By Stan Caldwell/Sports Writer

PEARL — Poplarville’s historic debut at Trustmark Park turned sour in a hurry.

Mooreville took advantage of first-game jitters on the part of the Hornets and cruised to a 15-8 victory in Game 1 of the Class 4A State Championship Series Tuesday.

The Troopers (29-8) can wrap up their 10th state title, but their first since 2017, with a win in Game 2 at 7 p.m. Wednesday night. Poplarville, making its first appearance in the state finals, (28-11) must win to force a deciding third game on Friday.

“Really, what it comes down to is they had two errors for us on the scoreboard, but we had three or four other plays, and they were costly errors,” said Hornet coach Ashley Graeter.

“We didn’t pitch it terribly – we didn’t pitch great – but early on, near about every single inning, we had the leadoff runner on with no outs. It’s tough to win a baseball game against a quality team like they are, when you’ve got runners on first and second without any outs.”

And that was the issue for Poplarville. Four Hornet pitchers issued seven walks and two hit-batters, beginning with the very first pitch of the game.

Junior right-hander Ty Keys (5-1) plunked Troopers’ leadoff batter, senior Major Floyd, in the back to start the game, and freshman Eli McDaniels brought the runner home with a double into the gap in left-centerfield.

A walk and another hit batter loaded the bases, and one run scored on a balk, then two more came in on a single by senior Ethan Cates.

This is all new territory for Poplarville baseball, and nerves were a factor, even if the Hornets themselves downplayed it.

“I don’t think so, not really,” said Keys. “We just have some stuff we have to clean up. We had more hits than them, obviously, so if we come back tomorrow like we were today, take out the errors, we’ll be fine.”

Indeed, offense wasn’t a problem for Poplarville. The Hornets rapped out 13 hits against 4A Mr. Baseball, junior right-hander Wyatt McDaniels, starting with a two-run rally in the bottom of the first.

Keys led off the inning with a single, then junior Trip Jones was hit by a pitch, and both runners advanced on chopper to the mound. Keys scored on a single by junior Chadwick Brown, and the second run came in on a throwing error.

“He wasn’t great,” said Keys about McDaniels. “He had a little flat fastball, and a curveball that he was throwing for strikes towards the end. But it shouldn’t have beat us. We just have to come back harder tomorrow.”

The Troopers got those two runs right back in the top of the second, getting the first two runners on with a walk and double to nine-hole hitter junior Carter Barefoot, putting runners at second and third with no outs.

That was when Graeter turned to his bullpen, bringing on junior right-hander Myles Glenn, who surrendered a two-run double to Eli McDaniels, who had three doubles for the game, but got out of further trouble with a runner on third.

“I thought Ty wasn’t quite consistent for him to have a long outing,” Graeter said. We went to Myles, and he’s been steady for us all year. He didn’t do too badly but we had some costly errors behind him that ballooned the margin.

“We clean a couple of those plays, and we take about four runs off the board. Then it’s a different ball game.”

The Hornets have battled through adversity all season, so playing from behind wasn’t unusual. And Poplarville narrowed the deficit with three runs in the bottom of the second.

With one out, sophomore Camden McCurdy singled, and he came all the way around to score when Keys drilled a 1-0 pitch to the fence in left-centerfield for a run-scoring triple.

McDaniels got a strikeout for the second out of the inning, but sophomore Jett Smith reached on a infield single, scoring Keys. Smith stole second and scored on a single into leftfield.

“I was really happy with the way we swung the bats all through the game, after giving up so much,” said Graeter. “But this is a marathon, not a sprint, and we’re going to get back at it, and see if we can’t for a Game 3.”

Mooreville broke the game open in the third, scoring four runs on three hits and a costly error. McDaniels settled in, and retired 10 of the next 11 batters he faced, and the Troopers continued to scourge Hornet pitching, scoring four more runs in the fifth inning.

Junior Aiden Smith came on to relieve Glenn in the fifth, and freshman Dawson Amacker pitched the final two innings, allowing an unearned run in the seventh.

Poplarville kept battling, scoring a run in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI single by McCurdy, after a one-out double by junior Braxton Sones, and the Hornets added two more in the seventh, after McDaniels struck out the first two batters of the inning.

Junior Brayden Lee and junior Chase Sones singled, ending McDaniels’ day at 119 pitches, and Amacker and Braxton Sones each delivered run-scoring singles off senior Cooper Goff.

McDaniels (11-0) allowed 11 hits, struck out six and walked two.

Poplarville was down to its last strike in the third round against Greene County, and came back to win the series, so the Hornets expect to bring their best.

“We have no quit in us,” said Keys. “We’ve worked so hard for this. We’re going to make sure it pays off.”