Baseball Game Preview: Smiths Station Panthers vs. Chelsea Hornets

The Smiths Station Panthers are taking a road trip to take on the Chelsea Hornets at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday.

Smiths Station is headed into the contest having just suffered their closest defeat since February 15th on Tuesday. They fell just short of Pike Road by a score of 3-1. The loss continues a trend for the Panthers in their meetings with the Patriots: they've now lost three in a row.

Meanwhile, Chelsea waltzed into their game on Thursday with five straight wins... but they left with six. They blew past the Lions 10-0. That looming 10-0 mark stands out as the most commanding margin for the Hornets yet this season.

Grant Hill looked comfortable as he pitched three innings while giving up no earned runs or hits.

On the hitting side, Aiden Hughes and Paxton Stallings did most of the damage at the plate: Hughes scored three runs and stole a base while going 3-for-3, while Stallings went 3-for-4 with four RBI, one stolen base, and one run. Chase Lackey was another key player, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 2-for-3.

Chelsea's victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 7-4. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 8.3 runs. As for Smiths Station, their defeat dropped their record down to 6-8.

Smiths Station came up short against Chelsea when the teams last played back in March of 2021, falling 3-0. Can Smiths Station avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.