By CURTIS ROCKWELL

Item Sports Editor

Fourth ranked Poplarville seems to be hitting its stride as the Class 4A south State slow pitch softball playoffs draw near.

The Lady Hornets, after picking up wins on Monday and Tuesday nights on the road, return home to host Picayune Thursday.

Poplarville, which stands an impressive 19-1 overall, will be looking to close out regular season play with a three game sweep this week and earn its 20th win.

The Lady Hornets have won 17 straight games, which is a new record for consecutive wins under head coach Jonathan Ray’s direction, beating the 16-0 start two years ago when the Lady Hornets were ranked number one in the state for a time.

On Monday, the Lady Hornets bounced Greene County 11-4 in Leakesville, wrapping up Region 7-4A play with a perfect record of 8-0.

Allysa Graeter had four hits to pace the winning Poplarville effort, while Micah Davis added three hits to the cause. Graeter was also the winning pitcher and moved to an outstanding 18-0 on the season with the win.

Tuesday, the Lady Hornets travelled to Gulfport and beat first year team West Harrison 13-9. Ashton Rogers picked up the win.

“We’ve just got to get better,” Ray, whose team wrapped up the league title several weeks ago, said. “We might have lost a little focus because we haven’t played a meaningful game in a couple of weeks. Hopefully with Picayune coming in that we help get our attention.”

Poplarville will host an opening round series on Tuesday to begin the state playoffs, and Ray said he thought they would face either Newton County or Quitman.

Picayune will also host an opening round Class 5A South state playoff series on Tuesday, after the Lady Tide wrapped up the division title with a 2-0 win over D’Iberville Monday night.