By Curtis Rockwell/Sports Director

No Monday is not a National Holiday.

However, it’s still promises to be a day to remember on both baseball and softball diamonds all across the “Southern Six”.

Three South State playoff match-ups are set for Monday, and the action will start around lunch and run way past dinner time.

First off in softball, both Ocean Springs and East Central will be hosting big encounters in their respective classifications. In Class 7A, the Lady Greyhounds take on perennial state power Northwest Rankin at 3 p.m., needing just one more win to move on to the overall state championship round for the first time ever.

Ocean Springs went on the road and pulled off a 7-2 upset over the Lady Cougars in game one on Thursday in that best-of-three Class 7A South State championship series. Northwest Rankin has won the last three Class 7A state titles.

Action on Monday gets rolling at Noon in Hurley, as the Lady Hornets host Sumrall in game two of that Class 5A South State title match-up. Sumrall took game one at home Thursday night 10-0, meaning East Central needs two straight wins to close the series in order to earn a shot at getting back to Hattiesburg and defending its Class 5A state crown that it won last year.

Then, as night falls, the attention swings up the road to Lucedale and Claude Passeau Field.

That’s where home-standing George County will host Pearl River Central in game one of the Class 6A South State championship match-up.

It marks the third straight season the Rebels and Blue Devils have meet in this round with a trip to the overall Class 6A state title round on the line, and GCHS has won the last two series’.

It also marks the fifth straight season that the two teams have faced off in the playoffs.

Game time is set for 7 p.m. A capacity crowd is expected. Game two is set for Carriere on Tuesday at the same time.

A third and final game, if needed, would be back in Lucedale Wednesday night.