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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

SMITHS STATION – After taking a 2-1 win over Opelika on Thursday, March 14 thanks to a two-run triple by Paxton Stallings, the Chelsea Hornets kept their winning ways going with wins over the Smiths Station Panthers and Stanhope Elmore Mustangs.

The Hornets beat Smiths Station 4-2 to start the day on Saturday, March 16 before handling Stanhope Elmore 7-2 at Smiths Station High School for their third straight win.

Chelsea earned the win over the Class 7A Panthers with a dominant three-run first inning.

Chase Lackey hit a leadoff single to start the game followed quickly by a Caden Mims double. Two batters later with both runners in scoring position, a groundout by Stallings allowed Lackey to score.

That was the first of three straight scoring plays as Mack Breazeale and Jackson Price followed that with back-to-back RBI singles to put the Hornets up 3-0 after the first inning.

Chelsea had to wait until the top of the fourth to extend its lead. Ethan Prickett drew a one-out walk and later advanced to second off a Brett Hackett single. He then stole third and came home on a balk to make the lead four.

Smiths Station then got on the board in the bottom of the fifth with an RBI single with two on and two out, making the score 4-1.

In the following inning, the Panthers cut the deficit to two with a run scored off a groundout, but they couldn’t get closer than that as the Hornets sealed the 4-2 win with a one-two-three bottom of the seventh.

Grant Hill went the distance and earned the win, going seven innings while allowing just one earned run. He took five strikeouts against five hits, one walk and two runs.

Chelsea then followed that up with a five-run win over Stanhope Elmore after taking the lead in the bottom of the third.

After Mims was hit by a pitch to start the inning, Stallings hit a one-out double to bring him home and start the scoring.

Two batters later, an error by the Mustangs catcher allowed Breazeale to score and make the lead 2-0.

Stanhope Elmore cut the lead in half in the final play of the top of the fifth with a run in the midst of a 6-4-3 double play.

While the Hornets didn’t respond in the bottom of the fifth, they held the Mustangs scoreless in the top of the sixth and ensured Stanhope Elmore didn’t tie the game.

Price hit an RBI single after a leadoff single by Brezeale to make the score 3-1. Soon after, Chelsea scored on four straight plays to pull away for the win.

Parker Sisco hit an RBI single on the first pitch of his at-bat, and then Lackey hit an RBI double to increase the lead to four. That quickly became six after a pair of runs off passed balls.

The Mustangs got a run back in the top of the seventh, but they couldn’t get any closer than that and the Hornets walked away with the 7-2 win.

Silas Osbourn earned the win with three strikeouts in 4.1 innings, allowing just one run, four hits and four walks. Stallings also earned three strikeouts as he took the save, allowing one run, three hits and a walk across 2.2 innings of work.

Lackey went 3-4 with a run and an RBI to lead the offense in the win over Stanhope Elmore.

Chelsea will next host back-to-back home games as it faces Mountain Brook on Tuesday, March 19 at 6:30 p.m. and Hoover on Wednesday, March 20 at 6:30 p.m.