USA — The field was soggy. The air was cold. Ground ball practice was impossible. But none of those things were enough to deter the 30 hopefuls who showed up for Demopolis High School baseball tryouts Friday afternoon.

The athletes are hoping to gain a spot somewhere within a Demopolis roster that has been largely depleted by graduation and injury.

“We’re going to approach it like we would any other year,” head coach Ben Ramer said of the program’s outlook headed into the 2009 season.

The Tigers lost six seniors, including five starters off of last season’s team. The next blow dealt to the squad’s aspirations came when senior Shelby Speegle suffered a significant knee injury in the second half of the football team’s final game of the season against Carver.

Photo by Jeremy D. Smith

Full Article:

http://www.demopolistimes.com/news/2008/dec/12/tigers-begin-baseball-tryouts/

Tags: Feature