Hopewell Youth Baseball
9-Year Olds Open Up Play in Deer Lakes Tournament with Win Over Beaver
Following an outstanding run last weekend in the Hopewell Tournament, the 9-year-old All-Star are looking to duplicate that success this weekend as they’re taking part in the Deer Lakes All-Star Tournament.
In Saturday’s action, the Vikings took on Beaver and Seneca Valley.
GAME ONE VS. BEAVER:
Hopewell received tremendous pitching, which was key in their 8-5 against Beaver. Bowen Smith and Lucas Strano pitched the first three innings and didn’t allow a run.
Smith pitched the first inning, while Strano came on to pitch the 2nd and 3rd innings, striking out 3 batters. Late in the game, Declan Lavia came on in a crucial situation to earn the save.
Offensively, Strano and Logan Giering both collected 3 hits apiece, while Jack Holsinger, Declan Lavia, Waylon Phillips, Cody Goble, Lincoln Cumpston and Strano each drove in a run.
Here’s a recap of action in game one against Beaver.
Smith had an extremely quick first inning as he needed just 5 pitches to get 3 outs. Smith induced three groundball outs, two to Phillips at 3rd baseman and one to Lavia at shortstop.
Hopewell got on the scoreboard first with 2 runs in the bottom of the first. With 2 outs, Lavia tripled to right field and then scored on the same play, courtesy an error by the Beaver 3rd baseman.
Strano came on to pitch the 2nd inning and was very efficient as he struck out 3 Beaver hitters.
Hopewell added to their lead with 2 out action. Strano tripled to center field and then came in to score on an infield single by Cumpston. Hopewell led 3-0.
Great defense in the top of the 3rd prevented Beaver from getting their first run.
Catcher Waylon Phillips threw out an attempted Beaver runner as he attempted to steal second base. Then with runners at 2nd and 3rd with 1 out, the Beaver batter flew out to Smith in center field, who then fired a strike to home to Phillips, to nail the runner attempt to tag up. Hopewell still led 3-0.
The score increased to 5-0 in the bottom of the 3rd, courtesy an RBI triple by Phillips, which scored Smith. Then with the bases loaded, Goble drew a 2-out walk, which brought in Giering. Hopewell now led 5-0.
Breyson Hoth pitched the 4th inning for Hopewell and set Beaver down 1-2-3. Hoth struck out the first batter, the next batter popped up to Cumpston at 2nd base and Cumpston got the last out as well, as he fielded a ground ball and threw to first.
The Hopewell lead increased to 8-0 in the bottom of the 4th following a 2-run single by Holsinger, which scored Strano and Cumpston. Then, Holsinger came around to score on a sac fly by Lavia.
Beaver would score 5 runs in the top of the 5th which made the game interesting, but the Vikings strong pitching allowed them to hold onto the lead and secure the victory.
With the score 8-5 and Beaver runners at 2nd and 3rd with just 1 out, Eden Lingenfelter came on to pitch and struck out the first Beaver batter and ended the inning on a pop up to Lavia at shortstop.
Hopewell tacked on another run in the bottom of the 5th to increase the lead to 9-5 and needed just 3 outs to secure the win.
Lingenfelter struck out the first batter and after the next two batters reached, Lavia was brought in to close the game and he did just that.
Lavia got the first Beaver hitter to pop up to Lingenfelter at 2nd base and the final out came on a pop up to Smith at shorstop.
FINAL SCORE: HOPWELL 9 BEAVER 5.
GAME TWO- Seneca Valley 21 Hopewell 11
–Waylon Phillips and Logan Giering each with 2 hits.
-RBIs: Declan Lavia (2), Phillips (2), Lincoln Cumpston (2), Lucas Strano (1), Giering (1), Bowen Smith (1), Jack Holsinger (1) and Garrett Hoffman (1).
