By the time the Demopolis High Tigers baseball team takes the field on Saturday against Jackson High it will have been exactly 12 days since their last game, but the time off looks to have helped the Tigers find strength in their game rather than weaknesses.

It’s common for many teams who find themselves taking a long break after a winning streak to fall back into old habits, lose the streak and stumble to find their feet again. But that is far from the mind of DHS Tigers head coach James Moody.

“Many people believe that a long break like this is a bad thing, but I don’t see it that way, not with these kids,” Moody said.

Play was called to a hold last weekend as the Lady Tigers basketball team made their first appearance in the AHSAA State Finals. Coach Moody and his bunch were scheduled to play in Prattville that weekend, but cancelled that game to be able to go and support the Lady Tigers in their quest for a state championship.

“We felt that being there for them was the right place to be last weekend,” Moody said. “If it was us in their shoes, I know they would do the same; any DHS team would.”

But one weekend doesn’t explain why the Tigers haven’t played in so long. The other reason comes with the annual graduate exams being held all this week at Demopolis High.

“This week with the kids taking these exams everyday, the school thought it be best if no games would be played until after testing is completed,” Moody said.

But coach Moody believes that the time off has been a blessing in disguise for his 8-1 Tigers.

“We have had time to work on many hitting issues we were having at the beginning of the season and I think that the time off has allowed for us to give each player more attention,” Moody said. “We were able to go back to our fundamentals as well.”

The Tigers will travel to Jackson Saturday for a doubleheader with the Aggies.