POPLARVILLE — Poplarville’s baseball team lost 8-0 against Sumrall Friday night during the team’s last district game of the season.

Also on Friday, Purvis defeated Lawrence County 9-5, which helped the Hornets finish the season in third place in Region 7-4A. By finishing in third, Poplarville (9-12, 5-5 Region 7-4A) earned a spot in the Class 4A state playoffs.

“We beat Sumrall last Tuesday on the road, but we knew it was going to be tough to be able to sweep them,” Poplarville Head Baseball Coach Lance Hendrix said. “We hate that we were not able to clinch the number two seed but we are happy to be going into the playoffs as a number three seed. Starting this upcoming weekend, everyone will be 0-0 in the standings.”

In Friday’s game, a homerun by Sumrall’s Graham Crawford in the top of the second inning gave the team an early 1-0 lead.

Afterwards, in the fourth, scoring runs by Sumrall’s Mason Story, Billy Garrity, Seth Mitchell, Logan Powell and Zane Berry gave the team a 6-0 lead.

Runs scored by Hayden Barrett and Sully Clark in the top of the seventh inning gave the Bobcats an 8-0 lead.

For the Hornets, Canaan Ray and Brady Tynes each batted 1-for-2. Joey Smith and Cade Johnson each saw action on the mound for Poplarville.

Before playing in the state playoffs, the Hornets will host Picayune Tuesday at 7 p.m. in a non-district matchup.

Poplarville will face Florence (19-7, 11-4) in the first round of the playoffs in a best two-out-of-three series beginning Friday night at Florence. The second game will take place at Poplarville beginning at 6 p.m. Should a third-game be needed, it will take place at Florence on Monday, April 23, at 6 p.m.

“This is the grittiest team that we have had in Poplarville in a long time,” Hendrix said. “These players never quit and are always ready to come to play. We have pitchers and batters who do their job well and also put the team in a situation where we can win ballgames.”