The Chelsea High baseball team pulled out a dramatic victory in the bottom of the seventh inning Friday when Jason Reyes delivered a two-out, two-run single to give the Red Devils an exciting 4-3 triumph over Pope John.
“It truly was a clutch win for us,” said CHS head coach Alan Beausoleil. “We were down to our last out with only one runner on base, but our hitters persevered and we managed to take the game.”
The bottom of the seventh began inauspiciously when the CHS lead off hitter grounded out, Dan Velastegui reached on an error, and the next Red Devil struck out.
However, a little Spring Magic occurred in the ensuing moments. Carlos Vega drew a base on balls, and both he and Velastegui advanced to second and third respectively on a passed ball to move into scoring position. Reyes then came through with the deciding stroke of the bat to earn the walk off victory for the Red Devils.
The contest had been a well-played pitcher’s duel up to that point. Vega had tossed all seven innings for Chelsea in fine fashion, allowing just five hits and three runs, all of which came in the Pope John half of the second.
“Carlos pitched a great game for us and our defense didn’t commit an error all game, which was really key in a close game like this one,” noted Beausoleil.
Chelsea had chipped away at the PJ lead with single tallies in the third and fifth. Reyes earned an RBI in the third with a bases loaded walk and Vega helped his own cause in the fifth with an RBI base hit that delivered Brandon Morales, who had singled and stolen second. That made the score 3-2 and set the stage for the ultimate CHS heroics in the seventh.
Two days earlier the Red Devils engaged in a contest of a different sort, but likewise came out on top, 11-6, over Minuteman Regional. Chelsea grabbed an early 4-0 advantage. The Devils scored twice in the opening inning thanks to four bases on balls from the Minuteman pitcher. They added another marker in the second when Ryan Motta, who had singled and moved to third, scored on a ground out by Juan Encarnacion and made it 4-0 in the third when Odonys Urbaez singled, stole second, and scored on a base hit by Reyes.
However, Minuteman put up two runs on the board in the fourth, though Chelsea responded in its half of the frame with a single tally when Encarnacion singled and came around on a double by Velastegui.
All of this served only as a prelude to a wild fifth inning. Minuteman took the lead with four runs in its half of the frame, most of which were aided and abetted by some CHS fielding miscues. However, the Devils responded in like fashion and then some with six runs of their own in the bottom of the fifth in which most of the CHS markers came across with two outs.
Manny Ferrer, Encarnacion, and Velastegui all came through with two-out, RBI singles, but it was Morales who delivered the big blow, an inside the park homer to right field (on which Brandon easily scored) that cleared the bases for three RBI.
Morales himself proved the biggest beneficiary of his big bat, as he was the Red Devil pitcher who now was staked to an 11-6 advantage, which he held the rest of the way. Morales’s line showed him allowing just five hits and striking out 10 in his route going effort over the seven innings.
“Brandon threw a superb game for us,” said Beausoleil. “Some sloppy play behind him allowed Minuteman to score some runs, but he stayed positive and never lost his focus.”
The Red Devils, who now are 4-2 on the season, have a busy stretch ahead with four games in seven days. They were set to host North Shore Tech yesterday (Wednesday) and travel to Whittier today in a makeup of Monday’s rained out affair. They stay on the road Friday to Greater Lawrence and return home Tuesday to host Lynn Tech.
Girls track team swamps Gr. Lawrence
The Chelsea High girls track and field team cruised to an easy win over Greater Lawrence Monday, 122-5.
“We actually got the meet in despite the rain and wind,” said CHS head coach Kim Huffer. “It was a soggy day, but the girls were able to pull off our second conference victory.
“It was a team win, with 28 girls contributing to the final score,” added the coach.
The top scorer for the Lady Red Devils was Shuly Sejour with 15 points, with first place finishes in the 100 high hurdles, the long jump, and the 200 meter dash.
Thien-Ly Che added 13 points with firsts in the 400 low hurdles & triple jump and a second place in the 100 hurdles. Shanice Hernandez was a double winner, taking first place honors in the discus and shot put.
Arandeni Ramos outran the field in the two mile and also was a member of the winning 4 x 400 relay team. Zuleima Castillo sped to first place in the 100 meter dash and took second in the javelin. She also was part of the triumphant 4 x 100 relay quartet.
Patricia Guardado took top spot in the mile; Quinnee Valenzona raced to first in the 400 dash to go with her second place effort in the 400 hurdles and her third place finish in the triple jump; Tatyana Almeida grabbed first in the 800 meter run and second in the triple jump; and
Cristal Rodriguez placed first in the javelin and second in the 800.
Other point scorers for Chelsea were: Gabriela Ramirez (3rd in the 400 hurdles); Vanessa Mercado (2nd in the two mile); Tracy Pereira (3rd in the two mile); Kiana Parra (3rd in the 100 dash); Katherine Villagran (2nd in the mile); Chimene Agogo (2nd in the 400 dash and 3rd in the long jump); Joy Mejia (3rd in the 400 dash); Sofia Falcon (3rd in the 800), Karolyn (2nd in the 200 dash and a member of the winning 4 x 100 relay foursome); Kenia Santana (3rd in the 200 dash and part of the winning 4 x 100 relay); Daisy Mejia (3rd in the javelin); Jessica Arbaiza (2nd in the shot put); Bahiya Nasuuna (3rd in the shot put); Rebeca Torrento (2nd in the discus); Alicia Cosme (3rd in the discus), and Aminata Bajinka (2nd in the long jump).
“I’m impressed at how this team is progressing,” noted Huffer. “The girls were motivated during April vacation and came back with a vengeance. We had 22 personal bests set in this meet despite the tough weather. It’s exciting to see how the freshmen are improving daily and starting to help contribute to our scoring. I’m looking forward to see how they continue to improve throughout the rest of the season.”
The Lady Red Devils were set to take on Greater Lowell yesterday (Wednesday). They travel to Whittier to face both PMA and the Whittier Wildcats next Tuesday and then return home to face Mystic Valley next Thursday.
CHS boys track team edged by Gr. Lawrence
The Chelsea High boys track and field team dropped a close 71-65 encounter to Greater Lawrence Monday.
The top performer for the Red Devils was Luis Hernandes, who accumulated 20 points with four victories: the 400 low hurdles in 63.1, the 110 high hurdles in 17.1, the high jump with a leap of 5’ 4”, and the long jump with a jump of 19’ 2.”
Senior captain Edgar Ocana led a CHS sweep in the mile with a personal best of 5:20. Teammate Kevin Ortiz was second in 5:28 and Jeffrey Estrada was third in 5:33.
Red Devil captain Rony Gomez slung the discus 103’ to win that event. The 4 x 100 quartet of Kevin Luu, Zavier Martin, Brian Horn, and Mohamed Qasim defeated their GL counterparts in 51.1 seconds.
Captain Brandon Rath took second in the 400 meters and Captain Francisco Colindres snared a second in the 800 meters. Brian Pliego grabbed second in the javelin with a throw of 118’.
John Fabro scored with a third in the long jump at 18’7” and also tied for second in the high jump. Estrada was also second in the triple jump in which newcomer Brendon Horn took third.
The 4 x 400 quartet of Colindres, B. Rath, Ortiz, and Brendan Horn won in a time of 4:00.4.
“Greater Lawrence was more focused and more determined to win,” said CHS head coach Don Fay. “The final outcome was not what we expected and hopefully we can rebound from this.”
Fay and his crew, who are now 1-1 on the season, were set to face Gr. Lowell yesterday (Wednesday).