The Chelsea High baseball team defeated No. Shore Tech last Friday, 11-10, to claim the undisputed championship of the Small Division of the Commonwealth Athletic Conference.
The Red Devils put up eight runs on the scoreboard in the opening inning, thanks primarily to a number of fielding miscues by No. Shore, and then held on in a contest that would come down to the last batter.
Eli Ortiz started for Chelsea and went three innings before Jose Pineda came on for the final four frames. Both Red Devil hurlers yielded five runs apiece.
No. Shore got three runs back in the bottom of the first and then cut the CHS lead to 8-5 with two more markers in the third. Chelsea rallied for three tallies in the sixth, but No. Shore kept it close with two of their own in their half of that inning to leave matters at 11-7 entering the seventh and final frame.
After the Red Devils were unable to add to their lead in their half of the seventh, No. Shore made things interesting and mounted a last ditch comeback effort that saw the Techmen push three runs across the plate and place the tying run on base and the winning run at bat with two outs.
However, Pineda dug deep, got tough, and fanned the last Tech hitter for the final out of the wild and wooly contest.
Offensively, Ortiz had a hit, a run, and two RBI; Luis Diaz contributed a hit, two walks, and two RBI; and Juan Encarnacion had two hits, a run, and an RBI to pace the Red Devil attack.
The victory improved Chelsea to a perfect 8-0 in the CAC Small.
On Monday under the lights at the local ballfield, the Red Devils dropped a 9-2 decision to Shawsheen Tech, which was the home team in a game that had to be played here because Shawsheen’s field is under water.
Shawsheen scored early and often, moving out to leads of 4-0 and 6-1 through the first four innings . Odanys Urbaez started for the Red Devils, allowing just five hits, and deserved a better fate, but errors by his defense allowed in a number of unearned Shawsheen runs. Odanys also swung the big bat for Chelsea with two hits, including a solo homer.
Coach Alan Beausoleil’s squad now stands at a fine 10-6 mark on the season. Chelsea was set to close out its regular season with a contest yesterday (Wednesday) against Greater Lawrence and will travel to Matignon Friday for the finale. The Red Devils then will await their seeding and opening round pairing in the MIAA state tournament which will be announced next week.