Near Perfection as Armstrong 1-Hits CV, Hopewell Wins 4-0

Center Township- For the second straight outing, Hopewell left-handed James Armstrong was dominant.

In fact, tonight Boo was nearly un-hittable.

In his last start against New Brighton, Armstrong went 5 innings, allowing 2 hits, 2 earned run and struck out 12 batters.

Tonight at Central Valley, pitched 6.2 innings, allowing only 1 hit, 1 walk and struck out 14 of the 20 batters he faced.

Armstrong was one out away from a no-hitter as Central Valley placed a 2-out double down the left field line with 2 outs in the 7th inning.

Boo set down the first 11 batters before Central Valley batters before he allowed a 2-out walk in the 4th inning.

After allowing that walk in the 4th inning, Armstrong retired the next nine batters before the 2-out double in the 7th.

Hopewell didn’t exactly hit the cover off the ball tonight but they took advantage of the limited opportunities they had tonight.

In the top of the 2nd, Jackson Yurcina drew a leadoff walk. After advancing to second on a wild pitch and third base on a ground out by Andrew Arzberger, Yurcina scored the first run on the game on a ground out by Ryan Gaguzis.

Hopewell added two more in the 4th inning to essentially complete put the game out of reach.

The first three batters of the inning reached as Jayvion Lindsey was hit by a pitch, Collin Davis reached on an error and Armstrong was walked. With 1 out, Luke Vukovcan drew a walk on a 3-2 pitch. Then with 2 outs, Arzberger also drew a walk to bring in Davis. Hopewell led 3-0.

The final Hopewell run was scored in the 6th as Davis scored on a Central Valley error, following a Camden Hoth ground ball.

Moving ahead to the 7th inning, after CV collected their first hit, head coach Jamie Yurcina brought in Davis to get the final out. CD did exactly that on two pitches as he induced a ground ball to 3rd baseman Camden Hoth.

With the win, Hopewell improved to 3-1-1. Up next is a matchup next Tuesday against Beaver Falls.