Mike Vukovcan The Hopewell 12-Year-Old All-Star team started their first tournament of this summer. This will be a meaningful summer for them as it will be their last time playing together in All-Star tournaments in Hopewell Youth Baseball.
This is a talented group of players and have high expectations for themselves in what they can accomplish over the next month.
This afternoon, things got started in the right way as they completely dominated teams from both Mars and the Stingers 12U All-Star team. In the first game, Hopewell defeated Mars 13-6 and then the Stingers, 9-0.
The two things that will make this team a hard out is 1) their lineup is talented from top to bottom. 2) they have a number of quality pitching options. Both of those were on display today.
GAME ONE VS. MARS:
-This first game only last 5 innings as Hopewell jumped out to a 13-0 lead, with 11 of the runs coming in the 2nd and 3rd innings.
Bottom of 1st Inning: Wade Enders got the start and had an easy first inning as he struck out two batters and the third out coming on a fly ball to Austin Gallagher in center field.
Top of 2nd Inning: Enders led off the inning with a walk and came around to score on a deep home run to right field by Rhett Rankin. Rhett has a beautiful left-handed swing and has had a great final season in Hopewell Youth Baseball and has displayed tremendous power with a number of home runs. A Name To Remember!!
Hopewell put two more runners on with the first scoring on an error and the second one on an RBI single by Elliott Mancos. Hopewell led after two innings, 5-0.
Bottom of 2nd Inning: Another easy inning for Enders. Second baseman Wes Gigliotti fielded a groundball at second for the first out, which was followed by a grounder to Kruz Krotec at shortstop. The final out came as catcher Henry Dunn gunned out an attempted base stealer at 3rd base.
Top of 3rd Inning: Gallagher walked to start the inning and then advanced to second base. Next up, Krotec laced a ball to center field to score Gallagher. Krotec eventually advanced to third base and would score on an RBI single by Dunn, Hopewell now led 7-0.
Later in the inning, Enders walked, which was followed by a single by Rankin. With the bases load, Dunn stole home and Enders scored on an infield single by Gigliotti, Hopewell led 9-0. Hopewell would steal home twice more in this inning and led 11-0 after 3 innings.
Bottom of 3rd Inning: Krotec came on to pitch the 3rd and had a 1-2-2 inning. Shortstop Rilynn Davis recorded the first out on a ground out. Out No. 2 came via a strikeout by Krotec and the inning ended on another grounder to Davis at shortstop. Krotec needed only 8 pitches in this inning.
Bottom of 4th Inning: Krotec stayed on to pitch and once again only faced 3 batters. Kruz struck out the first batter. After giving up a walk, Krotec immediately picked off the base runner at first base for out No. 2. The final out came courtesy a ground ball back to the mound and Krotec throwing over to Dunn at 1st base. Hopewell led 12-0.
Top of 5th Inning: The final run of the game for Hopewell came courtesy a home run to center from Dunn. Henry took the second pitch of the at-bat and drove it out to deep center.
FINAL SCORE: HOPEWELL 13 MARS 6
GAME TWO VS. THE STINGERS:
-Shortly after the first game, the Hopewell 12-year-olds were back on the field for a matchup against “The Stingers”. Like the first game, this wasn’t much of a contest. The trio of Rilynn Davis, Henry Davis and Wes Gigliotti held The Stingers to only 1 run and 2 hits, while the offensive collected 14 hits. For the second game in a row, this one only lasted 5 innings.
-Wade Enders led the way with 3 hits, while Rhett Rankin, Connor Eiler and Brandon Cecchini each banged out 2 hits apiece. In terms of RBIs, Kruz Krotec led the way with 3, while Elliott Mancos, Enders, Rankin, Gigliotti all had 2 apiece. Davis, Cecchini and Colby Cunningham also picked up an RBI.
Top of 1st: Hopewell took a 2-0 lead on RBI singles by Enders and Rankin. Hopewell 3-0 after one.
Bottom of 1st: Davis got the start and needed only 11 pitches in the first. First out came from a grounder to Enders at third base, followed by a strikeout and then a pop up to Davis at pitcher. Hopewell 3-0.
Top of 2nd: Elliott Mancos led off the second with a single. Mancos then stole second and scored on an RBI single by Cecchini. With 1 on and 1 out, Davis stepped up and hit a hard triple to center field, which scored Cecchini. Davis then would score on an RBI single by Krotec. Hopewell led 7-0 after two innings.
Bottom of 2nd: The Stingers looked to get on the board as they loaded the bases with 1 out but Davis stayed tough by striking out the next batter and the final out came on a grounder to Mancos at second base. Hopewell 7-0.
Top of 3rd: After one run scored from an error, Hopewell plated a second run in this inning on a groundout to second by Mancos, which brought in Gigliotti. Hopewell 9-0.
Bottom of 3rd: With 1 out, The Stingers got two runners on, but Dunn ended their hopes by striking out the next two batters.
Top of 4th: Hopewell added 4 more runs in this inning with two coming from and RBI double by Enders and an RBI single by Rankin. Hopewell led 13-0.
Bottom of 4th: The Stingers scored their first run of the game in this inning, but Dunn was sharp, striking out two more batters.
Bottom of 5th: After Hopewell added their final run courtesy an RBI groundout by Mancos, Gigliotti came on to end the game. ‘Big Wes” only needed to face 3 batters, getting groundout to Davis at 3rd, a fly out to Mancos in right field and the game ended on a ground out to Krotec at shortstop.
FINAL SCORE: HOPEWELL 14 THE STINGERS 1
-Hopewell will enter tomorrow as the No. 2 seed with host Bauerstown as the No. 1 seed.
Good Luck Vikings!!
