Chelsea sweeps Calera

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, June 20, 2007

CALERA &8212; It&8217;s not often a pitcher can say he is undefeated, yet allow 29 runs in a double header. However, that was the case for David Ingram, head coach of the Chelsea 5-6 year-old All-Stars, last Thursday in the Minor A (coach pitch division) District 4 tournament.

Ingram and his team of 12 swept past Calera in a best-of-three championship series at Oliver Park, squeezing out a 17-16 game one victory, followed by a 12-1 win in game two to finish the tournament 7-0.

&8220;Everybody told me we were the favorite going into the tournament. We were just confident,&8221; said Ingram, whose regular season team posted a 16-0 record.

Chelsea&8217;s team was made of 12 players chosen from the park&8217;s seven regular season teams. One standout player was second baseman Alex Foshee, who made numerous defensive stops at second base to help secure a game-one victory in the championship.

&8220;If we had to have a MVP, he&8217;d be it,&8221; Ingram said. &8220;He leads by example. A lot of kids look up to him.&8221;

Game one was a back-and-forth battle before Jacob Tinnell cleared the bases with two-outs to turn a 10-9 deficit into a 13-10 lead in the top of the fourth inning. Calera cut the deficit to a run in the bottom of the fourth, but was unable to regain the lead.

Calera and Vincent each collected three wins on the week, while Columbiana and Montevallo each had two. Wilsonville was 0-5.

The tournament concludes the season for Chelsea and the other Minor A All-Star clubs.

&8220;Unfortunately this is as far as this age group can go.

It&8217;s a shame because these boys could go far and they are not ready to quit playing,&8221; Ingram said.

This week in baseball

The Calera 6-and-under tournament was the first of numerous tournaments hosted in Shelby County this summer, as play continues across the county this week.

Chelsea is hosting the Dixie Youth Baseball All-Star tournament (ages 7-8), which began Friday and ends this Saturday. Alabaster will host the United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA) All-Star Tournament (all age divisions) at Veterans Park June 22-24. The Shelby County Dixie Youth Baseball Association will host the Minor League Sub District 4 Tournament (ages 9-10) on June 23-28.