Tigers not satisfied just yet
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, April 7, 2004
Though they are 20-6 overall this season and perfect in area play. Though they have beaten some of Alabama’s finest baseball teams. Though they are considered the No. 1 ranked team in Class 4A. The Demopolis High School Tigers baseball team isn’t near satisfied. With only six games to go in the regular season, DHS head baseball coach James Moody is clearly proud of the way his team had played this season, but doesn’t believe they have come close to playing their best baseball yet.
“We have played well against some really good teams this season, “Moody said. “But we are still shy of playing at or over 100 percent as a team. This team hasn’t even begun to do what they are capable of. But we are exactly were we need to be because we are only at the half way point in our season.”
What they are capable of, according to many, is winning the Class 4A state championship. Something no DHS team has been able to do since 1986. But if ever there were a Tigers team that could pull another one out, it would clearly be this one.
The Tigers currently have seven players hitting at or above .300 not to mention four pitchers with ERAs below 2. 00. Junior Bart Pettus currently leads the way for the Tigers at the plate hitting .384. But following closely behind Pettus is junior Clarke Kerby with a .382 hitting percentage. Others hitting in the .300 percentile include: junior Devin Goodwin .354, junior Chad Schroeder .333, junior G. W. Washington .327, senior Blake Butler .311 and junior William Meador .300.
On the hill, the Tigers numbers are even more impressive. With a 5-0 record, junior Jonathan Sommers leads the Tigers in wins and ERA percentage with 61K’s and an ERA of .48. Pettus (6-1) has 83K’s and an ERA of 1.60.
With six games left in the regular season it looks like the Tigers are well on their way to being one of the best baseball teams in the state of Alabama, and if all goes according to plan DHS fans can expect to see the Tigers hit their peak right before the playoffs.
DHS tops Greene County
Monday night the Tigers captured their fifth area win of the season with an 11-1 victory over the Greene County Tigers. Senior Jonathan Sommers picked up his fifth win as well on the hill and is now 5-0. Sommers went five innings earning 10K’s, while giving up one earned run on two hits and two walks.
Sommers also led the Tigers at the plate Monday night going 2-for-3 with the stick. Junior Devin Goodwin went 2-for-4 with two doubles and two RBIs, while junior Bart Pettus went 2-for-4. Juniors Seth Basinger, Darrell Kent and Clarke Kerby each collected one hit apiece.
With the win the Tigers move to 20-6 on the season and 5-0 in area play. This week the Tigers will return home to face Jackson High on Friday at noon, and then prepare for a doubleheader against Prattville on Saturday.