By CURTIS ROCKWELL

Item Sports Editor

POPLARVILLE — It takes eight wins in the playoffs to win the Class 4A prep slow pitch softball state championship.

And after Saturday’s sweep of visiting Lawrence County, Poplarville’s Lady Hornets are half way home.

Poplarville knocked off the Lady Cougars in impressive fashion, 6-2 and 15-1 to win the best of three South State semifinal series, and will move on to play Quitman on the road Tuesday for the South State title.

It’s the second time in five years the Lady Hornets will play in the South State finals.

“These girls are bonding together,” Poplarville head coach Jonathan Ray said. “They are focused and have a great attitude. We pride ourselves on the program that we have built here and this is just another step for us.”

The Lady Hornets jumped out to quick leads in both games to set the tone, as they moved to 18-4 overall. In game one, Poplarville got three runs in the first and three in the second to take control. Chelsea Theriot had three hits, including a triple and a double and drove in a pair of runs in the winning effort, while Allysa Graeter, who picked up the pitching wins in both games for the Lady Hornets, had two hits and an RBI.

Poplarville smacked 18 hits in the nightcap, and jumped out to a 5-0 lead after two frames.

Janessa Dedeaux had five hits in five trips to lead the hit parade, and Megan Ladner had four hits and three RBI’s as well. Theriot had two hits and drove in a pair, while Paige Miller had two hits and Graeter added a pair of hits and drove in two runs as well.

“Allysa did a great job locating her pitches, and when you combine that with the tremendous job we have been doing defensively you usually win games,” Ray concluded.