In a topsy-turvy Tuesday night affair, Linden’s 7-8 all-stars pulled out a 10-7 victory over Demopolis at the Sports-Plex to move to 2-0 in District 10 play.

“Ain’t nothing I could have asked more than that right there,” Linden head coach Guy Schroeder said of his team’s effort.

After Linden scored three runs in the top of the first inning, Demopolis countered with a trio of scores to tie the game.

Casey Cramer started the game off for Demopolis with a single. After Henry Overmeyer reached on an error, Hunter Thrash stroked two-run double to cut the deficit to 302. Thrash later came around to tie the game on a Trey Murdock RBI single.

Linden fired back in the top of the second with two runs to take a 5-3 lead. Undeterred, Demopolis posted three more runs in the top of the second. After Chance McVay started the rally with a one-out single, Thrash delivered the big blow again with a two-RBI single to tie the game. Thrash then crossed home plate after a Dalton Holtzclaw single to give the team a 6-5 lead.

Linden responded with two more runs in the top of the third to reclaim the lead at 7-6.

In his first at-bat of the game, Tyler Elmore made an impact in the top of the third with a single and a series of head’s up base running decisions that saw him run 240 feet to cross home and knot the game at 7-7.

From there, the Demopolis bats went cold.

“They put in good effort,” Demopolis head coach Hugh Overmeyer said. “But when we got the bat on the ball, we couldn’t turn that into base hits. We just couldn’t make it materialize.”

Linden scored two more runs in the fourth inning and added another in the sixth to take a 10-7 lead.

Demopolis’ best opportunity to build some momentum and get back in the game came in the top of the sixth when McVay ripped a shot up the middle that caromed off the pitching machine, forcing Elmore to remain at third base.

“When it hits the pitching machine, it’s a dead ball,” Hugh Overmeyer said of the unfortunate circumstances that left McVay with a single, Elmore on third and Demopolis with a three-run disadvantage.

The home team threatened one more time in the bottom of the sixth inning before Linden’s John Parker Brock fielded a chopper and fired to Grant Tate at first for the second out of the inning. Tate then threw home to erase the runner trying to score, ending the game with a 1-3-2 double play.

“That kid will stay out here as long as I let him,” Schroeder said of the effort from Brock, who made a handful of improbable plays on the night to keep Linden in the lead.

Demopolis plays again tonight when it hosts Greensboro.