Demopolis’ final at-bat rally ended in a flash of blind luck Friday night when Bibb County left fielder Jace Watkins made an improbable catch to seal a 4-3 win.

With runners on first and second and the Tigers trailing 4-3 in the bottom of the seventh, Demopolis first baseman Larry Dunn drove a two-strike pitch deep into left-centerfield.

“The ball was slicing and I just turned the wrong way,” Watkins said of the path he took to the ball. “I tripped over my own feet and fell down. I just stuck out my glove and (the ball) fell in.”

The final at-bat rally started when Demopolis left fielder William Hill drew a one-out walk before center fielder Cameron Barger was plunked by a pitch. Two batters later, Jacob Kerby ripped a single to left to score Hill. The play set the stage for Dunn.

“I thought it was a great at-bat. He’s the guy that we want up in that situation,” Demopolis head coach Ben Ramer said of Dunn’s final trip to the plate. “When I saw the kid hit the ground, I thought ‘There’s no way.’ I don’t know if you can define snakebit any better than that. I’ve seen a lot of different great plays, but I’ve never seen a play like that.”

Demopolis started the scoring, plating Hill and Kole Thrasher on back-to-back Choctaw errors in the third inning.

The 2-0 Demopolis lead stood until the fifth when Bibb County stage a rally. Kannon Johnston stroked a double that plated Ryan Lawley and Landon Coffin to tie the game. Mat Hall capped inning with a triple that plated Johnston and left the Choctaws with a 3-2 lead.

Bibb added to its advantage in the top of the seventh when Matthew Murphy hit a double, bringing in Taylor Morton and leaving BCHS up 4-2.

“I’m proud of them as I can be,” Ramer said of his team. “I really am. They fought. They did. That’s all I can ask of them.”

Shelby Speegle pitched the full seven innings for Demopolis.

“The last four times we’ve played them, it’s been one-run games,” Bibb head coach Darrell Hobson said. “The Speegle kid battled his heart out. He pitched against us last Friday night and pitched good enough to win and came back tonight and pitched his heart out. We were fortunate enough to get one inning with a couple two-out hits.”

Ramer said his team will continue its work habits in order to get beyond the difficult loss.

“We talk to them everyday about keeping on plugging and believing,” Ramer said. “We don’t have any pad games to say ‘Here’s a game we can get our confidence up.’”