Hornets advance to state tournament

Chelsea took care of business, beating Gardendale 6-3 on Friday afternoon at Tuscaloosa’s Sokol Park in the North Central Regional.

The win sends the Chelsea softball program to the state tournament for the second consecutive season, this time under first-year head coach Heather Lee.

“I feel like I’m along for the ride a little bit,” she said.

The Hornets jumped on Gardendale from the outset, putting up three runs in the first inning, as Allie Miller, Mallory Bradford, and Alex Smithson all drove in runs with hits.

Pitcher Sarah Cespedes made the lead hold up, completing a dominant run at the regional with a complete game victory.

“I told her she was outstanding in the circle this weekend,” Lee said.

She continued, “You can’t ask better out of a sophomore. She has such command of her pitches.”

Cespedes allowed just a single hit and no runs in two wins on Thursday, and allowed three runs in the sixth inning against Gardendale, but never surrendered the lead.

Lexi Preisendorfer put the Hornets ahead 4-0 in the fifth with an RBI single. But when the Rockets answered with three of their own, Chelsea came right back in the bottom of the sixth.

Allie Miller plated a run with an RBI triple, and later scored on a groundout, to take the game to its final margin.

The initial 3-spot in the first inning was a big help in holding on to the lead for the whole contest.

“That’s something we’ve talked about all year and really wanted to work on. I firmly believe that if you put pressure on first, you’re in their head,” Lee said.

Chelsea earned its berth in the state tournament, and left no doubt that it belongs there.

“I couldn’t be more proud for them, because I feel like they’ve worked super hard and they deserve to be there,” Lee said.