By Stan Caldwell/Sports Writer

PEARL — This time there was no postseason magic for Poplarville.

Mooreville scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, snatching a victory out of the Hornets’ grasp for a 4-2 decision in Game 2 of the Class 4A State Championship Series at Trustmark Park, clinching the state title in a two-game sweep.

The Troopers (30-8) won their 10th state championship but their first since 2017. Poplarville finished its best baseball season in school history at 28-12.

“Our guys played hard; it just wasn’t enough,” said Hornet coach Ashley Graeter. “We ended up on the short end of the stick, but I can’t express how proud I am.

“We set out a vision to get to this point every year. We got here, but we just didn’t quite get it done.”

Sophomore right-hander Carson Hicks (6-4) went the distance for Mooreville, scattering five hits, striking out five, and he didn’t walk a batter.

“He had a loopy curveball,” said PHS junior Ty Keys. “We hit it, we just didn’t hit it enough. It didn’t go our way today. The last couple of innings, they made plays to get on top.”

In stark contrast to Tuesday’s first game in the series, a 15-8 slugfest, this one was a pitcher’s duel between Hicks and junior right-hander Luke Sones for Poplarville.

“I knew I was going to get the ball tonight,” said Sones. “I was keeping my slider in the zone, and my fastball was getting me groundballs. My change-up worked as a freeze pitch, and I struck out Mr. 4A (Mooreville junior Wyatt McDaniels) with it. That was pretty sick.”

Both teams notched a run in the first inning. The Hornets got an unearned run when Keys opened the game by reaching on a high throw on an ground ball. Keys stole second and third, and scored on a single by junior Chadwick Brown.

The Troopers answered in the bottom of the inning, striking quickly off Sones. Senior Major Floyd and freshman Eli McDaniels led off with back-to-back singles, and Wyatt McDaniels followed with a double just inside the leftfield line.

One run scored, but the Hornets threw out the second runner at the plate on a perfect relay to the plate from sophomore shortstop Jett Smith. Sones then got two groundouts to keep the score tied 1-1.

It stayed that way until the fifth inning when Poplarville took a 2-1 lead. But the Hornets let two good chances go to waste in the third and fourth innings.

In the third, Poplarville got a leadoff single by sophomore Carson McCurdy, but Hicks retired the next three batters, leaving the runner at third. In the fourth, a one-out single was erased with a double play.

In the fifth, junior Aiden Smith was hit by a pitch for Hicks’ only free pass of the game. Smith was sacrificed to second and took third on a fielder’s choice. Keys followed by laying a bunt down the first base line for an RBI single.

“It was something I saw earlier,” Keys said. “I noticed the first baseman was playing back. It was pretty slow, and I knew he wasn’t going to get there fast enough. We beat it out and scored a run, so it all worked out.”

In the third, Sones pitched around a leadoff single and an error on a dropped flyball in shallow rightfield, then retired the Troopers in order in the fourth and fifth innings.

But trouble erupted early in the sixth. Eli McDaniels led off by drawing a walk, one of just two allowed by Sones, the other being an intentional walk in the third.

An infield error and a wild pitch put runners at second and third, and the tying run came in on a single by senior Cooper Goff.

A sacrifice fly drove in the go-ahead run, and a single put runners at the corners, and signaled the end of Sones’ night. Sones (5-4) struck out two and walked two.

“I wasn’t tired; it was just some bad luck there,” Sones said. “I didn’t want to get pulled, but it was circumstances.”

Aiden Smith came on to pitch in relief, he got a ground ball to third, but the runner at third knocked the ball out at the plate to give Mooreville a 4-2 lead.

Hicks nailed down the win by retiring the Hornets in order in the top of the seventh, leaving Keys in the on-deck circle, denying him one last at-bat for his baseball career.

Keys has committed to the University of Miami for football, and he plans to graduate in December.

“It’s OK,” Graeter said. “That’s a great team over there, and they did what it took to win the series. We’re going to start our offseason program pretty shortly, and get back at it.”

Although Keys will be gone, Poplarville has everybody else back for next season, and the Hornets think this wasn’t just a one-year wonder.

“We’re not losing anybody except Ty Keys,” said Graeter. “We wish him the best. He’s been a huge piece for us the past three years that I’ve been here. But we’ve got a ton of kids in that locker room coming back, and some new ones coming in.

“We preach Second Timothy 4:7, ‘I’ve run the race; I’ve finished the course.’ That’s what it is. A new course starts for us in a couple of weeks, and we’re ready to get back at it.”