DEMOPOLIS &8212; Today there will be a catfight on the softball diamond as two groups of Tigers, Demopolis High School and Eufaula High School, face off to see which group will advance in their playoff hopes.

The DHS Lady Tigers come into the match up strong after a shaky start to their season. Coach Joey Browder, who said it was an achievement when his group broke .500 on the season, has since watched his team go 10-11, go 9-0 in their area and sweep the area tournament in three games.

Errors harmed the group early on in the season but have recently begun falling off as the team wound down the regular season and prepared for the playoffs. Browder said the team has focused on the basics this season, which has begun paying dividends.

Not going in on blind determination, Browder has researched his opponent and shared his findings with his team. The DHS group, with an 18-17 record, is facing a team that went 19-7 in the regular season.

Browder said Eufaula has seven strong hitters in its line up his group will have to work to minimize. He identified opponent catcher, Hootie Richards as one of the team&8217;s biggest bats along with India Karnegay, a double threat pitching and at the plate.

Not to over emphasis the traits of the Eufaula ball club, Browder said that &8220;everyone is good at this point and we know that.&8221;

He said many of the losses his team racked up during the regular season were to prepare it exactly for this caliber of play. He said he purposely matched his team against larger schools that would provide a higher level of play for and from his group.

The mettle gained by such vigorous regular season match ups will be tested as the group faces off against Eufaula today in a consecutive best two out of three game series at 1:30 p.m. at DHS.