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The Chelsea Hornets made an emphatic statement to win the area championship as they posted 19 runs in five innings to sweep the area series with Pelham. (For the Reporter/Robert Dean)

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

PELHAM – After earning a 4-1 win over the Pelham Panthers on Tuesday, April 8, the Chelsea Hornets entered the final day of area play with a simple mission: win, and you’re not only in the playoffs, but as Class 6A, Area 7 champions.

Chelsea took that mission to heart and left little room for doubt in the second game of the series.

The Hornets secured a 19-4 win over Pelham on Thursday, April 10 at Bobby Hayes Stadium to sweep the series and punch their ticket to a home first-round playoff series on April 17 and 18.

Chelsea got in position to claim the area championship by scoring four runs in the first inning of Tuesday’s game one.

After falling in a two-out hole, the Hornets loaded up the bases with a single and two hit batters. That paced the way for three-straight RBI singles from Paxton Stallings, Luke Neill and Brandon Bousman, the last of which scored two runs for the 4-0 lead.

From there, Aiden Hughes controlled the start of the game, throwing for five shutout innings while earning eight strikeouts against three hits and three walks.

Some control issues by the Chelsea bullpen in the seventh set up an Andrew Petrock RBI single to cut the deficit to three, but Neill came in and slammed the door shut with a line out to seal the win.

That set the stage for a dominant performance from Chelsea with everything on the line.

The Hornets wasted little time getting on the board, scoring off a Cade Mims RBI double in the top of the first to open up a 1-0 lead.

Pelham would get a pair of singles in the bottom of the first to set up Garin Fitts, and his ground ball led to an error and the tying run.

A walk and a double got Chelsea into business in the top of the second. Chase Lackey doubled on the first pitch he saw to plate both runners and make it a 3-1 lead. Mims then brought Lackey home from second with an RBI single for the 4-1 advantage.

The Hornets got three of their first four base runners to reach in the top of the third to set up the first of two dominant rallies. Lackey got hit by a pitch with the bases loaded for a run, and then Mims’ ground ball generated an error at third to put Chelsea up 6-1.

Two batters later, Hughes came home on a passed ball, and Aiden Craven followed that up with a two-run double. With one runner still on, Stallings cleared the bags by launching a two-run home run to left field, making it an 11-1 advantage after just three innings of play.

Pelham briefly got the game under control by changing pitchers at the start of the fourth. Jett Hopwood allowed no runs in his first inning on the mound and came up with a two-out RBI single to cut the deficit to 11-2.

Chelsea slammed the door shut in the top of the fifth, loading up the bases on the first three at-bats to set up a big inning.

Neill drew a bases-loaded walk to start the scoring before Bousman plated two runs with a single. Jaxson Dohrman capped off the sequence with an RBI single to put the Hornets in front 15-2.

While the next two batters got out, Mims walked on four pitches to keep the ininng alive long enough for Mack Breazeale to come to the plate. He stepped up and delivered a grand slam to emphatically cap off the scoring, increasing the lead to 19-2.

Pelham had one last rally in it, getting a hit by pitch and a Petrock single to start the inning. Dylan Smith then doubled to plate a run, but he was called out at second base. Ryan Hurd followed that up with an RBI single, but the Hornets got the next two outs to cap the 19-4 win.

Hughes finished 2-for-3 with two walks and three runs, Mims was 2-for-4 with a walk, three RBI and a run and Breazeale went 2-for-5 with a run in addition to his grand slam. Bousman was 2-for-2 with a walk, two RBI and a run.

Jackson Price got the win by allowing just one earned run in four innings off five hits and one walk.

With the loss, Pelham’s inaugural campaign under Guy Howard ends with a 14-14 record.

As for Chelsea, it finished the regular season 19-9 and will host the runner-up from Class 6A, Area 6 on April 18 and 19 at the Chelsea Sports Complex in the first round of the Class 6A playoffs.

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