By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor
MONTGOMERY – The Chelsea Hornets may have entered the day on Thursday, Oct. 24 with their spot in the Elite Eight secured, but they ended the day with their second major plaque of the season.
Chelsea won the Class 6A South regional title after it defeated the Spanish Fort Toros 3-1 in the South Super Regional semifinals before sweeping the Pelham Panthers 3-0 in their fourth meeting of the season at the Cramton Bowl Multiplex in Montgomery.
“I’m so proud of the girls and their effort,” Chelsea coach Jamie Gill said. “They’re just not backing down to the pressure, and so I’m just super proud of how they responded to the pressures of area and regional play.”
The Hornets punched their ticket to the state tournament with 3-0 wins over Theodore and Pike Road on Wednesday, Oct. 23, but to earn a region championship, they had to get through the team they just reverse-swept in the area tournament finals a week ago: Pelham.
Chelsea took early command of the first set against the Panthers with a 6-1 run. Pelham cut the deficit to three shortly after that, but the Hornets used a 5-0 run to go up 12-5 over their area foes.