MONTICELLO — Inclement weather played havoc with the schedule for most of the prep state softball playoffs Monday andTuesday.

The rain wasn’t Poplarville’s biggest problem, however.

The Lady Hornets dropped a 9-4 decision to homestanding Lawrence County Monday night in the opener of the best-of-three second round Class 4A South State series.

As of press time Tuesday night, Poplarville was still scheduled to host the Lady Cougars in game two and three if necessaryTuesday in Poplarville.

Camryn Pierce took the loss Monday night.

Maryah Davis had a pair of hits, including a double, and drove in a pair of runs for the Lady Hornets in the losing effort. Kaley Lambert had a run-scoring single as well.

The Lady Hornets jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead, but LCHS countered with three runs in the bottom of the frame to take the lead for good. Another three spot in the fourth for the Lady Cougars as well as three more runs in the fifth ended any hopes of a Lady Hornet comeback.

• Meanwhile, as of Wednesday morning, Pearl River Central was still awaiting its chance to get on the field.

Like Poplarville, the Lady Devils earned a first round bye thanks to winning a district title. But unlike the Lady Hornets, the Lady Devils were rained out Monday and Tuesday and the plans for beginning their series with Wayne County were still unclear.

The homefield for the Lady War Eagles sustained some damage from storms Monday night. Both teams were looking at an alternate site to get the series underway.

The winner of the Pearl River Central-Wayne County series moves on to face the survivor of the East Central-West Harrison series.

That series did get underway Monday night, as East Central took a 2-0 win over West Harrison.

Madie Sparks pitched a four-hit shutout as for the Lady Hornets in beating the homestanding Lady Hurricanes 2-0 in Game 1 of a best-of-three 5A softball second-round playoff series Monday night.

Lee Anna Watts and Shelby Nelson both had RBI singles for East Central, which improves to 18-4. Game 2 is at 5 p.m. Tuesday at East Central, with Game 3 to follow if needed.

The series was originally slated to wrap up Tuesday night, but games two and three (if necessary) scheduled for Hurley were postponed until this afternoon.