Chelsea High’s baseball team secured its first victory of the season Monday night, defeating Notre Dame of Lawrence 12-2 under the lights at Chelsea Stadium.
The Red Devils dominated from the start, jumping on Notre Dame’s opening pitcher for nine runs in the first inning alone. The game ended after four and a half innings due to the mercy rule, with Chelsea maintaining a 10-run advantage.
On the mound, starter Daniel Velastegui pitched the first four innings while Jason Pineda handled the fifth, combining for a no-hitter. Velastegui struck out six batters, and both of Notre Dame’s runs—one scored against each Chelsea pitcher—were unearned.
Offensively, Jason Pineda led the way with two hits, three runs, and an RBI. Pedro Hernandez contributed a double, two walks, and two RBI, while Carlos Ramos added two walks, two runs scored, and one RBI.
Chelsea’s season had opened the previous Thursday against Greater Lawrence, resulting in a difficult 12-3 loss in 11 innings played under the stadium lights. The Red Devils trailed 1-0 through much of the game before tying it 1-1 in the sixth inning when Nelson Salguero doubled, advanced to third on an outfield misplay, and scored on a wild pitch.
Starting pitcher Carlos Vega delivered an impressive performance, allowing just two hits over eight innings, with Greater Lawrence’s only run being unearned.
Greater Lawrence scored twice in the ninth to go up 3-1, but Chelsea refused to quit. With two outs in their half of the ninth, Ramos walked and moved to second on a wild pitch before scoring when Armando Montes’s grounder to short was mishandled and thrown away. Montes then reached second and scored the tying run on consecutive wild pitches. Though Chelsea got a potential winning run to third, they could not score. A runner reached second in the tenth but was left stranded.
Greater Lawrence clinched the victory with a decisive inning in the eleventh.
“Overall we’ve played well so far, which is very encouraging so early in the season,” explained CHS head coach Alan Beausoleil. “We lost all but three of our starters from last year’s team, so we expected there to be a bit of a learning curve for our younger players. But they’ve come along very well in a short period of time.”
The team travels to Mystic Valley today (Thursday) and to North Shore Tech tomorrow. At Chelsea Stadium, they will host Maimonides under the lights at 7:15 on Tuesday, then face East Boston at 10:00 Wednesday morning. Notre Dame of Lawrence returns for a rematch under the lights at 6:30, marking Chelsea’s third home game in three days.
Boys track team runs past Lynn Tech
Chelsea High’s boys outdoor track team opened its season with a victory, defeating Lynn Tech 94-36 on Tuesday afternoon.
Ricardo Maldonado contributed 20 points by winning four events: the 100 meter dash in 11.5, the 200 dash in 24.2, the high jump at 5-10, and the javelin at 139 feet.
Jeffrey Estrada earned two first-place finishes for Chelsea, winning the 100 high hurdles in 20.1 and the 400 intermediate hurdles in 69.4.
Several other Red Devils captured first place: Senior captain Tony Nguyen won the mile in 5:32; senior Chester Rath took the 800 in 2:16; senior captain Joseph Arroyo won the two mile in 12:30; Brendan Horn won the triple jump in 36-8; and Michael Rendon won the long jump with a leap of 17-0.
Second place finishes contributing to Chelsea’s score came from Jay Pedrero in the two-mile in 12:46; David Sklodwiski in the 400 in 59.2; Faisal Nasimi in the 800 in 2:28; Adriel Rodriguez in the 200 (who also placed third in the 100); Brian Jimenez in the javelin; and Tuan Tran in the shot put.
Third place efforts earning one point each included Kevin Mendez in the 400 hurdles; Huthifa Kareem in the two mile; Brian Horn in the mile; Brendan Horn in the 400 dash; Oscar Lainez in the 800; Richard Andino in the discus; Brian Jimenez in the shotput; Mohamed Qasim in the long jump; and Eric Flores and Faisal Nasimi, who tied for third in the high jump.
“We had a good meet,” noted CHS head coach Don Fay. “We are a young team and we do have some holes to fill, but we are a hard-working team and we are getting better on a daily basis.”
Chelsea will compete against Northeast Regional today (Thursday).
CHS track girls sweep past Lynn Tech
The Chelsea High girls outdoor track team dominated Lynn Tech 117-11 in their season opener.
“It was an overall team effort,” stated CHS head coach Kim Huffer. “We had 24 girls contribute to the point total today which speaks to our team balance. It’s been a really cold start to the season so we are a little behind in the times/distances, but this team is pretty determined to improve on their performances.”
Chelsea swept all events, with double winners Sarah Bourouis and Quinnee Valenzola leading the way. Bourouis won the 200 dash and high jump, while Valenzola captured the 100 high hurdles and triple jump.
Additional first place finishers included Gabriela Ramirez in the 400 hurdles; Sara Beqo in the two mile; Mariana Kamara in the 100 dash; Arandeni Ramos in the mile; Katherine Cabral in the 400 dash; Tatyana Almeida in the 800; Daisy Mejia in the discus; Bahiya Nasuuna in the shotput; Cristal Rodriguez in the javelin; and Stephanie Moni in the long jump.
Both relay teams also won: the 4 x 100 relay featuring Marsha Mars, Sarah Bourouis, Kenia Santana, and Stephanie Moni, and the 4 x 400 relay with Sara Beqo, Joy Mejia, Gabriela Ramirez, and Sofia Falcon.
The Lady Red Devils compete today (Thursday) against rival Northeast Regional Vocational School.