A Staff Report

SUMMIT — Poplarville advanced to the Class 4A South State finals by beating North Pike Saturday.

It took the Lady Hornets three games, and Poplarville saw its 21 game winning streak come to an end as well, but all that matters is that head coach Jonathan Ray’s crew is still alive.

Poplarville won game one 8-0, fell to North Pike 6-1 in game two but stormed back to take the third and deciding game 11-4 to win the series.

Poplarville is now 24-2 overall, and will travel to Monticello to take on Lawrence County for the South State championship on Tuesday. LCHS knocked off Quitman in three games to move on as well.

The winner of the Poplarville-LCHS series advances on to the state finals in Jackson Saturday.

“I am proud of the way we came back in the last game,” Ray said. “We got back to doing what we do well and that made the difference.”

Paige Miller came up big for the Lady Hornets in the third and deciding game as she collected four hits and drove in six runs to pace Poplarville to the win.

Alysa Grater pitched all three games for the Lady Hornets, which will now meet the Lady Cougars in a rematch of a second round series last season.