Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

MOUNTAIN BROOK – The Chelsea Hornets and Mountain Brook Spartans engaged in a starting pitching duel on Tuesday, Feb. 25 at Mountain Brook High School, but once the starters went to the bench, only one team capitalized on both sides of the ball.

That would be Chelsea, which won 6-0 to extend its win streak to four games in a row behind a combined no-hitter from Aiden Hughes and Luke Neill.

Hughes started out the game with six strikeouts in three innings against four walks to secure the victory, and Neill picked up right where he left off with four perfect innings and seven strikeouts.

Hughes got to work early, allowing just two base-runners in the first three innings combined as he took command of the game.

However, Chelsea couldn’t get much going on the offensive end either as a Mack Breazeale double was its only hit in the first three innings.

That all changed in the top of the fourth. After a one-out walk by Paxton Stallings, Breazeale launched a two-run home run on the first pitch that he saw to break the deadlock and take a 2-0 lead.

Mountain Brook worked a ground out on the ensuing pitch, but a hit batter and a Jaxson Dohrman double put two in scoring position for Aiden Craven to deal even more damage.

He did just that, capitalizing on a 1-1 count to hit a bases-clearing single to center and take the lead to 4-0 before the end of the inning.

However, the Hornets got into a brief bit of trouble in the home half of the frame as the first two batters of the inning walked.

Chelsea turned the ball over to Neill, and he rewarded coach Michael Stallings’ decision with three quick strikeouts to get out of the jam and keep the shutout and no-hitter alive.

From there, Cade Mims doubled to start the top of the fifth and get the Hornets in business. While the next two batters struck out, Neill came to the plate and capitalized off an error by the Spartans third baseman to not only reach base but send a runner home, increasing the lead to 5-0.

After a one-two-three bottom of the fifth, Chelsea added one last run to the total. The Hornets loaded up the bases on back-to-back one-out walks and a Chase Lackey single before Mims brought a run home with a sacrifice fly, capping the scoring with the sixth run of the day.

An infield error was the lone Chelsea blemish of the remaining two innings as Neill struck out four of the final six batters that he faced to put the stamp on the no-hitter and the shutout win.

Breazeale led the offense with a 2-for-4 day with two RBI and a run. Craven had two RBI and a run while going 1-for-2 with a walk.

The 5-4 Hornets will now play in the Perfect Game High School Showdown over the weekend. They start the tournament with a game against the DeSoto Central Jaguars on Thursday, Feb. 27 at 2 p.m. at the Hoover Met Complex.