By Stephen Dawkins

The last game of the season for Jemison’s 12-year-old baseball all-stars ended with the team holding a trophy.
Jemison didn’t win the Dizzy Dean World Series championship on Wednesday—that was No. 1 seed Northwest (Fla.), who defeated Jemison in a semifinal—but the local team took third place with an 8-4 win over Rome, Ga.
“It’s really nice for them to know the final thing they did as a little leaguer was win a trophy in the World Series,” coach Tommy Lenoir said.
Northwest defeated Blount Co., 7-2, meaning two of the top three teams in the World Series were from Alabama.
“The state was well represented [Wednesday],” Lenoir said.
Logan Ray was the winning pitcher for Jemison and hit one of only two home runs of the tournament.
Both Will Lenoir and Trea Sanders went 2-for-3.
Tommy Lenoir said the team’s success would not have been possible without the time and effort put in by the players and parents—and the monetary donations made by several community sponsors.
“It’s a lot more work than people think,” he said. “These parents and these kids have just been fantastic. I’m very proud of them.”

From staff reports

Jemison’s 12-year-old all-star baseball team fell to the No. 1 seed Northwest (Fla.) all-stars, 7-0, on Wednesday in the Dizzy Dean World Series in Southaven, Miss.
Jemison will play Rome (Ga.) at 10 a.m. Wednesday in the tournament’s third-place game.
The semifinal games will be aired on tape delay beginning at 1:30 p.m. Saturday on Comcast/Charter Sports South (CSS) and again on Aug. 2 beginning at 1 p.m.

By Stephen Dawkins

The dream is still alive for Jemison’s 12-year-old all-star baseball team.
The team used a hot offense to go 3-1 in pool play during the Dizzy Dean World Series, good enough to earn one of four berths in the championship bracket.
“The one thing we’ve done this tournament is hit the ball,” coach Tommy Lenoir said. “Except the first game. I think the kids were just in awe of this facility over here.”
Snowden Grove Park in Southaven, Miss., hosted 117 teams in four age groups over the weekend.
Jemison wasn’t the only local team in attendance. Thorsby’s 14-year-old team finished as runner-up in the state tournament but had its World Series appearance ended with a 12-2 loss on Monday to the Limestone Raiders, the same that defeated the Rebels in the state championship game.
“I believe we were tired; I just believe we’ve played too much baseball this summer,” coach Kyle McRae said. “I told them not to remember this (loss), I told them to remember what it took to get here.
“I was proud of what we got to do and how we got there.”
In order to keep its World Series hopes alive, Jemison will have to go through the championship bracket’s No. 1 seed, Northwest Park (St. Petersburg, Fla.). Northwest Park is the South Florida state champions and the only team to make it through pool play at the World Series unbeaten.
If Jemison wins, they would play at 1 p.m. Wednesday for the World Series title against the winner of the Blount County-Rome (Ga.) game.
All championship bracket games will be shown on Charter Cable over the weekend. Times and channels will be announced later.
Jemison lost to Rome, 5-0, in its first World Series game. Jemison then defeated West Point of Mississippi (14-4), Bill Bond of Florida (9-4) and tournament host Southaven (25-0).
After only recording six hits in the loss to Rome, Jemison pounded out 17, 17 and 22 hits, respectively, in its next three games.
Banks Woodley leads the team with a .778 batting average, Conner Nason is batting .667, and both Logan Ray and Trea Sanders are batting .615. Will Lenoir, Matthew Ramsey, Phillip Lenoir and Zack Drinkard are all also batting at least .500.
Tommy Lenoir said the most enjoyable part of the trip has been the players being able to spend time with each other.
“We’ve tried to make it a laid back atmosphere,” Lenoir said. “It’s just been a great experience for them.”
Thorsby topped Mantachie (Miss.), 10-0, fell to Lufkin (Texas), 11-1 and defeated Southaven, 19-9, before being eliminated by Limestone, 12-2.

By Stephen Dawkins

The pride of small towns across the state of Alabama often rests on the successes of their high school football, baseball and basketball teams.
But this phenomenon, cities and towns identifying themselves mainly by their athletic programs, stretches even beyond the varsity fields and courts. Several youth league baseball teams this summer are making their respective hometowns proud.
Jemison’s 12-year-old team and Thorsby’s 14-year-old all-stars recently were invited compete in Dizzy Dean World Series.
In some cases, youth sports become the stuff of legend just like varsity athletics do. We’ll see if any of this year’s teams can write their name in both the history books and the collective consciousness of county residents.
If not, these players will experience the beautiful thing about youth sports. Unlike high school seniors who know the end of the season will bring the end of their careers representing their hometowns, youth players can always look forward to next year.
To more tournaments, more hotels, more road trips—and more representing their hometown.

– Dawkins is the assistant managing editor for The Clanton Advertiser.

