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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

CHELSEA – The Chelsea Hornets opened the doors of the Chelsea Sports Complex to some of the top teams in the entire state of Alabama, and they held their own against the elite competition with a 3-1 weekend in pool play.

Chelsea defeated the Thompson Warriors 4-2, the Auburn High School Tigers 6-4 and Alexandria Cubs 9-6 with their only loss of the weekend coming to the defending national champion Orange Beach Makos.

In the first game of the tournament against Thompson, Chelsea opened up a 1-0 lead in the top of the third off a one-out RBI single from Katie Hopson.

The Warriors equalized in the bottom of the third with a run off a Kelsey Burden fly out and held the Hornets scoreless in the top of the fourth to set them up well for the bottom half of the inning.

After a two-out single by Aubree Hooks and a passed ball that put the courtesy runner Destinee Ealy on second, Morgan Adolphus sent a single to right to give Thompson a 2-1 lead.

However, Lorelei Beck came up big down the stretch to help Chelsea come back and win.

With two on and two out from a Madeline Kelley single and a Caroline Brown walk, Beck singled to short to score Olivia Palfreeman for the tying run.

The Hornets kept the Warriors at bay the rest of the way and got another chance to strike in the top of the seventh. With a ghost runner on second to start the inning, Hopson singled to put runners on the corners.

Chelsea took a strikeout ahead of an intentional walk to get around Sydney Carroll. That loaded up the bases for Beck, who worked a 2-0 count and launched a line drive to left for a two-run double that gave the Hornets a 4-2 lead for good.

Beck finished 2-for-4 with three RBI, Hopson was 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run and Kelley went 2-for-3.

Beck also got the win in the circle, allowing just one earned run off two total runs, seven hits and a walk. Emma Parmley took the save with three quick outs in the bottom of the seventh.

Auburn got the better of Chelsea to start the second game of the day as the Tigers got an RBI single shortly into the top of the second for a 1-0 lead.

A two-out single by Lauren Hilyer set up Parmley to hit a grounder to third and reach on an error, the same one that allowed Hilyer to score and tie the game at 1-1.

Chelsea rallied in the bottom of the third to take the lead for good. Palfreeman started the inning with a single before Hopson kicked off the rally with an RBI triple for the go-ahead run. Brown then secured an RBI single to increase the lead and put a runner on for Carroll, who launched a two-run home run to make the lead 5-1.

While the next two batters got out, a Hilyer single and stolen base set up Parmley to bring her home with an RBI double, putting the Hornets in front 6-1 at the end of the inning.

Auburn made one last stand in the top of the seventh with a pair of RBI doubles to cut the gap to 6-4, but Alaysha Crews came in and shut down the Tigers by getting the final two outs.

Hilyer finished 2-for-3 with two runs while Carroll’s home run gave her two RBI and a run in a 1-for-3 game.

Carroll also took the win in the circle with six strikeouts in 6.1 innings against four runs, three of which were earned, seven hits and three walks.

The Hornets started off their day with one of their toughest challenges of the season in Orange Beach, and a 4-0 first-inning deficit set the table for the Makos to pull away and secure a 13-3 win in six innings. Hopson finished 2-for-4 with a run while Carroll had two RBI for the second-straight game.

Chelsea got off to a much better start in the final game of pool play against Alexandria. After Hilyer started the bottom of the second with a first-pitch double, Parmley secured a two-run home run for the early 2-0 lead.

That lead quickly became 3-0 after a two-out RBI double from Hopson brought home Palfreeman from third.

The third inning passed without a run, but back-to-back singles from Kelley and Sadie Wilson gave Allie Scott a pair of runners to play with. She kicked off a big rally for the Hornets with an RBI double that Hopson followed with one of her own. Brown capped the sequence with an RBI single for the 7-0 lead.

Two batters later, Brown came home on a fly out from Beck to make it an 8-0 ball game.

Alexandria cut the deficit in half with a string of offense in the top of the fifth, but Scott helped Chelsea respond in the home half of the inning with an RBI single that put her team up 9-4.

The Cubs plated two more runs with a two-out single in the top of the sixth, but they popped out two pitches later to end the game.

Hopson and Scott each finished 2-for-3 as Hopson had one walk, two RBI and a run while Scott earned three RBI and a run. Kelly also had a multi-hit game with a 2-for-2 performance alongside a walk, and Parmley earned two RBI off her lone hit of the day, the home run.

Crews went the distance in the circle to get the win against six runs, three of which were earned, nine hits and five walks.

Chelsea improve to 24-11-1 overall with the results and will close out the regular-season portion of area play on Tuesday, April 15 with a top-10 battle against the Helena Huskies. That game will start at 4:30 p.m. at Helena High School.