Hopewell Junior High Baseball
Hopewell Junior High Baseball Bounces Back with 14-4 Win Over Beaver Falls
A key to being a winning team is having the ability to put disappointing plays for games behind you and refocus on what’s ahead of you.
The Hopewell Junior High baseball team had that task today as they looked to rebound from yesterday’s disappointing loss to Central Valley and refocus on Beaver Falls.
The Vikings were able to do that as they received a nice outing from starter Camden Hoth and a big game offensively from Collin Davis to defeat the Tigers, 14-4.
It always begins with pitching and Hoth went 5 innings, allowing only 2 hits, 2 earned runs, while striking out 5. Maddox Fattore pitched the 6th inning and struck out 3 batters.
Offensively, Hopewell collected 12 hits but also showed good patience as they drew 11 walks. Leading the hit parade was Davis, who had a season-high 4 hits and scored 3 runs. Other Hopewell hit collectors included James Armstrong with 2, while Jackson Yurcina, Fattore, Luke Vukovcan, Aiden Ritchart, Josh Gill and Gunner Reese all had one apiece.
Here’s a game summary of today’s action from the Hopewell Junior High School.
After Beaver Falls took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, Hopewell responded in the bottom of the inning. With 1 out, Davis doubled to center field and came around to score on a line drive single to right by Armstrong. Following a walk to Ryan Gaguzis, Armstrong would score as he stole 3rd base, and the catchers throw went into left field. Hopewell led 2-1. Next up, Fattore hit a bomb that flew past the right fielder. Fattore raced around for a triple and scored when the right fielders throw got past the second baseman. Hopewell led 4-1 after the first inning.
Hoth had a 1-2-3 second inning as he struck out two Beaver Falls batters.
Hopewell added 3 more runs in the bottom of the second inning. Ritchart, Vukovcan and Gill all walked and then with the bases loaded, Jayvion Lindsey also drew a free pass, which brought in Ritchart to give Hopewell a 5-1 lead. Then with 2 outs, Armstrong hit a deep double to straight away center field to score Vukovcan and Davis. Hopewell led 7-1 after 2.
Following 2 from Beaver Falls in the 3rd to make the score 7-3, Hopewell put two more on the scoreboard. With 1 on and 1 out, Ritchart laced a single to left field to put 2 runners on. Next up, Vukovcan drew a walk, he would have 3 on the day. Then with bases loaded, Gill dropped a single to right field, scoring Owen Ackerman. Hopewell got their second run of the inning on a ground ball to third base by Lindsey, which scored Ritchart. Hopewell led 9-3 after three innings.
Hoth pitched a 1-2-3 fourth inning and in the fifth, he received some help from his defense. Shortstop Collin Davis made two above average plays, including getting to a ball that seemed destined to go up the middle. However, Davis glided over, gobbled it up and threw a strike back across his body to 1st baseman Andrew Arzberger.
Hopewell’s offense tagged on two more runs in the bottom of the fifth. Vukovcan led the inning off with a deep double to left field. Reed Budavich advanced him over to third base as he grounded out to second. Vukovcan then scored on a deep sacrifice fly by Arzberger, in which the Beaver Falls center fielder made a nice play to track down the ball. With 2 outs, Davis collected his third hit of the game and would then score on an Armstrong fly ball, that went for an error. Hopewell led 11-3 after five innings.
The Vikings ended the game in the bottom of the 6th. Gaguzis led off with a walk, which was followed by a single to left field by Jackson Yurcina. Then with the bases loaded, Reese came through with a hard single to left field, which scored Gaguzis and Yurcina to make the score 13-4. Following a walk by Vukovcan to load the bases, it was fitting that Davis ended the game with an RBI single to left field.
Final Score: Hopewell 14 Beaver Falls.
The Vikings evened their record at 3-3 and they return to action next Wednesday as they travel to Laurel. Keep in mind, Hopewell Junior High only won 1 game last season, so improvement has been made.
