The Cal Ripken 10U State Tournament started out perfectly for Demopolis’ squad.

Ryan Morrison took the mound in the first game of the tournament and turned out a gem, shutting down opposing Gilbertown 10-0 Demopolis win. Morrison sat down all 15 of the batters he faced, striking out eight of them.

“We had confidence in Ryan. We knew we could get some solid innings out of him. This was just better than expected,” said Demopolis coach Scott Parten.

Morrison also stepped up at the plate as well, going 3-for-3 with two runs scored. Hunter Colyar also was able to get three hits with three runs scored. Robert Tutt and R.J. Cox each had two hits each. Nick Nelson, Cal Logan and Kyle Woodruff each had one hit.

“We started out well. Ryan gave us a big lift and we played well all around,” said Parten.

Game two for Demopolis did not go quite as well.

Parten’s squad went down to Attalla 10-4.

Demopolis ended the first inning trailing 2-1 before Attalla came out and put seven runs on the board on some key hits and some errors by Demopolis.

“Sometimes you just have that one inning. We let it get away from us (in the second),” said Parten.

Demopolis would attempt to scratch its way back into the game, getting three runs in its half of the third by some solid hitting from top of the order. However, Attalla rebounded to drive another run home in the fifth to shut the door on Demopolis.

Game three on Sunday night turned out to be one of the best of the tournament.

Demopolis and Madison were able to shut each other down throughout the night. In the end, it was Madison that used the advantage of the home field to pull out the 4-3 victory in the seventh inning.

Demopolis was able to outhit Madison, landing four hits to two over the seven innings. However, Madison used its aggressive base running and walks by Demopolis to pull it out.

“We lost a heartbreaker tonight, but that’s how it goes sometimes,” said Parten. “We played hard, but just couldn’t pull it through.”

Nick Nelson had just as many hits as Madison, while Morrison and Chandler Barton each chipped in a hit of his own.

In Demopolis’ fourth and final game versus pool leader Theodore, the 10U team came out fired up, but fell short once more, losing 8-4.

“We just ran out of gas tonight. That just about sums it up,” said Parten.

Theodore was able to start out the scoring in the second off of two hits.

Demopolis was able to pull ahead in the third when Nelson was able to lead off the inning with a single, followed by three walks by Noah Green, Colyar, and Tutt.

Nelson scored on a passed ball and Cox was able to drive in Green to give Demopolis for the lead.

Theodore proved able to quickly jump back ahead with a six-run fourth and another run in its half of the fifth.

Demopolis got its last two runs in the bottom half of the fifth to end the scoring and end its run at the state title.

“We play hard this week and hopefully we can improve on this result next year,” said Parten. “We are very proud of these kids. They played their hearts out.”