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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

The Chelsea Hornets picked up a trio of midweek wins in contrasting ways as they used an offensive explosion to defeat the Calera Eagles before outdueling the Brookwood Panthers in a one-run game and beating the Moody Blue Devils.

Chelsea beat Calera 12-1 on Tuesday, March 4 in a county battle before defeating Brookwood 3-2 on Wednesday, March 5 in a pair of games at the Chelsea Sports Complex. The Hornets went on to defeat one of the top teams in Class 5A in Moody by a score of 8-5 on Thursday, March 6.

In the first game of the week against Calera, the Hornets loaded up the bases on the first three pitches of the game thanks to a Katie Hopson walk, Alaysha Crews single and Sydney Carroll hit by pitch.

Two batters later, Caroline Brown opened up the scoring with a two-run double on her first at-bat of the season since wrapping up her year with Chelsea basketball. Lorelei Beck then plated a pair of runs with a ground out to make the lead 4-0 after one inning.

After Emma Parmley got around a pair of base runners to get three-straight outs, the Hornets found themselves in a two-out hole to start the bottom of the second. However, Hopson changed the trajectory of the inning with a triple to set up an RBI double from Crews.

Chelsea led 5-0 after the second inning, but Calera changed that zero in the top of the third. Megan Overton was hit by a pitch to start the inning, and after a ground out and a bunt single, she stood on third with one out and Mia Wade on first. Kinley Rodgers hit into a fly out on the next play, but Overton came home after tagging up to cut the deficit to 5-1.

However, a pair of walks to start the bottom of the third led to a one-out RBI double from Wilson. The next two batters walked to plate another run, and the Hornets would soon enough take the lead to 9-1 off a fly out and a bases-loaded hit by pitch.

Parmley then struck out the side in the top of the fourth before Wilson got another one-out hit. This time, it led to an error that plated the 10th run of the game. Hopson then finished off the win with a two-run home run to make it a 12-1 game.

Hopson finished 2-for-2 with two walks, three RBI and three runs, Crews was 2-for-3 with two RBI and a run and Brown earned two RBI and a run off a 1-for-2 day.

Parmley secured eight strikeouts across five innings of one-run softball while allowing four hits and three walks.

Chelsea took that momentum into a tight win against Brookwood.

Hopson started out the scoring in a big way with a solo home run to lead off the bottom of the first.

However, a single and a double to start the second from the Panthers led to them tying the game at 1-1 off an RBI ground out.

Chelsea couldn’t respond in the bottom half of the inning but made a big impact in the bottom of the third.

With a runner on third and one out, Brown ripped a triple on the first pitch she saw to bring Hopson home. Carroll then reached on an error that scored Brown to make the lead 3-1.

The Hornets shut down Brookwood over the next three innings before the Panthers threatened to rally in the top of the seventh. However, after a two-out RBI single, Brown got a runner out at second to seal the 3-2 win.

Lorelei Beck helped keep the Panthers at bay as she took the complete game win with seven strikeouts against two runs, six hits and two walks. Hopson went 2-for-3 at the plate with a home run and an additional run.

Chelsea then finished out its run of three games in three days in Moody, and after a pair of lead-off walks to start the second, Hopson overcame a two-out hole to get a two-run double for the early 2-0 lead.

That advantage held through a defensive duel until a pop out brought the Blue Devils’ first run of the game home in the bottom of the fifth. That run came thanks to a lead-off walk as Moody cut the deficit to 2-1.

The Hornets responded emphatically after a pair of singles and an error loaded up the bases with no outs in the top of the sixth. Lauren Hilyer drove two runs home with an RBI single, and two batters later, Allie Scott brought another run in off a sacrifice fly.

Hopson finished off the sequence with a two-run home run to make the lead 7-1 going into the bottom of the sixth.

Sadie Wilson then took the lead to 8-1 off an RBI double in the top of the seventh, but the Blue Devils wouldn’t go down quietly after that.

A lead-off double turned into a two-run home run with one out, and Moody rallied with two outs to cut the deficit to 8-5 off a two-run double. However, the Hornets recovered to get the final out and seal the three-run win.

Hopson went 2-for-4 with four RBI and two runs and Wilson finished 2-for-2 with an RBI and a run coming off the bench.

Crews took the win with six strikeouts in seven innings against three runs, eight hits and three walks.

Chelsea improved to 10-3 on the year ahead of its weekend at the Jag Classic in Hoover.

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