PEARL, Down 2–1 going to the bottom of the sixth, the Mooreville Troopers turned a one-run deficit into a three-run lead, and C. Hicks shut the door from there. Mooreville beat Poplarville 4–2 on Wednesday night at Trustmark Park to win the MHSAA Class 4A Baseball Championship.
Hicks went the distance. Seven innings, six hits, two runs (one earned), zero walks, six strikeouts, the kind of complete-game performance a coach files away as the night the season turns into a banner. He never lost the strike zone with the lead.
Poplarville struck first. T. Keys drove in a run in the top of the first to make it 1–0. Mooreville answered immediately, knotting it in the bottom half. The Hornets pushed back ahead with a single run in the fifth, and for a moment it looked like the game might hang there. It didn't.
The sixth was the inning. W. McDaniels doubled in a run to tie it. C. Goff drove home another. E. McDaniels worked a walk in front of E. Cates, whose RBI made it 4–2, and that's where it ended. Three across on six hits and two walks. Exactly what they needed and nothing wasted.
For Poplarville, C. Brown went 2-for-3 with an RBI and C. McCurdy was also 2-for-3. Keys finished 1-for-3 with the early RBI and two stolen bases. L. Sones took the loss in 5 1/3 innings, four runs, three earned, on six hits with two walks and two strikeouts.
Mooreville closes out the championship series, and the season, as Class 4A state champions. The trophy and the banner head home to Trooper Stadium.
See the full photo gallery from Game 2 at Trustmark Park at misshsaa.smugmug.com/2026/Baseball/Mooreville-Poplarville-Game-2.
Photo by Keith Warren / MHSAA.
