HATTIESBURG — The Natchez T.M. Jennings 11- and 12-year-old All-Stars got a solo home run from Ernest Woods in the first inning, but it was not nearly enough as they lost to the Hattiesburg All-Stars 20-4 in five innings Sunday morning in Game 1 of the championship round of the district tournament.

“We made too many mistakes. Too many errors,” Natchez T.M. Jennings 11s and 12s head coach Willie Wesley said.

Jahiem Ivory was charged with the loss after going two innings. James Singleton started the game and went three innings. Robert White had a double, one run batted in and scored one run while Singleton had a double.

Devonta Stancel and Travon Conner both scored one run for the Natchez T.M. Jennings 11s and 12s in the first game.

Unfortunately, the Natchez T.M. Jennings 11s and 12s fell short in the second and deciding game as they lost to Hattiesburg 11-7.

“We started off good. Then we started making errors and they started scoring on our errors,” Wesley said. “They got ahead in the second inning. We had a couple of scoring opportunities.”

Travon Conner suffered the loss after lasting just one inning on the mound. Tyler Conner went 3-for-4 with two doubles and scored two runs. Woods was 3-for-4 with a double and scored one run. Stancel doubled and scored one run.

Despite coming up short of playing in the state tournament with the two losses in the district tournament finals, Wesley said he was pleased with team’s effort in Game 2.

Hattiesburg 10, Natchez T.M. Jennings 9-10s 0

HATTIESBURG — The rematch between the Hattiesburg All-Stars and the Natchez T.M. Jennings 9- and 10-year-old All-Stars resulted in the same result – another mismatch with Hattiesburg taking a double-digit win Sunday morning and, this time, knocking the T.M. Jennings 9s and 10s out of the district tournament.

Even though the outcome was closer than the 18-1 win by Hattiesburg on Saturday morning, the host team took advantage of passed balls and several errors by the T.M. Jennings team.

And while Dekaron McGruder was charged with the loss, he pitched a good game. He held Hattiesburg to just three hits, struck out four and walked only two batters over five innings. But the defense behind him did not help him out when he needed it. Trevon Henry had a single and R.J. Simpson had a double for team’s only two hits in the game.