday afternoon belied the frenetic finish the saw the Tigers score five runs in the bottom of the seventh to beat Marbury 6-5.

Sophomore Payton Geary stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and one out after the Bulldogs issued intentional walks to Hudson Holley and Henry Overmyer to load the bases and set up a force play. Geary turned on the first pitch he saw and laced it up the middle for a walk-off single that plated Charles Casper and put the Tigers into the second round of the Class 5A state playoffs.

“What an unbelievable job by a sophomore that has struggled recently,” Demopolis coach James Moody said. “All I told him is, ‘Don’t try to do too much. Hit a ball hard on the ground and let’s live with it.’ That’s a big moment for him and a big moment for our team.”

The Tigers came to their final turn at-bat trailing 5-1 with the eighth place hitter due up. Moody called upon Hunter Thrash to pinch hit and the sophomore responded with a single to right. Two batters later, DeDe Davis hit a single of his own before Andrew Patterson rolled one through the right side to load the bases with one out. Davis Petrey stepped up and wasted little time dropping in a base hit to score pinch runner Jim Lawler and narrow the gap to 5-2.

Casper looked to end the game in dramatic fashion when he jumped on a pitch and deposited it against the left field fence, narrowly missing what would have been a walk-off grand slam. Instead, the extra-base hit drove in Davis, Patterson and Petrey to tie the game while Casper alertly advanced to third on the throw.

“I said something to him about staying back and getting a pitch. He has that ability and I felt like, if he got something up, he might could,” Moody said. “He was just a little out front I think. There again, it was a big hit in a big situation.”

As Petrey rounded third at full speed Moody threw up a stop signal, but the Tiger junior never checked up, sliding into home as the throw failed to connect with the Bulldog backstop.

“He did blow through [a stop sign]. It worked out. It put a little pressure on the defense and I might’ve been being a little conservative,” Moody said. “It was good on his part because the throw wasn’t what it needed to be.”

Demopolis had previously tied the game in the bottom of the first when Casper singled in Davis. The Tigers, however, would manage only two more hits over the next five innings of play as Marbury took advantage of four errors to help build a 5-1 lead.

Andrew Fuqua worked four and two-thirds strong innings for Demopolis, allowing five hits and two earned runs while striking out five batters.

“Competing. He competes. He had three pitches today he could throw around the plate. He has been working hard on the changeup and it was really good today. It made a difference for him,” Moody said of Fuqua, who exited with his team down 3-1 and the bases loaded. Petrey came on to induce a flyball and get out of the inning. He gave up one hit over the next two frames and picked up the win.

Demopolis (18-7) travels to Sylacauga (23-5) for a second round series Friday when it’ll look to carry forward the momentum it built during Saturday’s seventh inning.

“It’s the one thing you can’t coach. It’s confidence. It’s such a great life lesson for them that, regardless of what things seem like, you just keep fighting and you keep clawing and scratching,” Moody said. “You keep going to work and you keep doing the things you’ve got to do and sometimes good things happen to us.”