After waiting since Tuesday to finish their game, the Selma and Demopolis 13-year-old Dixie Boys finally were able to dodge the raindrops in the District 4 Tournament, Thursday at the Selma Softball and Baseball Complex.

Unfortunately for Demopolis, it was unable to dodge the strikes thrown by Selma pitcher Darius Thigpen in its 4-0 loss to Selma.

Selma clinched the tournament title with a 10-6 victory over North Clark in the late game.

The victories send Selma to the state tournament beginning next Friday in Troy.

“I was really concerned with how we would play in the late game,” Selma head coach Bruce Fuller said. “We hadn’t played back-to-back games this season. We lost our focus Wednesday night, but I got their attention today. I’m proud of every one of them.

“It’s a big relief to win one for the city of Selma,” Fuller added. “It’s important to win in our backyard. Our bats came alive for a couple of innings and we had some good pitching.”

Thigpen had pitched through the first inning Tuesday and into the third inning Wednesday before the game was halted by rain on both days. But Thigpen came out Thursday just as sharp as he was on the first two days. He finished with a complete-game two-hitter with four strikeouts.

Selma broke a scoreless tie in the third inning. With one out, Edward Lanier singled and went to third on a double by Heath Harrelson. Thomas Austin followed with a two-run double to the centerfield wall. Austin then moved to third base on a passed ball and scored on an infield groundout by Jonathan Hurt for a 3-0 Selma lead.

Hurt scored again when he singled with two out in the fifth inning, stole second and came home on a single by Braxton Fuller.

In the late game, Selma relied on some timely hitting early on and held on for the victory over North Clark.

Selma opened the scoring in the first inning when Lanier and Harrelson singled. Lanier scored on an error and Harrelson came home on an RBI single from Austin.

The score went to 5-0 in the second inning, capped by a two-run single from Austin and an RBI single from Lanier.

North Clark got on the board in the third when Shaq Jackson reached on an error and scored on a wild pitch. But a run-scoring single from Jay Gilmer plated Thigpen and stretched the Selma lead to 6-1.

Demario Ross walked and scored on a passed ball in the fourth inning and Lanier chipped in with a run-scoring single in the fifth to make it 8-1. Thigpen added a two-run double in the sixth to cap the Selma scoring.