The Demopolis 12-year-old all star Cal Ripken League team completed a perfect week of baseball by defeating the Linden team, 4-3, in the seventh inning of the final game of the tournament for the age group.

Linden got the game&8217;s first runs of the game in the top of the first inning on a Jacob Gunter walk, followed by a homerun from Mason Rogers.

Demopolis answered in bottom of the second with back-to-back doubles from Rob Boutwell and Devin Burrell. Burrell moved to third when he tagged up on a fly ball to center by T.J. Reese. He scored on and infield fielder&8217;s choice hit by Cameron Wells to make it 2-2.

Linden picked up its third run in the top of the third when Andrew Norris was driven in on a base hit by Devin Stroud.

Demopolis once again evened the score in the bottom of the third when Tucker Jones hit a deep homerun over the centerfield fence. Neither team could push another run across during the next three innings of regulation play forcing the game into an extra inning to determine the winner.

T.J. Reese started off the seventh with a fly out to centerfield. Bradley Simmons then walked and moved around to third on a single by Darreous Zanders and a walk by Tyler Charleston. Payne Hasty came to the plate with the bases loaded and one out, and delivered the game-winning hit on a 1-0 pitch that scored Simmons for the district 10 title.

Hasty started the game on the mound for Demopolis and went three innings giving up three runs on two hits and striking out six Linden batters. Charleston came in and pitched four scoreless innings, allowing only two runners to reach base in the four innings, to completely shut down the Linden attack.

Demopolis vs. Butler

The Demopolis team entered Saturday&8217;s phase of

its district tournament rated as the No. 1 seed after going 4-0 during the pool play portion of the tourney played earlier in the week.

Butler played its way into the No. 4 seed by defeating Greensboro on Friday night. The Demopolis team entered the game with a team batting average of .505 with 50 hits in 99 at bats, and a scoring average of 10 runs a game.

The Demopolis bats came out of the gate hot as Zanders and Charleston lead off the bottom of the first with singles. Hasty brought both of them home with double. After two outs Boutwell hit a scorching line drive double to score Hasty. Burrell walked, and Reese hit a double to score Boutwell and Burrell.

The Demopolis club remained hot has they scored five more in the second inning on five more hits.

Zanders started the second inning the same way he did the first with a single. Hasty walked, and then Jones drilled a single to move Hasty around. Wesley Anderson and Boutwell walked to score Hasty and load the bases. Burrell lined a double to pick up three RBIs. He advanced to third and then home on passed balls to end the scoring in the second inning.

Demopolis came into the

fourth inning needing one run to force the 10 run rule. Jones led off the inning with a single, and then Boutwell moved him to third on a single. Burrell came up with the big hit needed to end the game early, scoring Jones from third.

Zanders started on the mound for Demopolis and held Butler scoreless for two innings and then Burrell relieved him for the last two innings giving up only one run to the Butler team.

By the numbers

Leading hitters for Demopolis over the six games played during the District tournament were: Hasty with a .733 batting average and two homeruns, Burrell with a .666 batting average, Jones with a .562 batting average, Reese with a .533 batting average and one homerun, Charleston with a .500 batting average, Boutwell with a .470 batting average and one homerun and Anderson with a .375 batting average.

Top pitchers for the Demopolis team were Charleston, Hasty, Zanders, Burrell, Boutwell and Anderson backed by a strong defensive effort by the entire team. Demopolis will travel to Hokes Bluff on July 5 to begin competing for the state championship.