By Andrew Garner/Andalusia Star-News

Opp scored eight runs in the top of the fourth inning to secure a 10-2 victory over Demopolis to claim the 11-to-12-year-old Cal Ripken State Championship on Monday in Andalusia.

With this victory, the Bobcats won their first state championship in this age group. They, along with Demopolis, qualify to play in the southeast regional tournament July 25-29 in Holly Springs, N.C.

To get to the championship game, Demopolis needed seven innings to top Butler, 6-3. The Bobcats beat Covington County 3-0.

The Bobcats and Demopolis were tied 2-2 going into the fourth inning. Once Opp scored its first run to break the tie, the runs started pouring in.

Demopolis’ Grant Patterson, who finished 2-for-3, hit in his team’s first run with a double in the bottom of the first inning.

Opp’s Tylur Schively hit an RBI double off the fence in the top of the third inning to tie the game at 1-all. Spurlin Kelley later helped the Bobcats take their first lead with an RBI single.

Demopolis got out of the third inning on a double play to give the team in blue some needed momentum.

In the bottom half of the third, Demopolis’ Payton Greary got an RBI single to tie the game up a second time at 2-2.

Later in the third, Demopolis’ Collin McCrory loaded the bases with a single, but the Bobcats’ defense got out of the two-out jam with ease.

Opp’s Trey Moody got the scoring going in the top of the fourth with an RBI double to break the tie for the last time. Right afterward, Logan Ross nailed a two-run double and soon, Opp led 9-2.

Henry Overmeyer went 1-for-4; Greary went 2-for-3; McCrory and Andrew Fuqua went 1-for-2 each in the championship game.

In its 6-3 extra-inning win over Butler, Demopolis broke the 3-3 tie at the end of regulation with three runs in the top of the seventh inning.

McCrory had a single; Hunter Thrash had two singles; Parker Hallmark had an inside-the-park home run; and Fuqua had a single to lead Demopolis, who had five players out with the stomach flu.

Demopolis took a 3-2 lead on an RBI single from Thrash in the top of the sixth inning, but Butler added the tying run in the bottom of the sixth to force extras. Butler had runners in scoring position later in the sixth, but Demopolis held its own.

Demopolis’ three runs in the seventh were as a result of an error.