Hopewell Youth Baseball All-Star Recap: Plenty of Positives, Along with Heartbreaking Moments

One of the best things about playing sports is the life lessons that it can and ultimately will provide.

While every player wants to do well and win, as we all know, that doesn’t happen all the time.

Winning is something that should be appreciated and not taken for granted but kids need to learn how to react and respond when things don’t go their way and they come up short.

A large group of players from Hopewell went through a wide range of emotions this weekend as they competed in various All-Star tournaments.

The athletes from Hopewell experienced plenty of winning but unfortunately, they also suffered some devasting losses.

Five Hopewell All-Star baseball teams competed in tournaments this weekend and three of them made it all the way to the championship game. Unfortunately, all of those games finished in second place and two of those losses came in heart-breaking fashion.

“You have no choices about how you lose, but you do have a choice about how you come back and prepare to win again.”

Here’s a recap of this weekend’s action:

12-Year-Old Team: Took part in the South Park Tournament and after defeating South Fayette, 5-1, in the first game this morning, the Vikings lost to Collier Township, 14-1.

Smetana’s Bat and Vikings Pitching Lead Way to Hopewell 5-0 Win Over South Fayette

11-Year-Old Team: Coach Dave Gigliotti’s team experienced a first this 2024 All-Star season- a loss. Prior to today, the 11-year-olds were 10-0, winning two tournaments. However, that streak ended this afternoon as they lost to Shaler, 7-5.

What a Run! 11-Year Olds Suffer First Loss in 7-5 Defeat to Shaler

10-Year-Old Team: There’s no way to sugar coat it. This was a difficult loss for this season. The Vikings entered today as the No. 1 seed, following two impressive wins on Saturday. They then started today with a 9-1 win over North Hills and advanced to the championship game against host Ambridge.

Everything was going their way and a championship seemed inevitable as Hopewell led by the score of 8-1 with just two innings to play. Unfortunately, things went South and credit Ambridge for not giving up as the Bridgers scored 9 runs in the last 2 innings, including 5 in the final frame.

Despite the loss, this team did a lot of great things and plenty to be proud of. Leo Yannessa, Connor Eiler and Owen McGovern each had 2 hits. Eiler paced the way with 3 RBI, Regan Harring had 2, while Bryce Croner, Jaxson Heppner and Hunter Prenatt had one apiece.

FINAL SCORE: Ambridge 10 Hopewell 8.

Great job this weekend guys!

9-Year-Old Team: For the second time this season, this team made it to the championship game but once again finished as runners-up. While that’s not the outcome they wanted, it’s never a bad thing to be in position to win the championship and this team had the opportunity to do that today.

The 9-year-olds started today with a 9-6 win over Hampton. In that game, Jack Holsinger collected 3 hits and scored 3 runs. Eden Lingenfelter was 2-for-4 with 4 RBI and Lincoln Cumpston was 2-4 with 2 RBI.

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In the championship game, Hopewell took on the North Hills Indians. The Vikings dug themselves an early hole that they couldn’t get out of. North Hills jumped out to a 6-0 before Hopewell scored 4 runs in the top of the 3rd to narrow the gap to 6-4.

Hopewell entered the final inning trailing 8-4 and scored a run to make things 8-5. In fact, they had runners at 2nd and 3rd with 1 out but unfortunately were unable to bring them in.

FINAL SCORE: North Hills 8 Hopewell 5.

Jack Holsinger was 2-for-4 with an RBI, Declan Lavia went 2-for-3 with 2 RBI.

In 4 tournaments this season, this group of boys made it to the championship game 3 times.

Keep battling guys, that runner-up trophy is eventually going to be a championship trophy.

8-Year-Old Team: This was the other difficult ending. This group of kids had a very long day on the field, as they had to play 3 games and they gave everything they had.

In the first game of the day, Hopewell defeated Beaver Falls, 10-3.

8-Year Olds Advance in Ambridge Tournament with 10-3 Win Over Beaver Falls

In the second game, Hopewell defeated Freedom, 13-5. Offensive standouts in this game included Tristyn Trkulija, who went 3-for-3, with 3 RBI, Aaron Ackerman, who was 2-for-3, with 2 RBI, Jonah Honess, who was 1-for-3, with 2 RBI and 3 runs, Brody Benson, who was 2-3 with 2 runs, Bennett Beron with 3 RBI, Maddox Kennedy with 2 RBI and Deacon A, who was 2-for-3.

In the championship game, Hopewell went up against Findlay Township, who defeated them yesterday, 14-5.

Findlay jumped out to a 5-1 lead before Hopewell fought back and scored 6 runs in the 4th inning.

Hopewell led 7-6 going to the last inning, needing just 3 outs for the championship.

They got 1 out but unfortunately, Findlay banged out 3 straight hits and scored 2 runs.

FINAL SCORE: Findlay Township 8 Hopewell 7.

Nice job guys, you played a great tournament and made Hopewell proud.