Hornets move on to final day of state tournament
MONTGOMERY – After three hard-fought games on Wednesday, the Chelsea High School softball team has one day remaining in its season. And that’s as much as they could ask for.
“It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon,” said Chelsea coach Heather Lee. “I really think things are starting to click for us here. Going into tomorrow, if we play Chelsea softball, we should win games.”
Chelsea began its run in the Class 6A state tournament – a double-elimination format -- with a win over Walker on Wednesday at Lagoon Park in Montgomery, followed by a tight loss to Hazel Green. The Hornets then rebounded to eliminate Helena in the nightcap.
The Hornets rallied to knock off Walker, 4-3, in the opener behind the strength of a pair of home runs by freshman catcher Brooke Burback.
Burback got Chelsea on the board with a two-run homer to left in the first inning to put her team up 2-0. Walker responded with a big third inning, as a double and hit by pitch led to a three-run home run -- a line shot over the right field fence by Tameyah Griffin -- to put Walker ahead, 3-2.
Chelsea tied the game in the bottom of the third on Camryn Smith's double, bringing home Allie Miller.
Burback delivered the final blow in the fifth, as she belted another long home run to left, the second one much farther than the first, to give Chelsea the 4-3 edge that would hold for the duration.
“She’s fun to watch,” said Lee. “She’s fun to coach. She competes and that’s what I want. She is one of the most relaxed players I’ve ever coached. She does such a great job in the (batter’s) box of blocking everything out and knowing exactly what pitch she wants to hit and waiting for it and making adjustments. That’s very unique in a freshman.”
In the second game, the first several innings went by without a hitch before Hazel Green took the lead in the seventh and won, 2-0.
Hazel Green racked up eight hits in the game, but its best chance to score before the final inning came in the sixth, when the Trojans loaded the bases with one out, before Chelsea pitcher Sarah Cespedes rose to the occasion and struck out the next two batters to end the inning, with the score still locked at 0-0.
The Trojans broke through in the top of the seventh, though, as back-to-back errors in the infield allowed a run to come around to score. Maddie Cartron advanced to second on the first error and came around to score on the ensuing one.
Three batters later, Destiny Drotzur lifted a fly ball to right field. Chelsea's Morgan Seay tracked it down and had the ball in her glove for a brief moment, before she dove and hit the ground, causing the ball to squirt out and bring home another run for the 2-0 lead.
Chelsea put a pair of runners on in the bottom of the seventh, but was unable to cash in its chance.
After the loss, Chelsea was sent to the loser’s bracket, where it faced Helena in the nightcap on Wednesday in an elimination game. The two teams competed as area foes this season, so the meeting was the sixth between the two, with Helena taking three of the first five.
Chelsea evened the line for good with a convincing 9-1 win, as the Hornets jumped ahead with a five-run third inning and tacked on insurance runs the rest of the way.
Miller, Smith and Lexi Serio each drove in single runs in the third before Morgan Seay’s two-run single gave the Hornets a 5-0 lead. Helena tacked on its only run in the fifth.
Smith added another RBI single in the fifth and Kat Shoop’s sacrifice fly made it 7-1. Burback continued her impressive day with a two-run single in the six to wrap up the scoring. Burback drove in five runs on the day.
Cespedes went the distance in the circle for Chelsea, as she hurled 21 innings on the day. She allowed just six runs (three earned) on 16 total hits, while piling up 25 strikeouts.
Chelsea was not the odds-on favorite coming into the season to repeat its 2016 state championship performance, as the Hornets returned just two primary starters (Miller and Sarah Cespedes) from a season ago. But heading into the final day, they have just as good a chance as anybody.
“We’re here and I don’t know how many people thought we’d be here,” Lee said. “If I got asked one time I got asked 500 times. ‘Coach, what’s this year going to be like? Rebuilding year.’
“No it’s not. These girls are gritty, they are scrappy and they want to win, and they compete.”
Chelsea will take to the field once again on Thursday to take on No. 1 Daphne at 10:30 a.m. Any loss on Thursday will eliminate Chelsea from contention, but four wins on Thursday would allow the Hornets to lift a blue map once again.
Hazel Green and Gardendale are the two 6A teams remaining in the winner's bracket. The winner of the Chelsea-Daphne game will take on the loser of that game at 1:30 p.m. Thursday.