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Chelsea pitcher Connor Ball tossed a no-hitter featuring 14 strikeouts to help the Hornets pick up an area win on Tuesday, April 6. (For the Reporter/Cari Dean)

By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Managing Editor 

HOMEWOOD – Stepping onto the mound looking for his second area win in a week for the Chelsea Hornets, Connor Ball didn’t disappoint on Tuesday, April 6.

The senior lefty put together one of his best performances of the season against the Homewood Patriots thanks to a no-hitter that featured 14 strikeouts to help the Hornets pick up a 4-0 area win.

It marked the fourth win in a row and seventh in the last 10 games for Chelsea, who improved to 17-13 overall on the season and 3-0 in area play.

Ball’s performance saw him pick up the complete-game win after allowing just two walks and striking out 14 of the 25 batters he faced in the game.

He also had two hits at the plate for a Chelsea team that totaled 13 hits in the game.

But none of those 13 hits was any bigger than two-run bomb from Jackson Webster in the top of the fifth. Up 2-0 before that, his home run gave the Hornets and Ball even more breathing room to close out the shutout victory.

Early in the game, Chelsea struck on an RBI single from Christian Kallaher in the top of the second to take a 1-0 lead before Webster came back an inning later for his first hit of the game with an RBI single to make it 2-0 through three innings.

Webster led the way with a 3-for-4 game featuring three RBIs, while Reid Gongwer, Ball and Kallaher all had two hits. Adam Reaves, Chris McNeill, Kaleb Hester and Kaden Weldon each had one hit in the win.

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