Tigers ready for season opener at Hoover

The Demopolis High School Baseball team will get their 2004 season off Monday as they travel to Birmingham to face the 6A Hoover Buccaneers.

It’s automatic in the state of Alabama. People here the name Hoover High, and instinctively they think, Champions.

“Their athletic program speaks for itself,” DHS head baseball coach James Moody said.

But none of this seems to frighten the Tigers who are confident, that when it comes to baseball they have it covered. “Hoover is a good baseball team,” Moody said. “We, are also a good baseball team.

And I’m excited to see how these two teams match-up.”

The Tigers made the same trip to Hoover last year to open the season, but fell 10-8 to the Buccaneers.

“I hate to admit this, but we blew a 8-0 lead in that game last year,” Moody said. “We had come out hot and heavy and had them exactly where we wanted them headed down the stretch. But we soon learned that when you play a good team, you can’t give nothing away or they’ll beat you every time.”

The Tigers come into their season opener, not seeing much action on the field due to poor weather conditions. Sloppy field conditions have forced the Tigers indoors for far too many practices. But coach Moody knows he has a good team, he’s just not sure exactly what their good at yet.

“I know we have a great deal of talent on this team,” Moody said. “But as of right now, I haven’t been able to really see enough to know just how good we are going to be.”

Much of the reasoning behind this could be attributed to the weather and the fact that Moody hasn’t seen his Tigers tested at full strength yet. The Tigers have held practices indoors for seven of the last eight days and have had just one scrimmage thus far.

“I wasn’t impressed with the scrimmage we had and I know we are somewhat behind on our hitting. Basically because we have seen a live pitcher on the mound only once thus far,” Moody said.

“But I’m looking forward to see how we handle ourselves in a real game situation. I want to know how we will handle that pressure. Plus, this game will allow me to see exactly how we stand in all three phases of the game.”

The Tigers will take the field Monday at 10 a.m. for their first game with Hoover High and will follow it up with a second game that afternoon against Minor High at 3 p.m.

The Tigers junior varsity baseball team will also take the field in Hoover this Monday to begin their season against the Buccaneers at noon.