Mike Vukovcan South Park-Despite a valiant effort, the Hopewell 9-Year-Old All-Star team has been eliminated from the South Park Fastballs and Freedom Tournament.
This morning in the quarterfinals, the Vikings were eliminated by a very good Washington team, 6-2. Washington was the No. 2 seed; Hopewell was the No. 3 seed.
Both teams scored a run in the first inning and then Hopewell took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the third inning. However, Washington plated 3 runs in the top of the 4th, which was the turning point in the game.
Credit Washington’s pitchers for shutting down a good Hopewell hitting team. Washington’s second pitcher, Nico, pitched the last 3 innings and recorded 9 strikeouts.
Hopewell had a few chances to score runs but weren’t able to get that big hit.
In the 2nd inning, the Vikings had a runner at 3rd with 1 out but couldn’t get him in. In the 3rd, they had a runner at 2nd with 1 out and stranded him and in the 4th, they advanced a runner to 3rd with 1 out but left him there.
Tip your cap to Washington which had very good pitching.
Speaking of good pitching, want to give a shout out to Jonah Honess and Aaron Ackerman who were outstanding on the mound. Honess started the game and went the first three innings, allowing just 1 hit and 1 earned run. Ackerman came on in the middle of the 4th and kept Hopewell in the game. Aaron pitched 3 innings, giving up 2 hits, 1 earned run and striking out 7 batters.
Honess also got the job done at the plate going 2-for-3, with 2 RBIs, including a big run-scoring double.
Good first tournament for the 9-year-old team. Good luck the rest of the summer!
