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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

PELHAM – The Chelsea Hornets stepped up in a crucial area contest on the road and pulled away for a victory over the Pelham Panthers.

Emma Parmley’s strong day at the plate and Lorelei Beck’s dominance in the pitching circle helped fuel the Hornets to a 14-5 win over Pelham on Thursday, March 13 at Pelham High School.

Parmley finished a triple shy of the cycle as she went 3-for-4 with a grand slam, single and double. As for Beck, she struck out 10 batters across seven innings while working around three earned runs, four total runs, seven hits and two walks to take the complete-game victory.

Before the offense started ramping up, the two teams engaged in a tight pitchers’ duel. Both Beck and the Panthers’ Emery Plunkett kept the opposing offenses scoreless through two innings, but it was Beck striking out the side in the bottom of the second that gave way to a big top of the third for her offense.

Katie Hopson’s one-out walk and Caroline Brown’s single put a pair of runners on, but the Hornets soon found themselves in a big two-out hole. However, a walk followed by an error plated the opening two runs of the game and kept the inning alive long enough for Chelsea’s bats to start firing.

Alaysha Crews and Madeline Kelley then hit back-to-back singles, with Kelly’s taking the lead to 3-0. On the very next pitch with the bases loaded, Parmley launched a grand slam to left field to burst the game wide open with a 7-0 lead.

The Hornets orchestrated another one-two-three inning in the bottom of the third before another big two-out offensive play. This time, it was Sydney Carroll, as the Mississippi State signee helped Chelsea bounce back from getting out on their first two trips to the plate.

Carroll dropped a solo home run over the center field fence to increase the lead to 8-0.

Pelham responded by getting on the board in the home half of the fourth. A Taylor Howard lead-off walk gave way to a single from Jordan Young, and both runners advanced during the ensuing at-bat.

That set up Plunkett to score Howard from third with an RBI single and cut the deficit to 8-2.

Crews scored quickly in the top of the fifth to get on base, and two plays later, after a Parmley single, Allie Scott worked a bunt into a run as she made the lead 9-2.

The Panthers then loaded up the bases in the bottom half of the inning off an error and a pair of singles from Howard and Young, and Plunkett once again delivered with an RBI single to cut the gap to 9-3.

Chelsea continued to work in the top of the sixth, scoring off an error following a Beck single, getting another run off a one-out RBI triple from Crews and taking the lead to 12-3 off a line out as Crews scored after she tagged up.

The Hornets made one final mark at the plate in the top of the seventh as they got a pair of hits from Hopson and Brown to start the inning before scoring off a passed ball and a fly out for the 14-3 lead.

Howard’s RBI triple and a run off a Plunkett line out gave Pelham a last bit of offense before Chelsea sealed the 14-5 win.

In addition to Parmley’s 3-for-4 day, Crews finished a perfect 4-for-4 with an RBI and three runs. Brown went 3-for-5 with two runs and Hopson was 2-for-4 with a walk and two runs. Beck, Sophia Wilson and Kelley also each had two RBI.

As for the Panthers, Plunkett finished 2-for-4 with three RBI, Young was 2-for-4 and Howard went 2-for-2 with two walks, two runs and an RBI.

Chelsea would go on to finish 2-1 in the Hoover Round Robin tournament, beating McAdory 9-3 and Cullman 12-0 before losing 8-3 against Alexandria on Friday, March 15. The Hornets would drop to 13-8-1 after a Monday, March 17 loss to Pell City by a score of 3-2.

Pelham went 1-1 in the same tournament with a 10-6 loss against Jasper and a 7-5 win over Silverdale.