By Stephen Dawkins

Jemison’s 12-year-old all-star baseball team was still in a good mood after it was eliminated from the Dizzy Dean state tournament last week.
That’s because the team had been invited to compete in this weekend’s World Series in Southaven, Miss., after defeating defending state and World Series champion Northport National, 11-5, on Wednesday.
Coach Tommy Lenoir said he thinks the trip would mark the first time a Jemison team, regardless of age, has represented the state in a national tournament.
“It’s a huge, huge honor for our kids,” Lenoir said. “They’ve been practicing since the first week of March; they deserve it. So many people have put in so much-it makes it worth it.”
Lenoir said the top two or three teams from each state tournament are usually invited to the Dizzy Dean World Series, but Jemison drew an offer while there were still four teams left in the state tournament, being played in Columbiana.
Jemison was knocked out of the state tournament on Friday by Jackson County, 15-13, after drawing the World Series invitation two days earlier.
Trea Sanders hit five—three of which were grand slams—home runs in the state tournament. Also going yard were Phillip Lenoir, Will Lenoir (twins that homered in the same game, the win over Northport), Logan Ray and Conner Nason.
Compiling the team’s top batting averages were Phillip Lenoir (.800), Ray (.600), Nason (.579), Matthew Ramsey (.550) and Sanders (.529).
Lenoir said the team will need help raising money for the trip to the World Series and said anyone interested in helping should call him at 688-1115.
“We’ve got a lot to do, but we’re excited about being able to do this for our kids,” Lenoir said.

By Stephen Dawkins

After struggling in its first game of the Dizzy Dean state tournament in Columbiana, Jemison’s 12-year-old baseball all-stars have found their strokes.
The team lost to Huffman, 17-9, in its first game of the tournament but then defeated Calera, 10-0, and Albertville, 22-5, on Monday.
The difference in Jemison’s first two games was defense. Jemison committed nine errors against Huffman but only two errors against Calera.
“We had played Huffman before and beat them; it was always a close game,” Jemison coach Tommy Lenoir said. “It wasn’t that we were playing a team that we’d never played before or that we didn’t know anything about. We would just make two or three errors, and then it’s tough to get it going again.”
Jemison was down 12-2 at one point before fighting back with six runs, but more errors doomed the comeback effort.
Lenoir said his team’s defense has been inconsistent during every postseason tournament, but both the hitting and pitching have been strong throughout.
That was the case again Sunday. Phillip Lenoir (three innings pitched, one hit, four strikeouts) and Banks Woodley (one inning pitched, one hit, two strikeouts) combined to shut out Calera.
Trea Sanders hit two home runs in two at-bats. One was a solo shot, and the other was a grand slam.
Matthew Ramsey and Phillip Lenoir also went 2-for-2 in the game. Ramsey scored two runs, and Lenoir scored one run.
Jemison pounded out 17 hits on Monday. Phillip Lenoir went 4-for-4 with four runs scored, and Conner Nason was 3-for-4 with a home run.
“We hit the ball tonight,” Tommy Lenoir said. “The bats came alive. We’ve been waiting 20 or 30 games for them to hit like that.”
Will Lenoir, Logan Ray and Lance Poe also had multi-hit games.
Trevor Wallace was the winning pitcher, allowing only three hits.
Clay Cunningham pitched one inning in relief of Wallace.
Jemison plays Chelsea tomorrow at 8 p.m.

By Stephen Dawkins

Seven players on the Jemison 12-year-old baseball all-stars are listed as pitchers.
This weekend, the team might need every one of them.
The youth all-stars are competing in the Dizzy Dean state tournament in Columbiana, beginning with a game against Huffman at 4 p.m. Saturday.
Jemison has played about 20 games already this summer and could play 10 more in the double-elimination state tournament. The workload, combined with Dizzy Dean’s strict pitching rules, makes pitching a premium in the tournament.
Jemison coach Tommy Lenoir said pitching, fortunately, has been a strength for his team.
“They’re doing very well,” he said. “We’re pleased with all of them. We’ve had good control, throwing more strikes than balls.”
Jemison—which includes only one player, Trevor Wallace of Maplesville, from outside the city—has also swung the bats well. Lenoir said the team is especially adept at making contact.
“They do a pretty good job of putting the ball in play, not striking out, and taking advantage of the other team’s defensive mistakes,” Lenoir said.
Lenoir said Jemison has a team batting average of at least .380.
Jemison will have to play its best baseball of the summer to have a chance against the competition that will be featured in the state tournament. If Jemison wins its first game on Saturday, it would play again at 7:30 p.m. Sunday. If Jemison loses, the next game would be 3:30 p.m. Sunday.
“They’re ready to go,” Lenoir said. “They’ve played a lot of baseball, but they’re still excited.”
Lenoir thanked the parents and his assistant coaches for the help they’ve offered and the sacrifices they’ve made.
Jemison advanced to state by finishing second in the regional tournament in Asheville. Jemison defeated Chelsea, Moody and Vincent but lost to eventual regional champion Chelsea twice on June 29.