Poplarville’s fast 9-0 start has earned the Lady Hornets some pretty impressive recognition.

Head coach Jonathan Ray’s talented squad is the number one ranked slow pitch prep softball team in the state, according to rankings released by The Clarion-Ledger of Jackson. This is the second straight week Poplarville has been ranked number one in the poll.

“It’s good recognition for the program that’s for sure,” Ray, who also coaches the fast-pitch team at PHS said. “We’ve gotten off to a real good start. In fact, we are probably playingf a little better at this point than I thought we would, but I knew we had the chance to be a pretty good team.”

Despite getting rained out on Tuesday for a road game at Moss Point, Poplarville has jumped out to the 9-0 start that includes two wins in the Hattiesburg Tournament over last weekend. The Lady Hornets beat Class 5A Meridian 5-2 behind pitcher Taylor Meyers and also whipped Columbia 14-1 in the event. That came on the heels of a 12-1 win over Purvis last Thursday.

Meyers is 9-0 on the season as well, while Larke Nightengale was recognized this week as the female player of the week in the state by The Clarion-Ledger.

Nightengale is hitting .750 on the season and has driven in 16 runs.

Against Purvis, Kayla Fendalson had a pair of doubles while Kristen Cuevas and Meyers had one double apiece. Also, Cuevas, Fendalson, Meyers and Kayla Ross had three hits apeiece and Nightengale had two hits in the win.

Against, Columbia, Chlsea Theriot, Megan Ladner, Ross, Cuevas and Fendalson all had two hits apiece and against Meridian Nightengale had three hits including a home run while Ross added two hits as well.

The Lady Hornets are off until next Thursday, when they host Tylertown.