Tuesday turned out to be quite a day for Poplarville’s Zac Houston.

Earlier in the day he was named an honorable mention prep All-American by Rawlings/Perfect Game. That night, he helped hurl and hit the Hornets to a big win in their Division 8-4A opener.

Houston, Poplarville’s Dandy Dozen standout, threw a strong six innings, striking out 11, and allowing just two hits as the Hornets beat homestanding Vancleave 10-3.

He also had a pair of doubles and drove in a run, as the Hornets move to 6-4 overall and Vancleave is 4-5. The  Bulldogs had won four out of their last five games.

Chandler Ray also had a pair of hits and drove in a run for Poplarville, while Luke Goodwin had two singles and a triple for the Hornets and drove in three runs. J.J. Welch added a triple and a single and drove in a pair of runs as well in the winning effort. Blake Ladner added a two-run triple.

“We had great approaches at the plate, hit the ball hard. And of course, our ace did his job filling up the zone,: Poplarville head coach J.J. Fortune said. “I’m very proud of our kids, and the way they competed tonight.”

Ashton Miley pitched the final frame for Poplarville in relief of Houston, who is now 4-0. Miley also threw out a base-runer from centerfield earlier in the game.

The Hornets took a 4-0 lead after the top of the first and cruised to the win. The same two teams will meet Friday night in Poplarville.

In other local baseball action, Picayune’s game with Gautier that was slated for Monday night was postponed due to wet grounds. Now, both the Maroon Tide and Pearl River Central are set to host district games on both Thursday and Friday nights.

Picayune will host Gautier Thursday and East Central on Friday. The Blue Devils will host East Central Thursday and Moss Point on Friday. PRC is currently in first place in the league standings with a perfect 3-0 mark,  but the Blue Devils face Hornet ace Easton Marshall tonight.