Mike Vukovcan HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP– While the goal of every team is to win, when it comes to JV sports, sometimes it goes beyond that.
Because of a number of different things and factors, the most important aspect for JV competition is player and team development. These are the players that are next in line to compete for a spot on the varsity roster so the goal is for development in order to show the coaches what they have and what could be on the way in the future.
Hopewell softball and youth baseball is sponsored by Lisa McCoy, your neighborhood State Farm agent.
With that in mind, the Hopewell JV baseball team took on Beaver in a double-header on Thursday and although they didn’t win either game, plenty of positive things came out of the game and development was shown.
A&S Federal Credit Union are proud sponsors of Hopewell Boys and Girls High School, Junior High and Youth Sports.
BRIGHT SPOTS FROM GAME ONE- HOPEWELL VS. BEAVER
PLATE APPEARANCES:
-In a double-header (where there are 5 innings played), Hopewell collected 5 hits and drew 5 walks, which was an improvement from their last game against Peters Township. Also, keep in mind that because of weather, this team hasn’t played a game in over two weeks.
-Aside from the 5 hits, a number of Hopewell batters had competitive at-bats that resulted in hard hit balls that were outs. In particular, Jayvion Lindsey, Brody McCullough and Ethan Adams had really solid at-bats.
-After striking out 12 times against Peters Township, the Hopewell batters only struck out 4 times yesterday, which was a huge improvement. The fact that this happened against a pitcher that was a junior makes that more impressive.
-Hopewell Hits: Reed Budavich (2), Adams (1), Lindsey (1) and McCullough (1). Budavich laid down a perfect bunt up the third base line for one of his hits.
DEFENSE:
-Aside from cutting down on their strikeouts, the Vikings also improved their play in the field. After committing 4 errors in the opener, Hopewell only committed 1 error on Thursday. That’s encouraging because this was a team that was putting the ball in play.
-Specific defensive plays:
*Catcher Parker Hoth almost gunned down a runner trying to steal second (near perfect throw).
*Reed Budavich made an above average catch in right field in the first inning to prevent Beaver from scoring.
*Luke Vukovcan with quick reaction from the pitcher’s mound to field a ball up the 3rd base line and get the runner at first.
*Vikings turn a double play in the 3rd inning as Adams snares a line drive and SS Jaxsen Covalt does a nice job getting to second base to take the throw from Adams to double off the runner.
*Ryan Gaguzis made a nice catch in left field on a hard-hit ball near the line.
PITCHING:
-In high school baseball, pitching is the key and Vukovcan did a nice job on the mound as he was able to go the distance- 5 innings, 3 runs, 3 walks and 4 strikeouts. In 5 innings, he threw 78 pitches (51 of which were strikes).
He was challenged throughout the game by this solid Beaver lineup but held his own, keep the velocity on his pitches and didn’t let any inning get out of control.
1st Inning: With 2 outs and runners on, kept game scoreless as batter flew out to Budavich in RF.
2nd Inning: Bases loaded, 2 outs, records a strikeout to end the inning
3rd Inning: 2 on, 1 out, records a strike out and ends inning on pop to Cam Hoth at 3rd base
5th Inning: Bases loaded, 2 outs, gets batter to ground out back to the mound
FINAL SCORE: BEAVER 3 HOPEWELL 1
*The game was tied at 1-1 going to the last inning. After Beaver scored 2 in the top of the 5th, Hopewell loaded the bases in the final inning but were unable to score.
GAME 2 HIGHLIGHTS:
In Game Two, it was scoreless through 2 innings. Hopewell scored a run in the top of the 3rd inning to take the lead, but Beaver scored 7 runs in the bottom of the 3rd inning. This game was called after 4 1/2 innings as it got dark and the weather was starting to change.
BRIGHT SPOTS FROM GAME TWO
*Parker Hoth delivered a hard RBI single to center field
*Andrew Arzberger with a nice at-bat as he hit an opposite field double to left-field
*Cam Hoth pitched a solid first 2 innings, showing good velocity and placement
*Hopewell turned another double play, which was a duplicate of what happened in Game One as Adams caught a line drive and doubled off the runner at 2nd base with a throw to Covalt.
NEXT UP:
*The Hopewell JV team is scheduled to return to action on Monday as they’ll take on Ambridge in 2-game series (weather permitting). The game on Monday will be played at Hopewell, with first pitch scheduled for 4 PM.
