NATCHEZ — The look on Jacob Jenkins’ face gave the answer to the question before his voice did.

The Natchez 9-year-old All-Star team won the South State tournament with an undefeated record and looked to be rolling to a state championship before being upset in the state tournament.

Now the team is back as 10-year-olds and Jenkins, for one, desperately wants to right that wrong.

“We want it really bad,” he said. “We’re ready to go.”

They’re ready, but they have a long journey ahead of them.

It begins Friday night at the Carroll Jones Field at Duncan Park, when Natchez takes on Franklin County at 9 p.m. in the first round of the sub-district tournament.

The tournament begins Friday with three games, and lasts until July 1.

“The team can’t wait to get back (to state), coach Gary Farmer said. “They overlooked Cleveland East in the first round and thought that just because they had the N on the front of their hats, they’d win. When you get into the loser’s bracket early, it’s hard to advance through it. We came back tough, but ran out of pitching. The kids were very disappointed and I was too.”

This group won the state championship as 8-year-olds and Farmer said they keep improving each year he has coached them.

“This is a special group,” Farmer said. “This is probably the best 10-year-old team I’ve ever seen. They have a great team unity and have come together as a team after playing together three years. You can have a great group of players, but if they don’t come together as a team, you don’t have anything.”

One thing that does stand out about the team is the way it swings the bats.

Farmer said the team hits extremely well, and that was evidenced by the way batters were lining balls all over the outfield in batting practice Tuesday night.

“I’ve had other coaches tell me that this is the best-hitting 10-year-old team they’ve ever seen,” Farmer said. “We’ve got six or seven players who can pitch well, but hitting is our strong suit.”

This is Farmer’s third year to coach the team, as he has moved up with them through the different age groups.

“This is one of the best experiences of my life to be able to coach this team,” Farmer said. “They are like my kids. I’ve got a special attachment to all of them. I’ve seen them develop into fine players and fine young men.”