Submitted photo
Chelsea Softball
Chelsea won four straight games to win the Class 6A state championship.
Chelsea ran the table en route to its second softball state championship in school history, its first since 2012.
The Lady Hornets defeated Oxford, 3-1, on Friday at Lagoon Park in Montgomery, to notch its fourth straight win in the Class 6A state tournament.
The final game did not lack excitement, and was tied at 1-1, heading into the seventh.
That’s when senior Mallory Bradford landed the decisive blow, hitting a tie-breaking, two-run home run to give Chelsea the lead for the first time in the game.
Sarah Cespedes was a force on the mound all season and all tournament long for Chelsea, and held Oxford to one run on four hits, while striking out four in the final game.
Chelsea single-handedly eliminated its Area 10 rival, beating Oxford by an identical 3-1 score earlier in the day to send the Yellow Jackets to the loser’s bracket. In all, the teams met seven times during the year, with the Lady Hornets winning the first two and the last two.
In the championship contest, Alex Smithson picked up three hits and scored a run. Tristan Ziannis picked up a pair of hits and Lexi Preisendorfer drove in a run.
On Thursday, Chelsea opened the tournament with wins over Dothan and Southside-Gadsden.
The Lady Hornets finished the season 31-12 under first-year coach Heather Lee.
