The Loyd Star Hornets (24-4) are a softball team with championship aspirations.

On Thursday at home, LS fell behind 5-2 after four innings against Lake High (16-10) in the MHSAA 2A third round playoff opener between the schools.

Coach Scott Leggett’s squad didn’t panic though and buoyed by a six-run, bottom of the sixth inning, they completed the comeback in an eventual 10-6 win.

The Hornets from Loyd Star outhit the visiting Lake Hornets by a 12-9 advantage. The home team piled up the extra base hits as Carson Hughey, Alyssa Leggett, Abby Burnette and Maddie Kate Britt all hit a double apiece and Kaylin Hester hit a triple for Loyd Star.

Britt drove in a team best three runs while Burnette and Hester had two RBIs each.

Loyd Star starting pitcher Layla Burt settled in to strike out four and walk three while giving up five earned runs in the win.

Burt, an eighth grader who started last year as a seventh grader, picked up her 300th career strikeout in the win.

The two schools met in an MHSAA 2A playoff series last year that was one by Lake two games to one. Then Lake, a team that didn’t win their region, went on to make the 2022 2A state championship series where they were swept by East Webster.

Loyd Star fans will get to root on both their teams on Friday as Lake will host game two of the softball series at 6 p.m. The Loyd Star baseball team will meet up with Lake at 7 p.m. in the second game of their MHSAA 2A second round playoff matchup. LS holds a 1-0 lead in baseball after winning 6-5 in game one on Tuesday.

Hughey got the bottom of the fifth started with a double and then scored on a single by  Burnette to make the score 5-3.

Marley Britt then singled and her and Hughey scored when Leggett blasted a double to left field. Hughey is a Copiah-Lincoln softball signee and Leggett has signed to next play at Southwest Mississippi CC.

A groundout by Burt scored Marley Britt and then a groundout by Maddie Kate Britt put the Hornets ahead for good at 6-5.

Later in the inning, Maddie Kate Britt and Ainsley Gennaro scored on Hester’s triple to put Loyd Star ahead 8-5.

Lake got one run in the seventh, but with a runner on third, Burt got a strikeout and a groundout on back-to-back batters to end the game.

The winner of this series will move on to face the winner of the Choctaw County and Puckett series in the 2A state semifinals.