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The Chelsea Hornets took down Brookwood in the opening round of the Class 6A playoffs on Friday, April 18 thanks to wins of 11-4 and 4-0. (For the Reporter/Cari and Robert Dean)

By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Publisher

CHELSEA – The Chelsea Hornets celebrated their newly-installed turf on Friday, April 18 with a playoff sweep of Brookwood in the opening round of the Class 6A postseason, gracing the new field in a big way.

The Hornets won each game in different fashion, taking game one with an offensive outburst of 11 runs in an 11-4 victory and game two in a dominant pitching effort with a 4-0 shutout.

In the opening game of the series, Chelsea fell behind 1-0 in the top of the first, but the deficit was short lived thanks to a five-run second inning that put the Hornets in front for good.

A bases-loaded wild pitch brought the first run home, while a two-RBI single from Aiden Hughes quickly gave Chelsea the lead at 3-1. An RBI groundout from Chase lackey made it 4-1 before a Cade Mims RBI single added one more run for a 5-1 lead.

Following two scoreless innings, Brookwood snuck back within two runs thanks to a two-run top of the fifth.

The Hornets, however, responded with two of their own in the home half thanks to an RBI single from Mack Breazeale and another bases-loaded wild pitch that brought him home a few batters later.

Up 7-3, Chelsea added the knockout blow in the bottom of the sixth with a four-run inning creating all of the necessary separation in the 11-4 victory.

Breazeale led the way in the win with a 3-for-4 game featuring two RBIs. Mims also added three hits with one RBI. Hughes finished with multiple hits as well, putting together a 2-for-3 game with two RBIs. Aiden Craven added one hit, while Lackey and Paxton Stallings both added an RBI.

Hughes got the win on the mound, striking out eight in four innings of work, while Stallings earned the save over the final 2 2/3.

That led into a game two where Jackson Price put together a flawless game on the mound.

The pitcher went six innings and struck out 13 to help Chelsea build a lead and maintain it en route to a 4-0 shutout.

Price allowed just four hits and no runs with his 13 Ks to earn the win, while Luke Neill closed out the final inning with a scoreless showing featuring two strikeouts of his own to send the Hornets to the second round of the playoffs.

In addition to the strong pitching, the Hornets built a 2-0 lead through the first four innings thanks to an RBI single from Stallings in the top of the second and an RBI groundout from Brandon Bousman in the top of the fourth.

The insurance runs came an inning later when Mims took a ball deep over the left-field wall for a two-run home run that made it 4-0, which was more than enough cushion with the dominant effort on the mound.

Mims finished the game 2-for-4 with two RBIs on that homer, while Stallings finished 1-for-2 with an RBI. Craven and Neill each added one hit apiece, while Bousman added the RBI.

Chelsea will now take on Saraland in the second round hoping to advance to the quarterfinals.

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