CHAMPIONS!! 12-Year-Olds Win Hopewell Tournament in Dramatic Fashion

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HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP– What a day for the Hopewell 12-Year-Old All-Star team!!

In their last time playing at the Kane Road Complex, this group of players were able to win 4 straight games to win the 2025 Hopewell All-Star Tournament.

Because of the way this game ended, this will be a game that these players, coaches and parents will remember forever.

With a tremendous late inning comeback, Hopewell was able to pull victory from the jaws of defeat to beat a very talented Washington team, 6-4.

Wow, where to begin in trying to recap this game. I’ll try to do my best.

Hopewell/Washington Championship Game Recap:
*Washington jumped out to an early lead as they scored 3 runs in the top of the first inning. But this Hopewell team didn’t give up, continued to play hard and because they’ve won so many games in the past, they knew that they could come back.

*Bottom of 2nd: After allowing 3 runs in the first inning, Hopewell’s pitching really locked in and basically shut down the Washington bats the rest of the game. Kruz Krotec had a very quick and efficient bottom of the 2nd. Two of the outs came on ground outs to Rhett Rankin at third and the other on a strikeout.

*Bottom of 3rd: A key moment of the game came in the 3rd inning. Washington scored a run to make it 4-0 and were in position to blow the game wide open as they had runners at 2nd and 3rd with 0 out. That’s when Wade Enders went to work. The big right-hander struck out the next batter on a nasty curveball. Enders then recorded back-back K’s, this time with a fastball. The final out came on a ground out to shortstop. That could have been the turning point in this game. Washington led 4-0.

*Bottom of 4th: This inning for Enders came with a lot less drama. Wade pitched a quick 1-2-3 inning, getting a flyout to Brandon Cecchini in center. The last two outs came via a ground out to second and then another strikeout.

*Top of 5th: The Hopewell bats finally came to life in the next to last inning. Enders led off with a single to center field, which was followed by a single to left by Henry Dunn. With 2 on and 0 out, Rankin was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Next up, Austin Gallagher hit a hard groundball that got past the Washington shortstop, and it allowed Enders and Dunn to score. Washington now led 4-2.

With 2 on and still 0 out, Elliott Mancos drew a 4 pitch walk to re-load the bases. Now came the biggest moment of the game.

After Washington made a pitching change, Colby Cunningham stepped to the plate and swung at the first pitch he saw and hit a deep fly ball to left field and the ball just kept carrying. Colby crushed it! Grand Slam!! This was the first home run in Cunningham’s career. What a moment for Colby and for the team. Hopewell now led 6-4.

*Bottom of the 5th: Enders stayed on to pitch his third inning and remained rock solid, recording two outs via groundballs and the other on a strikeout.

For the game, Enders pitched 3 innings, allowing 2 hits, 1 run and 4 strikeouts. What an effort.

*Top of 6th: To try and win the championship, HC Dave Gigliotti brought in Rankin and the ‘Rhett Bomb’ closed things out. Instead of describing what happened and to watch the celebration, here’s the entire final inning (pitch by pitch).