DEMOPOLIS – As the AHSAA baseball playoffs now roar into semifinals action, the Demopolis Tigers are preparing to battle the Thomasville Tigers beginning Friday at 4 p.m. at the DHS ballpark.

The Demopolis baseball team has yet to lose a game in the postseason, currently sitting at 5-0.

Thomasville defeated UMS-Wright 14-8 on Saturday to clinch a birth to the semifinals.

“I think right now they [Thomasville] are swinging the bats pretty good,” DHS head coach James Moody said.

“We went and watched them play UMS on Saturday and they swung the bats really well.

They had about 15-16 hits and they beat UMS 14-8.”

Thomasville has four pitchers in their rotation: Bradley Parnell, Will Buford, Will Overstreet, and Jarmin Rothchild.

“Pitching wise, they have four guys they can throw at you and feel comfortable with it,” Moody said.

“They don’t really have an ace and they are throwing all of them about the same.

I would certainly think that we will see Parnell and Buford fairly early.

The thing with Thomasville is that they are obviously playing better because they are still playing.

So that’s an accomplishment for coach Anderson and his staff with the job they have done in the last month.”

When it comes to the battle between Demopolis and Thomasville, stats and records are thrown out the window as the local rivals meet once again in postseason play.

“Regardless of records and the semifinals, it’s Demopolis and Thomasville,” Moody said.

“And that’s all it takes to get people from down there and up here excited.

It doesn’t matter what it is – there’s going to be a crowd there.”

The rivalry game begins Friday at 4 p.m. in game one, with game two scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

“I’m certainly glad we’re playing at home,” Moody said.

“We’ll have a good home crowd and I know it sounds monotonous, but if we pitch well, play defense, and hit, we will win the game.

The big key is as long as we keep swinging the bats and I feel comfortable when we put up big innings.”

After pitching helped propel the DHS baseball team to this weekend’s semifinals, the aces of the staff for Demopolis will once again have to come to life if the Tigers expect to survive and advance to the championship series.

“If we pitch well, we’ll win,” Moody said.

“I feel real confident in that.

I think a good start is real important to kind of get things rolling on our side.

And just stick to our plans that we have and our approach offensively and our approach on the mound and go from there.”

Demopolis is planning to start Tyler Moody (3-1, 2.56 ERA) in game one, opting for Devin Goodwin (7-2, 2.08) for game two.