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.