CLANTON — The Demopolis High softball team braved some hard luck and unfavorable umpiring to push Chilton County nearly to the limit during the area tournament Thursday. The Lady Tigers’ 2-2 day placed them second in the area and punched their ticket to next weekend’s region tournament in Troy.

In Demopolis’ first game of the day, the Lady Tigers beat Selma 14-4. Samantha Walker walked twice, scored two runs and stole three bases. Ray Lee Eubanks had a double, an RBI, three runs and two steals. Ashley Polk scored twice and had an RBI. Alexis Jones doubled and Melanie McCrory tripled.

In the second DHS game of the day, Chilton scored a ninth inning run to beat the Lady Tigers, who had taken a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning. Madison Bozeman and Madison Laduron each scored a run while Kristin Beach had an RBI. Demopolis pitchers struck out eight Chilton batters in the game.

After the loss, Demopolis was forced to play Selma a second time, dropping the Lady Saints 19-4 in the rematch.

In that game, Polk, Walker and Jones each scored twice while Bozeman scored three times and hit a triple. Beach scored three runs, stole two bases, had two RBIs and a triple. Alex Crawford doubled, scored twice and had an RBI in the game.

That sent the Lady Tigers to another contest with Chilton County. In the nightcap, the Lady Tigers again faced frustration from the umpiring crew. DHS overcame a 3-2 deficit, plating two in the fourth to take a 4-3 advantage. Demopolis scored another in the fifth before ultimately carrying a 5-3 lead into the seventh. CCHS plated three in the home half of the seventh to win the area crown.

Walker tripled, scored two runs and stole two bases. Laduron, Beach and Eubanks each scored a run while Colyar tripled and Polk picked up an RBI.