By BAKER ELLIS / Sports Editor

CHELSEA – Michael Stalling is entering his seventh season as the head coach of the Chelsea baseball Hornets. In the span of time Stallings has been at the helm at Chelsea, he has seen ebbs and flows as far as production is concerned, but coming off a playoff berth a season ago and with the top two pitchers returning for their senior seasons, Stallings is optimistic about this season’s potential.

One of the hurdles this Chelsea will have to face is replacing their team captain and leader in Austin Chadwick, which will not be easy. Chadwick finished his senior season with a .395 batting average, 26 stolen bases, a .945 OPS and was a First Team All-Shelby County selection as well. Chelsea will also need to replace the production from Tyler Blackburn and Jacob Green.

“We lost some key seniors from that group,” Stallings said. “But at the same time our two area guys on the mound are back as well as our first baseman Jake Harkins.”

The two pitchers Chelsea will rely on this season primarily are Joel Cheatwood and Jake Posey. Both Cheatwood and Posey recently signed college offer sheets to continue playing baseball in college, and the two helped lead the Hornets to the 6A playoffs a season ago. Posey finished his junior year with 56 innings pitched, a 2.37 ERA and 62 strikeouts. Cheatwood led the Hornets with a 2.18 ERA, which he accrued over 48 innings pitched.

The primary difference on this team from last year, from an offensive perspective, will be a difference in speed on the base paths. Last year Chadwick and Blackburn especially brought lightning-speed and were constant threats to get on base or steal. That will look different this season.

“We’ve got a little bit of speed this year, but it’s going to be a different type of team,” Stallings said. “I think we’re going to be a better hitting team this year than we were last year, so that will help compensate for that loss of speed.

Riley Watkins, who saw time as a freshman a season ago at first base, is another exciting talent Stallings is excited to watch develop. The Hornets will look to get back to the playoffs for the second consecutive year in their three-team area.