BEAVER FALLS– The Hopewell Vikings finished the regular season with a record of 8-7 which registered them as the No. 5 seed in the Beaver County Colt League Playoffs.
Hopewell opened up the playoffs tonight as they traveled to take on No. 4 seed Blackhawk.
Hopewell HC Jeremy Pacella made the decision to start right-hander Jaxsen Covalt, who was coming off a tremendous start against the Ambridge Bridgers in which he pitched a complete game and allowed only 1 run
Covalt rewarded the coaches staff trust in him as he pitched another tremendous game leading Hopewell to an 8-2 win. The win moves Hopewell to the semifinals tomorrow night as they’ll travel to Weirton (WV).
Covalt went 5 innings allowing 8 hits, 2 earned runs, 4 walks and struck out 2 batters.
This outing was impressive than his last start simply because of the number of quality batters up and down the Blackhawk lineup. This lineup can hit as evidenced by their 15-1 win over Hopewell in the regular season.
The key for Covalt was his ability to consistently get ahead in the count, along with the way he kept the Cougars off balanced with his off-speed pitches.
Covalt’s pitching was backed up by a tremendous defensive effort by the Hopewell defenders. Covalt pitched to contact and his defenders did their jobs.
Andrew Arzberger came on to pitch the final 2 innings, as he didn’t allow a hit and struck out 3 batters.
VIKINGS OFFENSE-
At the plate, Josh Gill drove in 2 runs, with Arzberger, Vin Smetana, Ethan Adams and Channing Yesionek picking up the other RBIs.
Luke Vukovan reached base 3 times (2 walks and a hit), Smetana reached base twice (hit and a walk), Adams did the same (hit and a walk).
VIKINGS DEFENSE-
Bottom of 1st Inning: Blackhawk jumped out to a 1-0 lead and were threatening for more, but Covalt was able to get a 4-6-3 double play (Adams to Smetana to Arzberger).
Bottom of 2nd Inning: Outs in this inning were recorded by a groundout to Smetana at short, a fly out to Reed Budavich in RF and a ground out to Adams at second.
Bottom of 3rd Inning: Fly out to Budavich in RF, a Covalt strikeout and Vukovcan throwing out an attempted base stealer of second base.
Bottom of 4th: This was a huge inning and likely the turning point of the game. Blackhawk scored a run to make it 3-2 and had the bases loaded with just 1 out. However, Covalt got tough and got consecutive Blackhawk batters to pop up to Arzberger at first base. This was an example of Jaxsen keeping the hitters off-balance.
Bottom of 5th: Another big inning as the top of the Blackhawk lineup faced Covalt for the third time. Pacella stuck his starter and he came through by striking out a batter, getting another pop up to Arzberger and then the final out of the inning on a fly out to Gill in CF.
Bottom of 6th: With Hopewell leading 4-2, Arzberger came on to pitch, and Blackhawk threatened early as the first two batters reached (error and a walk). With 2 on and 0 out, the next Blackhawk hitter hit a pop up to Vukovcan at catcher, who made the play and then quickly fired down to first base to double off the runner. Arzberger then ended the inning with a strikeout.
Bottom of 7th: After an Arzberger strikeout out, first baseman Connor Reed made a nice defensive play as he ranged far to his right to backhand a groundout and then raced to the bag to get the base runner. Arzberger then closed things out by ending the game with his 3rd punchout.
FINAL SCORE: HOPEWELL 8 BLACKHAWK 2
WINNING (ESPECIALLY IN THE PLAYOFFS) IS FUN!!
The semifinal game will take place tomorrow at 5:30 pm as Hopewell will travel to take on Weirton. This will be a huge challenge considering Hopewell’s roster is comprised of mostly freshman and 8th graders, while a majority of Weirton’s roster is juniors, seniors and some players that have already graduated. A huge disparity but Hopewell will show up to compete.
