Follow @pbrmichigan

To view the 2019 Scout Blog, click here.

Interested in attending a PBR Michigan event? Check out our schedule by clicking here.

PBR Michigan Division 2 Team Of The Week - Chelsea

CHELSEA - A three-game sweep of defending Southeastern Conference champion Tecumseh has Chelsea with a five-game advantage in league play with six to play.

It also has the Bulldogs being honored as the Michigan Prep Baseball Report Division 2 Team of the Week.

“We have a good rivalry with them,” said Chelsea head coach Adam Taylor, whose squad is now 21-3 after going 5-0 last week. “I really respect that coaching staff at Tecumseh.”

Chelsea is currently riding a nine-game winning streak with 14 wins in its last 15 outings.

“We’ve got a good mix of guys from the 2017 team that were young then but are now veterans on the field,” pointed out Taylor, who led the Bulldogs to the state semifinals two years ago. “Sprinkle in some young guys and add in some senior players that stuck it out and have developed and that’s our team.”

That is the formula for this year’s squad which features a large number of all-around athletes leading the way for the 15th-ranked squad in the PBR Michigan Top 25 Team Power Rankings.

“Most of our guys are two-sport athletes, most in three sports,” Taylor noted. “I don’t think you can put a value on that. It’s a big key.”

A trio of players have powered the Bulldogs thus far led by seniors Hunter Lay and Hunter Neff. Lay, a Walter State commit, is batting .451 with three home runs. A shortstop and catcher, the 6-1 155-pounder is also 3-0 with a 0.90 ERA in 15 innings on the hill. Neff, a 6-3 210-pound Michigan commit for football, is a .425 hitter with four home runs. A four-year starter in center field, the wide receiver on the gridiron is 4-0 with a 1.20 ERA pitching.

Junior Carson Robinson (Video) is another standout. A first baseman and pitcher, the 5-11 190-pound left-handed hitting, right-handed throwing 24th-rated player in the state’s 2020 class has not allowed an earned run in 35 innings with a record of 5-0.

Newcomers helping out this season are senior left-handed pitcher Gavin Bell, senior catcher Parker Shaw and junior outfielder/pitcher Owen Brown. Bell, who beat Tecumseh in the third game between the two rivals last week, is 3-1 on the season with a 1.90 ERA. Brown is batting .347 while Shaw is providing stability behind the plate while hitting .239.

Two sophomores, Chase Kemp and Joe Taylor add to the success, Kemp a third baseman and pitcher and Taylor a middle infielder.

“Strike one has been a big deal for us,” Taylor said of the pitching success his squad has had thus far, currently sporting a 1.60 team ERA allowing 36 runs in 156 frames. “With this pitching, if we pick it up and swing it we’re a pretty solid team.”

Three league games each remain against Ypsilanti and Lincoln before tournament time with Tecumseh in the same district field as the Bulldogs.

“If we handle things we can win the league,” noted Taylor, who led Chelsea to a conference championship in 2017, breaking a 10-year stretch without a title that Taylor called “a long drought around here.”

After that comes tournament time.

“Our district is very good,” pointed out Taylor, who has been at Chelsea since 2002 with his first year as head coach coming in 2012. “If we can continue to throw strikes and swing it, we’ll be alright. But when you’re in a one-and-done tournament someone can get hot and it’s all over.”