POPLARVILLE — Three runs in the seventh inning by West Marion allowed the team to earn a 7-5 win against Poplarville Tuesday night.

The top of the seventh began with West Marion’s Josh Boone being tagged out at first. The next two batters, Trace McNabb and Randy Ramos, each hit a single and reached second and first base.

On the next play, McNabb and Ramos scored for the Trojans (7-1) when Clay Blocker was able to hit the ball into center field. The two scores gave West Marion a 6-5 lead with one out. Poplarville’s Peytan Graham then replaced Jordan Belsome at the mound. West Marion’s Shelby Terrell hit the ball into center field and Blocker scored for the Trojans, giving the team a 7-5 lead. The top of the inning came to an end after Dalton Raynes and Jayden Duncan were tagged out while trying to reach first base.

In the bottom of the seventh, Poplarville’s Brady Tynes was tagged out at first base. Afterwards, Graham was walked to first base after the pitch hit him on the shoulder.

The game came to an end after Cade Johnson and Torry Polk were tagged out while attempting to reach first base.

“I’m proud of the kids. They played hard tonight,” Poplarville Head Baseball Coach Lance Hendrix said. “We start our district schedule next week and we’re working towards being ready for those games. Our pitcher, Jordan Belsome, is only a freshman and he competed really well tonight and we also played solid defense behind tonight, unfortunately we couldn’t come away with the win at the end.”

The beginning of the game remained scoreless until the top of the third inning when West Marion’s Duncan scored from first base after a hit to center field by Brett Jenkins. Later in the inning, Jenkins and Josh Boone scored for the Trojans and gave the team a 3-0 lead.

In the bottom of the third, Tynes scored off an inside-the-park homerun. The homerun allowed teammate Blaise Breerwood to score and cut the Hornets deficit to only one run.

During the bottom of the fourth, Poplarville loaded the bases.

Although the next batter, Polk, was tagged out at first, Brady Tynes was able to score from third and tied the game for Poplarville.

One batter later, the Hornets took their first lead of the game after Graham scored off a hit to centerfield by Hughes.

Afterwards, a hit by Ray allowed Johnson to score for Poplarville and give the team a 5-3 lead.

During the fifth inning, West Marion’s Jenkins scored for the Trojans after a hit by Ramos.

Poplarville’s Kyle Tynes went 2-for-3 with an RBI, Hughes was 1-for-2 with an RBI and Ray batted 1-for-4 with an RBI.

Freshman Belsome pitched for 6 1/3 innings and allowed seven hits, six runs and struck out three batters.

The Hornets (1-6) will be back in action Friday night when the team will host Pass Christian at 7 p.m.