Hornets fall to Demopolis in weekend series
Published 7:37 pm Saturday, March 21, 2015
Dallas County’s Paul Daniels throws a pitch during Saturday’s second game against Demopolis. The Hornets were swept in their three game series against the Tigers over the weekend.–Daniel Evans
PLANTERSVILLE – Demopolis put the finishing touches on a weekend sweep of Dallas County Saturday with dominating 11-2 and 8-1 wins. After beating the Hornets 10-1 Friday, Demopolis shut down the Hornets’ offense again Saturday in methodical victories that were key in class 5A, area 6.
Dallas County struck out 16 times in Saturday’s opener and didn’t fare much better in the final game of the series.
“Confidence is key,” said Dallas County baseball coach Cody Massey. “We aren’t to their level yet, but we aren’t as far behind as we think we are. To be honest, until we get the mindset where we come out the first pitch and believe we are going to beat them, we are not going to get over that hump.”
Dallas County managed only four hits in the second game and two of those came in the first inning.
The Tigers gave Hornets’ starting pitcher Paul Daniels little time to get comfortable. Jonathan Lewis doubled to begin the game and he scored minutes later on a single by Hunter Colyar to make it 1-0 Tigers.
Daniels was pulled for Hunter Skinner, but he later re-entered the game in the fourth inning.
Demopolis tacked on one more run and led 2-0 after the first inning.
The Hornets cut the score to 2-1 in the bottom of the inning on a single by Bruce Talbot, which scored David Robertson.
The Tigers added one run apiece in the second, third and fourth innings to take a 5-1 advantage.
Meanwhile, Lewis kept getting out of jams. In the bottom of the third, Dallas County had the bases loaded, but Lewis managed to force Gabe Denson to groundout to end the inning.
After adding another run in the sixth, Demopolis added two in the top of the seventh to put the closing touches on a big win.
The sweep all but ends any hope Dallas County had of winning class 5A, area 6. Now the Hornets will set their sights on securing second place and making a run in the postseason.
“It comes down now to us and Wilcox,” Massey said. “We have Wilcox in two weeks and if we take care of Wilcox we make the playoffs but we don’t get to host, which was one of our goals. Still making the playoffs is something we haven’t done in a couple of years, so that would be big for us.”
The Hornets will not play again until the Monday following Spring break, which is next week for Dallas County Schools.
