Mike Vukovcan Hopewell Township-  Hopewell’s Coach Daley’s Coach Pitch team battled the chilly temperatures and played one heck of a game tonight at the Kane Road Fields.
Trailing 9-3 in the 5th inning, Hopewell scored 5 runs in the last two innings to come away with a 9-9 tie against Ambridge.
This game had a little bit of everything- nice defense, two double plays turned by Hopewell and timely hitting.
Coach Daley had a tough decision in selecting players to give game balls to because he had so many candidates but in the end, two worthy players received them- Cam Baker, who went 4-4 with 6 RBI and Will Stewart, who was 3-3 and had his best game of the season.
This game had plenty of positives for Hopewell to point out.
Double Plays:
*In the first inning, with a runner on 1st, the Ambridge hitter hit a semi line drive to Will Vukovcan at third base, who made the catch and then threw a line drive over to Hudson Lavia at first base.
*Later in the game with Hopewell trailing by a run, Hudson Lavia snared a line drive and then tagged the runner who broke from second base.
Solid Defense:Â
*2nd Inning- Pitcher Harper Lavia showed quick reaction as she grabbed a line drive back to the mound.
*3rd Inning- With 2 runners on, Will Vukovcan fielded a grounder at 2nd base and flipped to Hudson Lavia at SS.
In the same inning, this time it was Lavia who took the grounder and threw to Vukovcan at 2nd base.
*5th Inning- Another nice fielders choice, this time it was turned by Brady Dailey at shortstop.
*6th Inning- Hudson Lavia made a SportsCenter Top 10 play by running out from short and snagging a line drive to short left field.
Five Run 5th Inning:
*Trailing 9-3, Hopewell scored 5 runs to get within 1 run. Daley and Harper Lavia led off with singles and then Vukovcan hit a line drive to center field, which scored Daley. Next up, Baker doubled into left field, which scored Lavia and Vukovcan. 1 out later, Stewart hit a ground ball single to third base, scoring Baker. The final run of the inning scored on a line drive to the gap by Hudson Lavia scoring Brady Lopez. Coach pitch has a maximum of 5 runs in an inning which stopped Hopewell from scoring more.
Clutch Hitting:
*Hopewell went into the last inning needing to score a run to tie and 2 runs to win.
With 1 out, Daley singled and following a force out, Vukovcan came to the plate with 2 outs. After fouling off a few pitches and down to his last strike, Vukovcan doubled to deep right field and Harper Lavia advanced to third. Next up, Baker singled into the hole at short and Harper scored on the play. Hopewell tied the game at 9.
Great effort tonight Hopewell! This team will return to action tomorrow when they host Beaver Falls at 6 PM.
